6-23 Railay Day 2

Not much, if anything, happened on Day 2 in Railay. We napped on the beach under shady trees for the better part of the day, followed by a bit of lounging in coffee shops and wandering the streets and back alleys. We all sat down to dinner at a nice place with shish-kabobs with 6 or 7 types of meat to choose from, including crocodile. Mike got some croc and it was outstanding. Imagine the most succulent, delicious piece of chicken you ever had-- that's what this croc tasted like. We planned to all get it the next evening. By 10:30pm we crammed into the Last Bar, which is a popular bar at the end of Railay East. Tonight they were having a Muay Thai match followed by a snake show. The ring was just a basic raised concrete slab, which could be quite dangerous if someone we knocked out and fell flat onto it. The opponents were twin brothers. They fought pretty hard and everyone was entertained. We made friends with one of the bartenders and he told us sometimes they'll be mad at each other for some reason or other, at which point they'll beat the crap out of each other. After the match, the snake show began. A large wooden chest housed burlap sacks full of snakes. Unlike the snake show we saw in Chiang Mai, this stage had no walls the keep or at least slow the snakes down if they got loose. Mong (the bartender) new a story of a charmer who foolishly held 10 banded kraits in his hands at a show. They are deadly, and one bit him. He panicked and dropped all the snakes, who wasted no time slithering into the crowds of 100-200 screaming spectators. No on else got bit, but it must have been quite a sight to see.
The charmer was able to hold the attention of 3 small black cobras on the tiny 12ft by 12ft stage. We were smart enough to sit way back in case one got loose. In a mere second or two, a snake could be at the feet of the crowds, which were packed in tight and unable to withdraw in such a scenario. This guy was a real pro with the snakes, but what he did next caused the place to erupt in gasps and a collective cringing away from the stage. With the cobras back into his wooden chest, the charmer labored to pull out a large bag, setting it in the center of the stage. I was worried how many snakes must be in the roiling mass of burlap. Like a magician pulling the tablecloth out from under a table setting, the charmer gave the bag a swift jerk, revealing the biggest cobra imaginable. Seriously, this snake was the entire 12 foot length of the stage and it's girth thicker than my bicep. The crowd at once shuffled back several paces and aside everyone stared in amazement as it reared itself up a good 3 feet off the ground and inflating it's massive black hood. Mong told us in all honestly that this snake was found only a couple miles away in the jungle that week. The charmer doesn't train individual snakes, he simply learns the behaviors that all cobras share. There was at least one instance where the charmer seemed to lose his balance and be unable to retreat in time to avoid a direct bite to his face. Someone he made it to a safe distance each time. We were all astonished, but happy to see the snake put back into the chest after 5 heart-stopping minutes.
We then made our way down the path to Chok Dee's for a late night session with Mai Mai. It was a quiet night in Chok Dee's, but once again it was nice to have the bar at our disposal to do as we wished.