So the weather has not been on our side here!
I will elaborate more later (running out of time and the mozzies are vicious) but our idyllic days on Koh Yao Noi came to an end rather abruptly.
The place is incredible, so peaceful and beautiful, and such friendly locals not spoiled by too many tourists. We spent 4 days exploring the island by motorbike and relaxing in the company of local farang (white people) and Thais.
However, all the climbing on Koh Yao is accessed by boat. And the seas have been anything but calm. We were able to get out one day after a VERY rough ride by longtail boat to some amazing climbing, not many people have ever climbed at the place we were at. Wonderful long juggy routes on wicked limestone, stalactites everywhere. Unfortunately after that day the boatmen refused to go out because the seas were too dangerous. So we could not climb, and of course we could not kayak (we probably would have died, seriously).
We spent a couple days lazing around the island, checking out the local markets, food shops, and coffee shops. Reading, talking, relaxing. It was nice. On top of that our bungalow was beautiful, high on a hill overlooking the bay with a view of the sunrise. We spent a couple of fun nights having beer with the owner, Mr. Ling, in his newly built bar.
But this is a climbing trip, and we got the itch. Relaxing was nice, but with ants in our pants and only 5 days left on the trip, we jetted out of Koh Yao Noi in the early hours of this morning on a big longtail (still a very rough ride), to the North Pier of Krabi Province, where we hopped a city bus with all the Thais going to the market, and went to Krabi Town, where we hopped a ferry to Ko Phi Phi Don. (Another island).
Phi Phi has climbing you can access from the land. So it was decided this was where we would spend the remainder of our trip.
Our departure was hasty and we did not have a place to stay on Phi Phi, so we jumped off the ferry and simply started walking to what we knew was the main climbing wall. We snagged a little bamboo hut right off the beach and about a 2 minute walk from the climbing with a nice little mosquito net for 600 baht/night (about $18 USD).
We spent the rest of the afternoon getting our bearings. As we walked towards the village we ran smack into Dylan and Sarah, the couple from Alaska/Oregon we had met on the Deep Water Solo trip way back on Ton Sai! How random! We talked with them for awhile and agreed to meet tomorrow morning to climb together.
The best way to describe Phi Phi is... complete opposite of Koh Yao Noi. It is a sensory overload. Where KYN was peaceful and idyllic, PhiPhi is loud, bustling, and busy. It is motion personified. There are people here from all over, and we spent an amusing hour in a coffee shop just watching the world walk by, quite literally. There are many vendors here and thankfully they are not as pushy as the ones in Phuket were. Still, it definitely is not KYN. If it were just for the atmosphere we could have happily stayed in KYN for the rest of the trip. But we are looking forward to 4 days of good hard climbing.
If it doesn't rain.
Salty Smooches,
Liz and Jamie
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Farewell Ton Sai, Hello Koh Yao Noi
So our two extra days to climb in Ton Sai didn't turn into much; there was rain, rain, and still more rain. We got out for some climbing, went to the Dum's Kitchen area again and the Tyrolean Wall (not sure why it's called that, there is no traverse). We tried to get out to Eagle Wall, but after a 20 minute walk over sharp rocks at low tide we got caught in one of the most intense thunderstorms I've seen in a long time, rain coming down in sheets for about 30 minutes. Thankfully we were able to hide in a cave, but the wall was hopelessly wet so no Eagle Wall for us.
We did get to climb at an area called The Nest/Wild Kingdom though in Ton Sai, it was more overhanging and somehow miraculously stayed dry.
We celebrated our last night in Ton Sai by having dinner at our bungalows (Green Valley), and I got adventurous and ordered one whole squid. It was freshly caught in the Andaman Sea and I saw it before they cooked it. Then it came, head, eyes, tentacles, and all. It was a very delectable squid although I could not make myself eat the eyes (they were trying to convince me to eat the eyes, apparently they're the best part. I didn't buy it). Then we went back to the Chill Out Bar down on the beach for a beer and watching some fire dancers.
This morning we headed over to Railay West to catch the speedboat ferry to Koh Yao Noi. It was sad leaving Ton Sai, we were there for 10 days but it felt like it went by very quickly, and we were feeling quite comfortable there. Ah well, on to new things...
We pulled into the pier at Koh Yao Noi with no idea of where we were supposed to go. Apparently Heather from the Mountain Shop booked us tonight into a bungalow near their climbing shop, but like the genius I am I didn't ask her which one! Oops. The tuktuk driver had no idea where the mountain shop was but after I told him "rock climbing" we made a couple different stops and talking to people along the way we were able to figure out where we needed to be. So we got deposited at the Mountain Shop wtih all our bags, where the owner Mark gave us a scooter ride down to our bungalows, the Tha Khao Bay View bungalows. And what a view! We have to climb a hill to get there, but it's worth it... beautiful views of Tha Khao Bay and of Phang Nga bay where there are tons of beautiful little islands.
After relaxing on our porch for a bit we moseyed up to the nearest "village" (a few shops on a corner) and rented a motorbike scooter for 200/baht per day (about $5) for the next week while we will be here. It's the best way to get around the island as there is no big tourist center, it is a long island with little Thai villages scattered throughout.
Koh Yao Noi is extremely different from Railay and even from Ton Sai. There are no loud bars, no vendors, not even many tourists. It is very quiet and definitely has a village feel. The beaches are deserted and the roads are more like sidewalks. Should make it interesting on our scooter when we get passed by a tuktuk!
