That One Time I Went Boxing on Ko Phi Phi

I spent plenty of my first journey around the globe partying. I used to be twenty-five and able to lower free after 1 / 4 century of residing a reasonably sheltered, middle-class life. In my thoughts, plenty of backpacking was about assembly fellow vacationers, partying, and saying sure to something that got here your manner. And that always result in some outrageous experiences.

Like getting right into a boxing ring in Ko Phi Phi, Thailand.

Earlier than I started that journey in 2006, I used the web site MySpace to satisfy vacationers upfront, since, as an introvert, I used to be very anxious that I wouldn’t make any mates on the highway. MySpace had plenty of journey teams, so I reached out to individuals in hopes of assembly up with them on the journey. (I used to be early to utilizing the online as a social device: I had a weblog in 2001, and I met my first girlfriend on Friendster again when assembly individuals on-line was taboo.)

After touchdown in Bangkok on the finish of that 12 months, I occurred to run into Lindsay within the airport, a Brit I used to be scheduled to satisfy later that week in Krabi. She was together with her mates John and Stephanie. As luck would have it, we had been on the identical flight to Phuket, so we determined to begin our journey collectively early.

In Phuket, we had booked lodging on the hostel made well-known by the film The Seashore. It was as horrible because the movie made it out to be, with skinny partitions, soiled bogs, and exhausting beds. We stayed one night time.

From there, we went to Ko Phi Phi, the place we deliberate to spend three nights. The island was nonetheless reeling from the tsunami that had devastated it two years earlier than, a cacophony of noise because it tried to rebuild itself. There was particles and development in all places, and lots of companies had been nonetheless closed and houses deserted.

We discovered an affordable room on the far finish of the primary city, bunking collectively to save cash, a traveler’s most valuable commodity.

That night time, we did what backpackers do on the island: we partied. We ate low-cost meals within the bustling night time market, with distributors promoting overpriced pad thai to vacationers who didn’t know higher. From there, went from bar to bar, getting progressively drunker, earlier than ending up on the Reggae Bar, which is legendary for 2 causes: buckets of low-cost booze and a boxing ring within the middle.

However the ring isn’t for watching skilled Thai boxers. No, it’s there so backpackers can watch different backpackers beat the shit out of one another totally free buckets of booze. (A “bucket” is Thai whiskey, Purple Bull, and Coke in a toddler’s seaside pail. It will get you very smashed.)

As we bought drunker and drunker, James dared me to go field within the ring. “Come on! We want extra booze,” he mentioned egging me on.

Because the night time wore on and the alcohol did its factor, I made a decision to say fuck it. “Nice, I’ll do it,” I agreed, giving in to the will to say sure to something and impress my new mates.

I ended up within the ring with an outsized German man who was about as drunk as I used to be.

“Go simple on me,” I mentioned. “I’ve by no means been in a battle.”

“No downside. That is only for enjoyable anyway,” he replied in a slurred, accented voice.

Being drunk, I bought a bit overzealous and didn’t “go simple” on him. I bought aggressive, touchdown blows the place I might, and the primary spherical was referred to as in my favor.

Within the second, he fought again, not desirous to lose to an American who was half his dimension. His blows harm, even in my drunken state.

That spherical was referred to as for him.

Within the last spherical, we each bought a bit of aggressive. He simply defeated me, because the ref, not wanting me to get too pummeled, shortly referred to as the spherical — and match — for him.

However everybody loves an underdog, so boos erupted from the viewers.

Aiming to please the group, the bar additionally ended up giving me a free bucket, and the German man and I cheered one another. His mates joined mine, and we partied the night time away.

The subsequent morning, after I wakened, I used to be stiff as a board and had a horrible hangover. Although simply evenly bruised, I might barely transfer. Each a part of my physique ached.

“Why is every part sore? What did we do final night time?”

It took a couple of minutes, after which it hit me (so to talk).

“Ohhh, yeah, I boxed somebody final night time!”

Whereas I used to be not considering of the repercussions to my physique the night time earlier than, I used to be nicely attuned to them now. It was like a truck had backed up and down my physique a number of instances as I laid flat in mattress.

My mates and I laughed and joked about how silly it was to field somebody double my dimension for some alcohol. I lay there aching as my mates bought prepared, till I lastly needed to dress myself. We headed to the seaside to absorb the solar on the sand and get some breakfast.

Boxing in that ring was one of many extra spontaneous issues I did on that journey and, whereas I received’t ever do it once more, it’s a kind of “fuck sure” moments that introduced me nearer to my mates and made for a great reminiscence.

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