Backtracking: night out in Phi Phi

Back before I went on my diving trip, I was on Phi Phi Island. Phi Phi was hit pretty hard by the tsunami back in 2004, like most of that coast of Thailand, but it's come back full force and is now a mecca for hotels, restaurants, dive shops, tour agencies, and, at the moment, Scandinavian tourists.

My first night there, I'd tentatively told two guys I met on the boat ride over that I'd see them out for a drink later on. Beforehand, I headed off to a local restaurant and ended up eating dinner with Daniel, a guy from England travelling by himself. We hit it off almost immediately, and then we hung out the next two days off and on as well.

When it was time to meet up with the guys from the boat, I dragged Daniel along to Reggae Bar. Little did I know prior to showing up that there was a Thai boxing ring set up in the middle of the bar. Permanently. Part of the draw to the bar was that dumb (or drunk) tourists would get up in the right, put on gloves and headgear, and they'd fight each other. They would both get a bucket of booze for their efforts, which contained a half bottle of booze and some sort of mixer. It sure drew a good crowd! Daniel and I were half-mesmerized, half-disgusted.

And when that was over, we were told to go upstairs to wait for the ladyboy show. Thailand is known for its ladyboys, and although I don't know all that much about that part of the culture, I do know that there are ladyboy shows all over the place. Daniel and I looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders and headed upstairs. The promised ten minutes turned into thirty, but at the end, we were rewarded by what I would call a well-choreographed drag show, complete with ladyboy divas.

Entertaining... and I hit two Thai highlights in one evening! For free!