The Phi Phi Fight and Food Challenge
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| Once is enough for me |
On of the most famous bars on Koh Phi Phi is Reggae Bar. The name is misleading because it is anything but a chill out spot. The bar features a muay thai ring where foreigners can fight each other and where Thais put on a show of their skills. Muay Thai is a fighting style where combatants can use their hands and legs, but cannot wrestle on the floor like MMA (mixed martial arts). Luckily the foreigners get lots of pads, because the kicks can be brutal.
If a foreigner volunteers to fight they 'earn' a free bucket of alcohol. Typically what happens is two random guys (or girls - yes they can fight each other too) will volunteer to get into the ring. Weeks before we arrived in Phi Phi, however, two of the Welsh backpackers I met had decided to fight each other at Reggae Bar. They are friends, but as is the case with some friendships, it can get strained. So although it was inspired in good fun they would still be fighting for real. As one observer in our group said: whatever happens you guys are still friends, but inside the ring you are enemies!
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| An added incentive for volunteers--a free bucket of alcohol! |
Another highlight of reggae bar is the burger challenge. Three burger paddies separated by buns for a total of 800 grams of beef (nearly two pounds), a heap of potato wedges, onion rings, and coleslaw. Finish all of that in 30 minutes and it's yours! The victorious contestants get their picture taken and hung at the bar - there aren't too many who managed to complete it. Most who did finished in the 20-30 minute range, but one guy managed it in under 9 minutes!
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| here is a good view of the burger (not one of our contestants) |
On the night of the fight two from our group tried the burger challenge. We should have made the fighters do the challenge and then get in the ring! Of the two who tried, neither managed to finish. One got about 90% of the way there and just couldn't seal the deal. He was close to done by the 20 minute mark but said if he ate another bite he would throw up. It was a valiant effort though.
On to the fight. After it was over one of the combatants - actually Frank, the guy who burned himself in the fire pit - called it "the most embarrassing time of his life." And he was the one who won the fight! Neither guy had much fighting experience, and it showed. They flailed at each other for three rounds as the crowd showed waning interest.
Actually it wasn't as bad as Frank makes it out to be. They got in a few punches and a couple kicks, but nothing spectacular. To make things worse the next fight was very entertaining, with two huge guys savagely going at each other.
After the fight the burger challengers were spent, as were the fighters. Although it was my last day the night ended early. Like Koh Phagnan we hadn't done much of interest besides drinking. Well we did visit a few beaches and take a day tour of a nearby island. There we saw a spot where the movie The Beach was filmed. Oh and on the tour we also saw a place called Monkey Beach, where there are lots of monkeys people feed and take pictures of. The monkeys will eat almost anything - from fruit to pastries - and even drink cans of coke!
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| I don't think this is a normal monkey's diet |
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| this is a scene in the movie The Beach (with Leo diCaprio); unfortunately there were many more tourists and the beach itself wasn't that clean either |
The gang had decided to spend a few more days on Koh Phi Phi, but as for me I needed to get a move on back north. I had another night in Bangkok and then was off to Isaan, in the northeast of Thailand.
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