Tonight Heather and Mark are hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for any Americans on the island. We'll hang out with them tonight and then go climbing with them tomorrow. Apparently the climbing here is mostly accessed by boat, and there is no real guidebook- Mark put up most of the routes here, so I guess he has a little guide. We're looking forward to climbing here, way off the beaten path. It's incredibly peaceful here and we're also just looking forward to relaxing, watching the world go by....
Happy Thanksgiving!
Liz and Jamie
We did get to climb at an area called The Nest/Wild Kingdom though in Ton Sai, it was more overhanging and somehow miraculously stayed dry.
We celebrated our last night in Ton Sai by having dinner at our bungalows (Green Valley), and I got adventurous and ordered one whole squid. It was freshly caught in the Andaman Sea and I saw it before they cooked it. Then it came, head, eyes, tentacles, and all. It was a very delectable squid although I could not make myself eat the eyes (they were trying to convince me to eat the eyes, apparently they're the best part. I didn't buy it). Then we went back to the Chill Out Bar down on the beach for a beer and watching some fire dancers.
This morning we headed over to Railay West to catch the speedboat ferry to Koh Yao Noi. It was sad leaving Ton Sai, we were there for 10 days but it felt like it went by very quickly, and we were feeling quite comfortable there. Ah well, on to new things...
We pulled into the pier at Koh Yao Noi with no idea of where we were supposed to go. Apparently Heather from the Mountain Shop booked us tonight into a bungalow near their climbing shop, but like the genius I am I didn't ask her which one! Oops. The tuktuk driver had no idea where the mountain shop was but after I told him "rock climbing" we made a couple different stops and talking to people along the way we were able to figure out where we needed to be. So we got deposited at the Mountain Shop wtih all our bags, where the owner Mark gave us a scooter ride down to our bungalows, the Tha Khao Bay View bungalows. And what a view! We have to climb a hill to get there, but it's worth it... beautiful views of Tha Khao Bay and of Phang Nga bay where there are tons of beautiful little islands.
After relaxing on our porch for a bit we moseyed up to the nearest "village" (a few shops on a corner) and rented a motorbike scooter for 200/baht per day (about $5) for the next week while we will be here. It's the best way to get around the island as there is no big tourist center, it is a long island with little Thai villages scattered throughout.
Koh Yao Noi is extremely different from Railay and even from Ton Sai. There are no loud bars, no vendors, not even many tourists. It is very quiet and definitely has a village feel. The beaches are deserted and the roads are more like sidewalks. Should make it interesting on our scooter when we get passed by a tuktuk!
Tonight Heather and Mark are hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for any Americans on the island. We'll hang out with them tonight and then go climbing with them tomorrow. Apparently the climbing here is mostly accessed by boat, and there is no real guidebook- Mark put up most of the routes here, so I guess he has a little guide. We're looking forward to climbing here, way off the beaten path. It's incredibly peaceful here and we're also just looking forward to relaxing, watching the world go by....
Happy Thanksgiving!
Liz and Jamie
Monday, November 24, 2008
Climbing, Jungle Adventures, and Bloodsucking Leeches
The last few days have flown by quickly. One thing we have learned is that the dry season actually doesn't start until December, despite what all the American books about Thailand might tell you. =) It has been raining a lot here, about equal amounts of rain and sun I would guess. We finally decided not to let the rain stop us and so off we went to climb in it.
We spent the 22nd and 23rd climbing at Ton Sai and East Railay. We climbed at the Fire Wall on Ton Sai, and I think the approach was as hard as the climbing! A very muddy scramble up rocks and roots to reach the bottom of the cliff. It was great climbing though and we met some cool people, again from America. There are TONS of Americans down here and it seems like they are either from Colorado or Alaska. Makes sense, I guess.
Yesterday we decided to take a break day from climbing since we had climbed hard 3 days in a row, and besides we woke to rain just pouring down from the sky. I think someone was wringing out the clouds or something because it was really coming down! We decided to go to Krabi for the day to check out a national park.
We made the sweaty scramble and hike over to East Railay where we picked up a longtail for the 30 minute ride over to Krabi, which seems like a fisherman's city... fishing and squid boats everywhere and a very long harbor filled with very odd-looking boats. I wish I could post pictures so you could see what I mean. They looked like some sort of weird toy pirate ships with nets and lines all over, all sorts of different colors, something out of a movie almost.
In Krabi we grabbed a taxi to the Khao Phanom Bencha national park, deep in the jungle north of Krabi. We hiked around for 3 hours, scrambling up slippery rocks beside a 7-tiered waterfall which was incredible... the scramble down was made harder by the sudden downpour as we were sitting up under the highest waterfall. I'm amazed one of us didn't fall in.
After the waterfall we decided to take a hike 750 meters to a "viewpoint." We figured half a mile would be short and quick... boy, were we wrong! It was half a mile straight up. Not kidding. That was easily the steepest hike I have ever done, and it was pouring rain, and everything was all mud and roots. We almost turned back but decided the viewpoint would probably be worth the hike. At the top, we were greeted by an expansive view of... clouds. Aaack! We should have known, since it was storming and all, that there would be no view. Whoops. Ah well, it was a sporty hike anyways, and felt good to get out and stretch our legs since climbing has been mostly an upper body and core workout with all the overhangs.
