Joberg nite

Went to a night club in joberg on 20 may09. Four of us. That was an adventure. The rumour is that Joberg is not a safe city especially after dark. There were many who wanted to go to a night club. But were advised not to without guide. So someone found a guide, Some black guy arranged by a hotel employee. He would take us and drop us back to hotel. By 9 pm we were taken in a limousine driven by the guy to a night club. It was half an hour drive from hotel. The place was called Grand place.

The idea of insecurity starts from the entrance. A dimly lighted place where one pays to enter. You enter though a revolving door of strong horizontal bars. One at a time. No one can rush in or rush out. Then you are frisked by gentlemen thugs. And you see people sitting in twos and fours around round tables. All spread out around a circular podium and bar below. Two girls up topless dancing. And then you pass around to find a place, you see more. Naked girls sitting on laps of fully dressed men and gyrating their bodies as if dancing. This is no Disco or anything. It is something different. No boy or man is dancing. Of course, there some women customers who came with their men. Too few.

It was my first encounter of the decadence of licensed organized and very decent (!) way of fleecing. Of course only from those who volunteer to go and experience the excitement. This fleecing is also part of the experience. As in casinos. Wonderful spread of food, ( something like more than 50 varieties), noisy music and bare bodied girls dancing all the time. Dancing and soliciting for a massage or private, dance in side rooms. Bare means totally bare at times, not even thongs. Some girls are blacks and more of whites, Russians, Poles, Chinese, hardly any Indian. All in 18-25 age. The guys moving around make it secure, are all black thug looking gentlemen in suites. Smiling friendly and very soft spoken. The customers were largely white, but a fair amount of blacks and Asians.
Even if you are not tempted enough for anything more, you will be tempted to spend on alcohol. Food is on the house as part of the entrance fee.

There is continuous din of music. Weird strobe lights and generally dim and reddish ambient light. The girls go up to raised circular podium below which is a circular bar. Two to three girly go up at a time. Half dressed. The dance around two shiny circular stainless steel vertical bars fixed form bottom to ceiling. The shiny poles are phallic symbols. The girls use them and gesticulate holding to it to dance and do high acrobatics. They have bodies highly pliable and extremely attractive figuratively. Very thin, hardly any flab, naturally with is kind of gyration! Some are accomplished acrobats; climbing uup the shiny poles rotating horizontally around with legs holding on to it and sliding down. They could climb the poles upside down as well.

Music is recorded and is bits of pop rock songs of yester years, some current too. Girls go up in twos and fours for a song. Fairly but thinly dressed. As the music changes rhythm half way through, they throw away the top and mostly have only thongs. The they do the acrobatics on the pole. Once the music stops, they pick up the clothes and climb down and another twosome climb up for another number. Then they go round the tables talking touching cajoling urging and tempting and dancing privately in front for a negotiable price. They go topless and bottom less. They solicit you for as dance in private rooms too, if you are inclined. Of course for a price. I see people vanishing and reappearing. There are massage girls, and men mostly Chinese looking.

Once we come out after eating. They don’t allow you to get out unless in a taxi. Or own cars. The number of upscale limousines parked out gives an idea what kind of people vist the place. There are many other joints around that place, I think. That perhaps, is for safety. We had our man waiting. It was 12 when we reached the hotel to catch a nap before getting up for next day’s meeting and conference at the hotel.

The eerie, uncertain, out of certain wild western Hollywood movies- uncensored, bordering on pornography, is revolting for the first timers, but people seem to get addicted. It is surreal. I only wonder, how much of it legal and how much illegal. Sure there are border cases with the connivance of authorities. I am sure there are places similar around the world, in Bangkok, London, Las Vegas, may be Mumbai too, with some variance. It was new to me. And therefore eerie and revolting.