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Published: July 30th 2005
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deep water soloing
that red and blue dot at the top is casey jumping. crazy bastard. having lost all track of time, i asked someone the
other day what the date was, and realized that i've
been on the road now for nearly three months.
shocking, really, given that it only feels like last
week or so that i was cruising down 101 in my mullet
wig groovin out to 'open arms,' and that i still wake
up just about every morning (or afternoon, as the case
may be) all giddy with anticipation as to what the day
will bring. i often catch myself walking along
unwittingly with a crooked shit-eating grin on my face
like a downs-afflicted hindu cow. of course, not
every day has actually turned out to be filled with
wonder and excitement, but it seems enough for me that
there at least be the potential for it. my texan
friend tim e-mailed me not long ago a line from an
unidentified country music song that he said reminded
him of me:
Everything that I've got
Is just what I've got on
I ain't got a dime
But what I've got is mine
I ain't rich
But Lord I'm free
the song probably doesn't delve into the country
singer's staggering law school debt or his rather
complicated means of storing all his crap back in san
francisco, but essentially, he got it spot on. god
bless, tim.
after five or so weeks of rock climbing, chess
playing, reggae listening, hammock swinging bliss, i
finally paid a sad farewell to my friends at tonsai
beach. after so much time there, i pretty much
settled into a daily routine - climbing or bouldering
all day, then a scramble over the rocks to neighboring
railey beach to drink some beers, watch the sunset and
play beach volleyball, then back to tonsai for dinner,
chess and libations. the best player on the beach at
railay, hands down, was this chain-smoking thai
ladyboy with a killer jumpserve. ladyboys are quite
common in thailand, and there's no particular reason
why one should deserve any special mention here if not
for the fact that it's not often that you see a stocky
5'2" thai dude with man-boobs and lit cigarette in
mouth utterly dominating a beach volleyball scene.
but there it was.
the daily tonsai routine was broken up by a few
amazing side trips to the neighboring islands. a
group of us took a camping trip to poda island, where
we camped out on a desert beach with an old man who
lived in a hut collecting swallows' nests for birds
nest soup. glad for the company, or maybe because
this is just who he is, he gave of us everything he
had, cooking us freshly caught crabs, fish and sea
snails, and opening up his hut to us when an
awe-inspiring electrical storm passed through in the
night.
we hired a boat for the day and went deep-water
soloing -- rockclimbing without any equipment save
climbing shoes and the water far below as your safety
device. what a rush - paddle out to the rock face
jutting straight out of the sea, and climb up as far
as you can go, and when you get tired, run out of
holds, or just feel like jumping, plunge 30-80 feet
into the clear warm waters below. thankfully, no one
died, although one or two of us were treated to a free
saltwater enema.
tonsai is an extremely hard place to leave, but the
road was calling, and my law school mate rohit, who
had recently moved to bangkok, suggested that we meet
up in chiang mai in the north of thailand to celebrate
songkran, the thai new year. originally conceived as
an annual purification ceremony where the buddha
figures were cleansed with water, songkran has somehow
evolved itno a 3-day waterfight blowout extravaganza,
with chiang mai at the epicenter of all the madness.
literally tens of thousands of revelers, young and
old, lining the streets, crowded on the backs of
pickups, with water guns, buckets, 50-gallon drums
filled with ice water, dousing anyone and everyone
indiscriminately for three straight wonderfully
juvenile days. no such thing as collateral damage in
this war - if you're out and about, you are fair game,
and you will get completely and utterly and lastingly
wet. it was my first songkran, but i was no virgin to
a good waterfight, and in all immodesty, i dominated.
armed with a high-powered water cannon, effective
range: 15-20m, for long distance volleys, a
high-capacity assault rifle for full frontal attacks,
and a short range but highly accurate water pistol for
the "kill" - a series of highly annoying squirts to
the eyes and ears - all while wearing my scuba mask to
retain full visibility in the face of hostile enemy
fire, i proved yet again that superior firepower and
armor will defeat superior numbers every time. i also
proved that i am, as it turns out, an asshole
american.
i finally managed to drag my butt out of thailand, and
am now in luang prabang in laos, a sleepy little
french colonial town on the banks of the mighty
mekong. the two days i've been in laos have been
magical, but i'll save that for the next update,
whenever that may be.
love and miss y'all.
csp
the latest photos can be seen at
photos.yahoo.com/chansoobak under 'tonsai ii'.
unfortunately, no photos of songkran were possible
without a waterproof camera (nor without compromising
my battle-readiness), so your imagination will have to
suffice.
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