It was then that I discovered the leeches. Two big, fat, squishy leeches attached to my foot and leg. Now, I don't really mind leeches at all, back on the farm in Minnesota we used to get our fishing bait by wading into the creek, waiting a few minutes, then walking back out and collecting the leeches that had stuck to our legs which would be good for a full day of fishing. But these leeches just sort of stuck to our skin. When I peeled off the leeches in the jungle, those suckers had put their fangs deep inside of me and blood started gushing out. The holes were small but deep! Ew. The blood ran down my foot and into my sandal. Oh well, I figured, the blood would wash out any disgusting things the leeches might have put into me.
So we started down, and of course it was even more slippery, and I promptly crashed in the mud bashing my ribs on a tree. I was covered with mud, sweat, rain, and blood, and I was loving it. All I could do was laugh at our situation, it was pretty ridiculous. The blood was pooling under my foot in my sandal, making it sticky, ew. We finally made it down, and we smelled horrible. I'm not sure how Jamie managed to avoid falling but somehow he did. I guess he is more dexterous than me. Anyways, I felt bad for our cabbie because we both smelled horrible and I looked like Swamp Thing.
Back in Krabi we caught a longtail with a couple from Belgium who I felt really bad for again because they looked clean, she was wearing a skirt and we stunk to high heaven. Jamie and I were laughing our asses off because we looked so silly. It was still pouring rain and we were soaking wet. About halfway through the boat ride I noticed the Belgian girl had started crying, and cried most of the way through the ride. I hope it wasn't because of the horrible smell wafting to the back of the boat.
When we got back to East Railay it was low tide so we had to jump out of the boat into the water. Now I am soaked again but I don't care because I am already soaked. The belgian girl wasn't so keen on the jump. We dragged our dripping carcasses over to West Railay where we splurged on cappuccinos and hot garlic bread with homemade pesto. Mmmmm. =) What a day! Probably the most fun I've had here so far.
Last night was our last night in the Dream Valley Resort. Tonight we move over to the cheaper Green Valley Resort down the road for an extra two days in Ton Sai. We're planning to climb hard over the next two days then on the 27th take our rest day as our day to travel to Koh Yao Noi, off to our next adventure. I hope the leeches don't follow.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Liz and Jamie
We spent the 22nd and 23rd climbing at Ton Sai and East Railay. We climbed at the Fire Wall on Ton Sai, and I think the approach was as hard as the climbing! A very muddy scramble up rocks and roots to reach the bottom of the cliff. It was great climbing though and we met some cool people, again from America. There are TONS of Americans down here and it seems like they are either from Colorado or Alaska. Makes sense, I guess.
Yesterday we decided to take a break day from climbing since we had climbed hard 3 days in a row, and besides we woke to rain just pouring down from the sky. I think someone was wringing out the clouds or something because it was really coming down! We decided to go to Krabi for the day to check out a national park.
We made the sweaty scramble and hike over to East Railay where we picked up a longtail for the 30 minute ride over to Krabi, which seems like a fisherman's city... fishing and squid boats everywhere and a very long harbor filled with very odd-looking boats. I wish I could post pictures so you could see what I mean. They looked like some sort of weird toy pirate ships with nets and lines all over, all sorts of different colors, something out of a movie almost.
In Krabi we grabbed a taxi to the Khao Phanom Bencha national park, deep in the jungle north of Krabi. We hiked around for 3 hours, scrambling up slippery rocks beside a 7-tiered waterfall which was incredible... the scramble down was made harder by the sudden downpour as we were sitting up under the highest waterfall. I'm amazed one of us didn't fall in.
After the waterfall we decided to take a hike 750 meters to a "viewpoint." We figured half a mile would be short and quick... boy, were we wrong! It was half a mile straight up. Not kidding. That was easily the steepest hike I have ever done, and it was pouring rain, and everything was all mud and roots. We almost turned back but decided the viewpoint would probably be worth the hike. At the top, we were greeted by an expansive view of... clouds. Aaack! We should have known, since it was storming and all, that there would be no view. Whoops. Ah well, it was a sporty hike anyways, and felt good to get out and stretch our legs since climbing has been mostly an upper body and core workout with all the overhangs.
It was then that I discovered the leeches. Two big, fat, squishy leeches attached to my foot and leg. Now, I don't really mind leeches at all, back on the farm in Minnesota we used to get our fishing bait by wading into the creek, waiting a few minutes, then walking back out and collecting the leeches that had stuck to our legs which would be good for a full day of fishing. But these leeches just sort of stuck to our skin. When I peeled off the leeches in the jungle, those suckers had put their fangs deep inside of me and blood started gushing out. The holes were small but deep! Ew. The blood ran down my foot and into my sandal. Oh well, I figured, the blood would wash out any disgusting things the leeches might have put into me.
So we started down, and of course it was even more slippery, and I promptly crashed in the mud bashing my ribs on a tree. I was covered with mud, sweat, rain, and blood, and I was loving it. All I could do was laugh at our situation, it was pretty ridiculous. The blood was pooling under my foot in my sandal, making it sticky, ew. We finally made it down, and we smelled horrible. I'm not sure how Jamie managed to avoid falling but somehow he did. I guess he is more dexterous than me. Anyways, I felt bad for our cabbie because we both smelled horrible and I looked like Swamp Thing.
