Posted: 9/22/2010 | September 22nd, 2010
This is a guest publish by Sean Ogle, who blogs about place self-reliance at locationrebel.com
When you believe of dangerous islands, you may believe of earthquake-prone as well as poverty-stricken Haiti. Or perhaps it’s Australia, with its deadly spiders as well as snakes. Or perhaps it’s someplace even more remote, like the jungle wilderness of Borneo.
Yet there is an island available that is far more dangerous as well as far less obvious. That island is Ko Phi Phi off the coastline of Thailand.
Ko Phi Phi is one of Thailand’s most famous islands. It’s one of the biggest tourist destinations in the country as well as is where the movie The beach was filmed.
Every year, countless people flock to this island to relax in the sun, swim in the ocean, as well as dive the surrounding reefs. however in spite of its worldwide reputation as being a world-class travel destination, for many young travelers it can commonly be the most dangerous location they see on their trip with Southeast Asia. What makes Ko Phi Phi so dangerous?
Two words: buckets as well as fire.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Thai bucket, it’s a combination of Red Bull, Thai whiskey, as well as either Coke or Sprite. It gets its name from the little sand pails in which they are served as well as is a essential on the Thai tourist trail.
My personal bucket-and-fire story started seemingly harmlessly enough, with a burning rope landing on my foot.
Originally, I believed nothing of it. I cleaned it up as well as took care of it. Yet three weeks later when I had an infection half an inch deep as well as was required to make my very first see to a Thai hospital, I realized it was more than nothing.
Others get it much worse, getting mangled on flaming jump ropes or falling on top of fiery limbo sticks. I saw one British guy forcefully eliminated from the activities since he was as well drunk to feel the constant burns he was inflicting upon himself with the rope.
The combination of buckets as well as the terminate antics that take location at beach bars such as Ibiza as well as Apache put inebriated travelers in a setting to have the very best nights they’ll never remember, yet leave them with scars that will never let them fail to remember the nights they spent on Ko Phi Phi.
On any type of specific night, you can head down to any type of of these beach bars around 10pm as well as discover an interesting screen of poi terminate dancers, terminate jump-ropers, as well as even a terminate limbo.
You watch in awe as you sip on your very first drink, wondering exactly how anyone might potentially have the nerve to take part in such an acrobatic screen of terminate mastery. The Thais doing these moves seem to be masters at it, catching spheres of terminate thrown at them from across the beach. They have genuine talent.
However, over time, something begins to change. The locals begin to invite tourists to take part in a bit jump-roping, appealing to go slow, as well as always ensuring you that you won’t get hurt.
Yet as the night uses on, the audience gets more excited, more drunk, as well as more daring. They want to go quicker as well as sometimes two at a time. As they get drunker, their reflexes sluggish down — as well as that’s when people get hurt.
As the alcohol continues to flow, the terminate seems to disappear, as you show off your versatility as well as capability to dive head very first into the flames. The next day, it seems like everywhere you look on Ko Phi Phi, travelers have bandaged arms or heads. They’re on crutches or perhaps have a couple casts on different appendages.
After your very first night on the island, you’ll comprehend where those came from.
The time I spent on Phi Phi was among the very best I’ve had in Thailand. I liked the beaches as well as the people I met. Yet it’s important to be conscious of what goes on there as well as not to be influenced by your good friends or your nightly “liquid courage.”
[Matt’s note: I did not like Ko Phi Phi.]
Sean Ogle is a location-independent entrepreneur who teaches people exactly how to overcome fear in order to online the lives they truly want.
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