I had walked around Ao Nang, been to a bar before, but this particular night I decided to really have a go at it. There is a soi (street) that is full of bars, so I decided to go down to the one at the end - the Reggae Bar. It was like walking the gauntlet getting there. There would have been at least 40 "women" grabbing (literally) at me to go to their particular bars. Bloody hell. I parked myself at the bar and it turned out that the owner was an American. It wasn't too bad, was left to myself and chatted to the owner. It was quite interesting. He said the "girls" (again, inverted commas!) weren't paid to be there, they were given free drinks. I then played "pick the ladyboy", the owner confirming my suspicions. There were at least two in the bar, doing the rounds, playing Connect Four and Jenga with the patrons - believe it or not!
This guy, John, absolutely loves his job. He said he could run the place by himself, but had four people working for him - employed at $165 Aussie per month! I had been playing Connect Four with one of the "girls" when I spotted a group of English girls that had been on the boat trip earlier in the day. I ended up drinking and playing Jenga with them until they decided to head out with one of the lady boys to another bar. I can't imagine my favourite hang outs in Australia being frequented by transvestites. It amazes me how open they are. All you have to do is ask if they're a woman and they will confirm! I had a good night with the English ladies, and finished up getting to bed at 3.30. This did not bode well for my bus at eight, but I made it - just.