Back in Krabi we caught a longtail with a couple from Belgium who I felt really bad for again because they looked clean, she was wearing a skirt and we stunk to high heaven. Jamie and I were laughing our asses off because we looked so silly. It was still pouring rain and we were soaking wet. About halfway through the boat ride I noticed the Belgian girl had started crying, and cried most of the way through the ride. I hope it wasn't because of the horrible smell wafting to the back of the boat.
When we got back to East Railay it was low tide so we had to jump out of the boat into the water. Now I am soaked again but I don't care because I am already soaked. The belgian girl wasn't so keen on the jump. We dragged our dripping carcasses over to West Railay where we splurged on cappuccinos and hot garlic bread with homemade pesto. Mmmmm. =) What a day! Probably the most fun I've had here so far.
Last night was our last night in the Dream Valley Resort. Tonight we move over to the cheaper Green Valley Resort down the road for an extra two days in Ton Sai. We're planning to climb hard over the next two days then on the 27th take our rest day as our day to travel to Koh Yao Noi, off to our next adventure. I hope the leeches don't follow.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Liz and Jamie
Saturday, November 22, 2008
A Place in the Sun
Gasp, grunt. Bam! Landed the hold. Move the feet, move the feet.. traverse right. There's a crimp... reeeeeach... aaaaah! SPLASH. The warm water overwhelms me and I swim to the top, gasping for breath and laughing as I look up at the cliffs I had just pitched off of. My forearms throb in the clear water and I taste salt on my lips.
Yesterday, despite the rain, we went on a deep-water soloing trip. You get ferried out on a longtail boat and swim to a rope ladder attached to the cliffs, then climb until you get pumped out or simply slip off and go crashing and flailing down to the sea below.
The ocean is bathwater warm and falling is almost more fun than climbing. The climbing is tricky because you are wet, you are sweaty, and it is raining so the rock is wet too. Sometimes you get pretty high before you realize how high you are, and falling can be pretty intimidating, then you get the thrilling drop in your stomach as you hurtle towards the water.
After the climbing we boated to a deserted beach on one of the islands and barbecued fish, rice, and squid just bought off one of the fishing boats, ink and all. It was quite an experience and we met some new friends, especially Sarah and Dylan from Alaska and Oregon who spent a few months trekking in Nepal before coming to Thailand, and had some interesting stories to tell.
Today the weather cleared so we grabbed our gear and hightailed it up to Fire Wall, one of the cliffs high above Ton Sai beach. We climbed all day, and it rained off and on, but the rock was just overhung enough to protect the rope. It felt good to get out and really get a good workout, as I had been getting antsy sitting around with all the rain. We did get out and go bouldering yesterday as well in the rain, at an area called Dum's Kitchen which is protected by overhung cliffs, but there's nothing like grunting up a bunch of long, hard pitches for a great workout. The approach is almost as hard as the climbs, snaking our way up a series of muddy half-cliffs and roots.
Life's feeling pretty good here. We finally got in our climbing groove, and hopefully the rain will clear up for a few days at least. We're thinking of extending our stay in Ton Sai because we lost two climbing days to the rain, and there's still so much to explore! Our clothes are getting manky, as are we, from all the sweat and sand and sea salt (there are showers but I'm not sure how much they really help) so I am glad to be in a place with mostly climbers and backpackers and not a bunch of tourists to turn up their noses at us in the bars. (We had coffee in railay the other day after kayaking and I think some were put off by our unkempt appearance and salty/sweaty aroma.) =) The ice cold showers here feel great though after being so hot, and I take an average of 5 per day, so I guess I must be pretty clean after all. =)
On that note, time for a beer.
It is our friend Lucas's birthday today... Happy birthday! Hope you're getting snow.
Big sweaty hugs,
Liz and Jamie
Yesterday, despite the rain, we went on a deep-water soloing trip. You get ferried out on a longtail boat and swim to a rope ladder attached to the cliffs, then climb until you get pumped out or simply slip off and go crashing and flailing down to the sea below.
The ocean is bathwater warm and falling is almost more fun than climbing. The climbing is tricky because you are wet, you are sweaty, and it is raining so the rock is wet too. Sometimes you get pretty high before you realize how high you are, and falling can be pretty intimidating, then you get the thrilling drop in your stomach as you hurtle towards the water.
After the climbing we boated to a deserted beach on one of the islands and barbecued fish, rice, and squid just bought off one of the fishing boats, ink and all. It was quite an experience and we met some new friends, especially Sarah and Dylan from Alaska and Oregon who spent a few months trekking in Nepal before coming to Thailand, and had some interesting stories to tell.
Today the weather cleared so we grabbed our gear and hightailed it up to Fire Wall, one of the cliffs high above Ton Sai beach. We climbed all day, and it rained off and on, but the rock was just overhung enough to protect the rope. It felt good to get out and really get a good workout, as I had been getting antsy sitting around with all the rain. We did get out and go bouldering yesterday as well in the rain, at an area called Dum's Kitchen which is protected by overhung cliffs, but there's nothing like grunting up a bunch of long, hard pitches for a great workout. The approach is almost as hard as the climbs, snaking our way up a series of muddy half-cliffs and roots.
Life's feeling pretty good here. We finally got in our climbing groove, and hopefully the rain will clear up for a few days at least. We're thinking of extending our stay in Ton Sai because we lost two climbing days to the rain, and there's still so much to explore! Our clothes are getting manky, as are we, from all the sweat and sand and sea salt (there are showers but I'm not sure how much they really help) so I am glad to be in a place with mostly climbers and backpackers and not a bunch of tourists to turn up their noses at us in the bars. (We had coffee in railay the other day after kayaking and I think some were put off by our unkempt appearance and salty/sweaty aroma.) =) The ice cold showers here feel great though after being so hot, and I take an average of 5 per day, so I guess I must be pretty clean after all. =)
On that note, time for a beer.
It is our friend Lucas's birthday today... Happy birthday! Hope you're getting snow.
Big sweaty hugs,
Liz and Jamie
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Rainy Days
Dry season... what?
We've been getting quite a bit of rain here in Ton Sai in the last few days. Last night it started around 7 and threatened to beat down our roof all night long. Then it rained on and off all morning until about 2 when it has become a constant drizzle.
I'm not really complaining; I rather enjoy the rain because we don't get a lot in Colorado, so it's a bit of a novelty to me... and it's so pretty here when it rains, and it's warm. But I guess I was expecting a bit more sun!
The nice thing about the rain is that it keeps things pretty cool. It's much easier to do stuff when it's not a million degrees outside. This morning we got up and went kayaking after breakfast. We rented a sea kayak for 5 hours for the grand total of 300 baht (about $9 USD). Not bad. We explored the seaside cliffs of the peninsula and some of the smaller outlying islands. Most of them had caves that we were able to kayak inside since it was low tide. It was so incredible, there are stalactites hanging everywhere inside the cave, and they are all dripping, and white... they sort of glowed in the darkness of the cave. There was a rumbling sound like thunder inside the mountain as the waves crashed through some of the smaller cavelets. It was a bit spooky inside there, as I remembered hearing stories somewhere of people exploring caves and getting stuck inside as the tide comes in. Maybe I just made those up in my head, I don't know. It felt adventurous nonetheless.
There are these little crablike creatures everywhere... I mean everywhere, on the cliffs and rocks right as they come out of the water. They crawl around very quickly and do not like when the kayak comes near one. I was sort of afraid one might jump on our kayak and then there would be chaos in the cave, but they scuttled quickly away.
We were on a mission, really, not just kayaking around but on a recon mission for deep water soloing spots. And we found them... ropes dangling from low-hanging stalactites hiding around many of the corners. We realized we would have to learn the tides as most of the spots were too shallow to fall into from high up on the cliff at the time we were there. Also we will see if we will be strong enough to climb the ropes! I could see how the hardest part might be getting up the rope to actually get on the rock! We found lots of great spots though and can't wait to try them out.
Now we're sitting here waiting out the rain so we can try to go climbing again. We're going to stay away from the pumpy overhanging caves for now and try to climb some faces... maybe we will have better luck with those. =)
We've been getting quite a bit of rain here in Ton Sai in the last few days. Last night it started around 7 and threatened to beat down our roof all night long. Then it rained on and off all morning until about 2 when it has become a constant drizzle.
I'm not really complaining; I rather enjoy the rain because we don't get a lot in Colorado, so it's a bit of a novelty to me... and it's so pretty here when it rains, and it's warm. But I guess I was expecting a bit more sun!
The nice thing about the rain is that it keeps things pretty cool. It's much easier to do stuff when it's not a million degrees outside. This morning we got up and went kayaking after breakfast. We rented a sea kayak for 5 hours for the grand total of 300 baht (about $9 USD). Not bad. We explored the seaside cliffs of the peninsula and some of the smaller outlying islands. Most of them had caves that we were able to kayak inside since it was low tide. It was so incredible, there are stalactites hanging everywhere inside the cave, and they are all dripping, and white... they sort of glowed in the darkness of the cave. There was a rumbling sound like thunder inside the mountain as the waves crashed through some of the smaller cavelets. It was a bit spooky inside there, as I remembered hearing stories somewhere of people exploring caves and getting stuck inside as the tide comes in. Maybe I just made those up in my head, I don't know. It felt adventurous nonetheless.
There are these little crablike creatures everywhere... I mean everywhere, on the cliffs and rocks right as they come out of the water. They crawl around very quickly and do not like when the kayak comes near one. I was sort of afraid one might jump on our kayak and then there would be chaos in the cave, but they scuttled quickly away.
We were on a mission, really, not just kayaking around but on a recon mission for deep water soloing spots. And we found them... ropes dangling from low-hanging stalactites hiding around many of the corners. We realized we would have to learn the tides as most of the spots were too shallow to fall into from high up on the cliff at the time we were there. Also we will see if we will be strong enough to climb the ropes! I could see how the hardest part might be getting up the rope to actually get on the rock! We found lots of great spots though and can't wait to try them out.
Now we're sitting here waiting out the rain so we can try to go climbing again. We're going to stay away from the pumpy overhanging caves for now and try to climb some faces... maybe we will have better luck with those. =)
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Ton Sai, Heat, and Humility
Lesson Number One: Do not go on a climbing trip unless you are a solid 5.11 climber. At least not to Ton Sai.
We have been here... 3 days? I think? It is hard to remember time here. After an absolute shitshow at the Phuket ferry station we hung legs off the side of an extremely crowded ferry for 2.5 hours to get to Railay. Then had to transfer from the ferry to a long tail boat in the middle of the ocean because there is no harbor in Railay so the big ferry couldn't land. I had to stifle a few laughs witnessing some of the people trying to jump from the ferry to the longtail. We motored (really, those beasts are loud) into west Railay where we had to jump from the boat into the water (about thigh deep for me, again funny to see some people do it with their giant suitcases) and waded to shore where we were immediately accosted by beach vendors, hotel people, and boatmen wanting to take us here, there, and everywhere... for 500 baht!
Let me interject here to say how hard it must be to be a whitey living in Thailand. I wonder if it ever gets old walking down the street and being harassed by vendors everywhere you go? I wished I could turn my skin darker so people would leave me alone. I can't even count the times Jamie and I have said "No, thank you!" on this trip. I can't imagine living here- how would the locals know you live here and are not a rich tourist as the rest of us supposedly are? Anyways, by the time we arrived in Railay I was sick of people asking me if I want to buy something or if I want to go somewhere. Geez.
We tried to walk to Ton Sai but when we got to the "trail" it was more of a class 3 scramble, which neither Jamie nor I wanted to do, he carrying a 50 + pound pack of climbing gear and me with the two smaller bags each nearing 30 lbs, one on my back and one on the front of me. So we paid 200 baht to charter our own longtail since there was no one else going to Ton Sai. Dios mio!
We landed in Ton Sai and dragged ourselves and our overpacked bags up to Dream Valley Resort where we had booked a place for the next 8 nights. Lesson Number Two: No matter how many people tell you to book ahead in high season, don't. We definitely overpaid for our bungalow; we paid 1000 baht/night to ensure a room and there were tons of available bungalows all over the place. Ah well, live and learn.
The rest of the day we were too tired to start climbing so we explored all over Ton Sai, West Railay, East Railay, and Phranang Beach. East Railay smells like an outhouse. West Railay was beautiful but overrun with vendors, as was Phranang but not as much. Phranang did have these delightful boat vendors who stayed on their boats and waited for us to come to them, novel concept in Thailand! I had some delicious phad thai and Jamie some bbq chicken. The most incredible views from these places, and the most delicious ocean breeze. We spent the day playing in the incredibly clear waters, laying on the sand, and taking pictures of the cheeky monkeys that were swinging from the trees.
Our first night in Tonsai was... a bit sleepless. The power here comes on at 6 pm, and the power to our room was not working, hence the fan wasn't working great either. It was oppressively hot in the bungalow and for awhile I considered taking my beach mat out to the porch. The next morning though we talked to the people at reception and they were very nice, they let us switch bungalows to one which I am happy to say has a perfectly good working fan which kept us cool all night long.
Our second day we decided to get out for some climbing, we went to warm up at the "beginner area" which is full of 5.10 routes. Ah, it was good to be climbing limestone again!! There is not much where we live in Golden, only at Shelf Road which is about 2.5 hours away. I wish I could describe the limestone, full of pockets and sharp crimps and toeholds. Very sharp, I think I lost much of the skin on my fingertips on the first day. We learned that all the guides from the rock shops here take their clients to this beginner area since it is the only area on the peninsula not filled with 5.12+ climbs. We waited awhile to get on some climbs, in which time we met Sandra and Casey, a couple from New Jersey who were also here to climb and soak up the sun. We climbed with them for a couple of hours once the morning guided groups left. Then the afternoon guided groups moved in and we moved on to Phranang for some more beach time and swimming.
In the evening we made the hike back to Ton Sai and hung out at the Chill Out Bar where we met Tom, a traveler from New Zealand. We of course had a lot to talk about, me having lived there for awhile back in 2003, and Jamie having traveled throughout the south island for a month. There was great ambient music there too so we hung out for awhile drinking beer then we started to get hungry. We decided to hit up a beach bbq stand where I attemped to eat a whole blue crab. It didn't work very well, I don't think I knew were to start with the thing but I did end up getting out some fresh succulent meat!
This morning we tried to climb at the Tonsai wall here on the beach by the freedom bar. Let me just say we were humbled by the ferocity of the climbs here. Everything is incredibly overhung, the rock is slippery from the humidity and lots of sweaty hands, and 5.10d was the lowest grade which even proved to be formidable to Jamie who is a solid upper 5.10 climber. It was not a great experience and left both of us wishing we had spent more time at the bouldering gym before coming here. All the climbs on TonSai are extremely hard and I especially am not a good enough climber to belong here. It is definitely an elitist climbing culture here and the extremely good climbers are not very patient. Thoroughly humbled, we retreated to our bungalow and I went for a walk along the "street" of Ton Sai, bought a giant Singha beer and a book and am currently ambling along the beach and decided to stop in here. Jamie was chilling out on the porch of our bungalow here and who knows what he's doing now... hopefully resting his forearms for he was thoroughly worked after his climb.
Well, as usual, I have to pee, so that is the end for now. There is ample internet access here but it is expensive so I'll check in in a couple of days. Until then we will be relaxing in the chilled-out atmosphere of Ton Sai and trying to locate some easier areas to climb in. =)
Peace,
Liz and Jamie
We have been here... 3 days? I think? It is hard to remember time here. After an absolute shitshow at the Phuket ferry station we hung legs off the side of an extremely crowded ferry for 2.5 hours to get to Railay. Then had to transfer from the ferry to a long tail boat in the middle of the ocean because there is no harbor in Railay so the big ferry couldn't land. I had to stifle a few laughs witnessing some of the people trying to jump from the ferry to the longtail. We motored (really, those beasts are loud) into west Railay where we had to jump from the boat into the water (about thigh deep for me, again funny to see some people do it with their giant suitcases) and waded to shore where we were immediately accosted by beach vendors, hotel people, and boatmen wanting to take us here, there, and everywhere... for 500 baht!
Let me interject here to say how hard it must be to be a whitey living in Thailand. I wonder if it ever gets old walking down the street and being harassed by vendors everywhere you go? I wished I could turn my skin darker so people would leave me alone. I can't even count the times Jamie and I have said "No, thank you!" on this trip. I can't imagine living here- how would the locals know you live here and are not a rich tourist as the rest of us supposedly are? Anyways, by the time we arrived in Railay I was sick of people asking me if I want to buy something or if I want to go somewhere. Geez.
We tried to walk to Ton Sai but when we got to the "trail" it was more of a class 3 scramble, which neither Jamie nor I wanted to do, he carrying a 50 + pound pack of climbing gear and me with the two smaller bags each nearing 30 lbs, one on my back and one on the front of me. So we paid 200 baht to charter our own longtail since there was no one else going to Ton Sai. Dios mio!
We landed in Ton Sai and dragged ourselves and our overpacked bags up to Dream Valley Resort where we had booked a place for the next 8 nights. Lesson Number Two: No matter how many people tell you to book ahead in high season, don't. We definitely overpaid for our bungalow; we paid 1000 baht/night to ensure a room and there were tons of available bungalows all over the place. Ah well, live and learn.
The rest of the day we were too tired to start climbing so we explored all over Ton Sai, West Railay, East Railay, and Phranang Beach. East Railay smells like an outhouse. West Railay was beautiful but overrun with vendors, as was Phranang but not as much. Phranang did have these delightful boat vendors who stayed on their boats and waited for us to come to them, novel concept in Thailand! I had some delicious phad thai and Jamie some bbq chicken. The most incredible views from these places, and the most delicious ocean breeze. We spent the day playing in the incredibly clear waters, laying on the sand, and taking pictures of the cheeky monkeys that were swinging from the trees.
Our first night in Tonsai was... a bit sleepless. The power here comes on at 6 pm, and the power to our room was not working, hence the fan wasn't working great either. It was oppressively hot in the bungalow and for awhile I considered taking my beach mat out to the porch. The next morning though we talked to the people at reception and they were very nice, they let us switch bungalows to one which I am happy to say has a perfectly good working fan which kept us cool all night long.
Our second day we decided to get out for some climbing, we went to warm up at the "beginner area" which is full of 5.10 routes. Ah, it was good to be climbing limestone again!! There is not much where we live in Golden, only at Shelf Road which is about 2.5 hours away. I wish I could describe the limestone, full of pockets and sharp crimps and toeholds. Very sharp, I think I lost much of the skin on my fingertips on the first day. We learned that all the guides from the rock shops here take their clients to this beginner area since it is the only area on the peninsula not filled with 5.12+ climbs. We waited awhile to get on some climbs, in which time we met Sandra and Casey, a couple from New Jersey who were also here to climb and soak up the sun. We climbed with them for a couple of hours once the morning guided groups left. Then the afternoon guided groups moved in and we moved on to Phranang for some more beach time and swimming.
In the evening we made the hike back to Ton Sai and hung out at the Chill Out Bar where we met Tom, a traveler from New Zealand. We of course had a lot to talk about, me having lived there for awhile back in 2003, and Jamie having traveled throughout the south island for a month. There was great ambient music there too so we hung out for awhile drinking beer then we started to get hungry. We decided to hit up a beach bbq stand where I attemped to eat a whole blue crab. It didn't work very well, I don't think I knew were to start with the thing but I did end up getting out some fresh succulent meat!
This morning we tried to climb at the Tonsai wall here on the beach by the freedom bar. Let me just say we were humbled by the ferocity of the climbs here. Everything is incredibly overhung, the rock is slippery from the humidity and lots of sweaty hands, and 5.10d was the lowest grade which even proved to be formidable to Jamie who is a solid upper 5.10 climber. It was not a great experience and left both of us wishing we had spent more time at the bouldering gym before coming here. All the climbs on TonSai are extremely hard and I especially am not a good enough climber to belong here. It is definitely an elitist climbing culture here and the extremely good climbers are not very patient. Thoroughly humbled, we retreated to our bungalow and I went for a walk along the "street" of Ton Sai, bought a giant Singha beer and a book and am currently ambling along the beach and decided to stop in here. Jamie was chilling out on the porch of our bungalow here and who knows what he's doing now... hopefully resting his forearms for he was thoroughly worked after his climb.
Well, as usual, I have to pee, so that is the end for now. There is ample internet access here but it is expensive so I'll check in in a couple of days. Until then we will be relaxing in the chilled-out atmosphere of Ton Sai and trying to locate some easier areas to climb in. =)
Peace,
Liz and Jamie
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Buddhist Temples, the Phad Thai adventure, and a lot of spacing out
So this isn't going to be too terribly exciting... in a nutshell, we woke up early, visited a temple, ate food, and spaced out for 5 hours. =)
Actually, Wat Chalong was incredible... it is the biggest temple in Phuket. I wish I could describe it to you but I really can't; you'll just have to wait for pictures. The temple is a whole huge compound, made up of many buildings all of which are incredibly ornate with many colors and carvings. There is one huge building with the giant Buddha statue in it and other smaller buildngs around it with statues of monks, real monks in their orange robes chanting which is incredibly haunting and beautiful, and rooms with incense burning and flowers floating (not quite sure the significance of that). There was also a huge... vat, I suppose, about 20 feet tall which every hour a Thai guard would throw a bunch of dynamite into and there would be an incredibly loud explosion which would go on for about a minute. Not sure what that was about either... I guess we have a lot to learn about Buddhism and temples!
The temples were also incredibly HOT. We had learned it was offensive to wear shorts and tank tops inside temples, so both Jamie and I wore long pants and long sleeve button down shirts. Holy crap we have never sweated so much... probably ever. Ok, I can think of one time; running in San Antonio in September. But that was running so that doesn't count. =) I think poor Jamie must have lost about 10 lbs in sweat. =) The temple was incredible but we couldn't wait to get out of there and into cooler clothes. It was a bit of a chore to find a taxi around there but we finally did and I have become quite good at bartering for rates at this point.
AFter we got back to the hotel and in much cooler clothes I had a mission, to find a local street Phad Thai stand recommended by the blog Jamie's Phuket (http://jamie-monk.blogspot.com), I highly recommend you check out his blog. Anyways, he lives here 9 years and said it was the best Phad Thai he has ever had. Problem is, we really didn't have any directions to the place! I knew it was vaguely somewhere around this hotel called Baan Karon. So we hopped a taxi to Baan Karon, wandered around for less than 5 minutes and I spotted it! There is only a sign in Thai so of course I couldn't really tell but I recognized it from the pictures on Jamie's Phuket! It was cheap eats and OH so incredible. It was hands down the best Phad Thai I have had. Jamie even liked it a lot and it had Seafood in it! Totally worth the trip, and Jamie was impressed that I actually found the place given my reputation for getting lost. =)
After lunch we hit the beach. I mean, we hit it hard. I spaced out in a chair for 5 hours and pretty much didn't move except to play in the waves occasionally. I think Jamie read his book. I literally did nothing. It was wonderful. =)
Well, we are leaving PHuket tomorrow to go to Ton Sai. The climbing part of our trip is about to begin, and we're super excited! We're not sure if there will be internet for the remainder of our trip or not, as the places we have yet to go are a bit off teh beaten path. So, this may be the end of our short-lived blog. =) But if there is internet, I'll check in periodically and give some updates on the climbing and other adventures!
Hope you all are well.
Liz and Jamie
Actually, Wat Chalong was incredible... it is the biggest temple in Phuket. I wish I could describe it to you but I really can't; you'll just have to wait for pictures. The temple is a whole huge compound, made up of many buildings all of which are incredibly ornate with many colors and carvings. There is one huge building with the giant Buddha statue in it and other smaller buildngs around it with statues of monks, real monks in their orange robes chanting which is incredibly haunting and beautiful, and rooms with incense burning and flowers floating (not quite sure the significance of that). There was also a huge... vat, I suppose, about 20 feet tall which every hour a Thai guard would throw a bunch of dynamite into and there would be an incredibly loud explosion which would go on for about a minute. Not sure what that was about either... I guess we have a lot to learn about Buddhism and temples!
The temples were also incredibly HOT. We had learned it was offensive to wear shorts and tank tops inside temples, so both Jamie and I wore long pants and long sleeve button down shirts. Holy crap we have never sweated so much... probably ever. Ok, I can think of one time; running in San Antonio in September. But that was running so that doesn't count. =) I think poor Jamie must have lost about 10 lbs in sweat. =) The temple was incredible but we couldn't wait to get out of there and into cooler clothes. It was a bit of a chore to find a taxi around there but we finally did and I have become quite good at bartering for rates at this point.
AFter we got back to the hotel and in much cooler clothes I had a mission, to find a local street Phad Thai stand recommended by the blog Jamie's Phuket (http://jamie-monk.blogspot.com), I highly recommend you check out his blog. Anyways, he lives here 9 years and said it was the best Phad Thai he has ever had. Problem is, we really didn't have any directions to the place! I knew it was vaguely somewhere around this hotel called Baan Karon. So we hopped a taxi to Baan Karon, wandered around for less than 5 minutes and I spotted it! There is only a sign in Thai so of course I couldn't really tell but I recognized it from the pictures on Jamie's Phuket! It was cheap eats and OH so incredible. It was hands down the best Phad Thai I have had. Jamie even liked it a lot and it had Seafood in it! Totally worth the trip, and Jamie was impressed that I actually found the place given my reputation for getting lost. =)
After lunch we hit the beach. I mean, we hit it hard. I spaced out in a chair for 5 hours and pretty much didn't move except to play in the waves occasionally. I think Jamie read his book. I literally did nothing. It was wonderful. =)
Well, we are leaving PHuket tomorrow to go to Ton Sai. The climbing part of our trip is about to begin, and we're super excited! We're not sure if there will be internet for the remainder of our trip or not, as the places we have yet to go are a bit off teh beaten path. So, this may be the end of our short-lived blog. =) But if there is internet, I'll check in periodically and give some updates on the climbing and other adventures!
Hope you all are well.
Liz and Jamie
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