From the professional rock climbers...

---

---

It's been way too long between posts on here... but when it comes down to it, I'd rather spend time doing stuff than informing you all of what I'm doing. So here goes a rundown of the last few days...

Dad and I went on a great snorkeling trip to the Similan Islands, off the coast of Thailand from the town of Khao Lak, just north of the tourist center of Phuket (yuk!). The snorkeling was pretty good, but dad and I both agreed that the scenery of the islands was worth the price of the snorkeling trip alone. And besides, snorkeling isnt as much fun when you don't have a spear in your hand.

From there we headed to Kho Panyi, which is a stilt village hugging the side of a small mountainous island. Very few tourists actually staying there (they all showed up during the day on guided tours), so at night we were pretty much alone. The conditions were fairly primitive, nothing more than a thin mattress on the floor, and no air-con (dad's new favorite word). The one day that we stayed there, we took a tour of the islands, including "Jame Bond Island" (not a typo- thats the way they said it), where they shot a scene from The Man with the Golden Gun. The islands in general were gorgeous, but Jame Bond Island was a bit of a letdown. All in all, though, Kho Panyi was a unique experience.

Then by bus to Krabi, taxi to Ao Nang, and finally long tail boat to Railay. On a single island they had two different beaches: one was more of the semi-expensive tourist crowd, and the other was a big backpacker and rockclimber crowd. We had the best day of the trip here (by far), starting with a sea kayak trip around the island to a few different caves and back to Han Sai (the rockclimbing place) for a rockclimbing trip in the afternoon. Dad broke his leg at the top of the climb, and due to the remote location, had to set it himself using only palm leaves and shoestrings, while I was on the ground shouting "Suck it up, you're a Ripple!" But seriously, the rockclimbing was extremely exhilarating. On the first climb we went up about 60 feet, and felt like we were on top of the mountain. For the next climb, our giude had to bring the lead rope up the rock face so that we could follow on our climbs. We're watching him go up, and dad keeps says "Why is he going that high? We're definitely not going that high!" I tried to convince him that after a certain point, it doesnt matter if you're 50 feet or 500 feet up, if something happens, youre dead. So we climbed anyway, dad going first to about 130 feet STRAIGHT UP, and me following, going about 3 feet from the top of the climb, or about 145 feet. At the end, I couldnt understand how our guide had gotten those last three feet- it seemed that there was nowhere else to grab, and my forearms and calves were totally cramped. I did get to enjoy the view on the way down- looking out at the harbor and this beautiful island from 100 feet in the air has been one of the best memories from the trip so far.

So now we are in Kho Phi Phi Don, about an hour and a half by ferry from Railay. Today we went out on a trip to Kho Phi Phi Leh, a national park where they filmed the movie The Beach. The view was absolutely breathtaking, a perfect cove inside the island with a bright white beach running its length and shear rock faces all the way around. On the other side of the island, there was some very good snorkeling, and a fun place to do some cliff jumping (but only about 20 feet high). Then we came back to the hotel for a wonderful (and cheap!) Thai massage- for only 500 Baht more, dad is bringing the masseuse home to work on his back every day. Hopefully Sarah won't be coming home anytime soon, because her bed will be occupied.

So tomorrow we enjoy Phi Phi a little more in the morning, and then catch the ferry to Phuket, and a flight tomorrow evening to Bangkok. From there, who knows.

I hope everyone is doing well back home... I think dad may move to Railay beach, so I don't know when the next time you will see him will be. Enjoy the pictures... I will go back and post a few on my last blog post, so be sure to check those out, and check out my Picasa page for more pictures... it just takes too long to upload them to this blog.

http://picasaweb.google.com/mjripple

---

Photos

Railay
from the sea kayak

rockclimbing
I'm in the orange shorts

Comments

[Miss Karen]

Rock climbing question
That rock climbing thing is pretty impressive, but don't they have those sticky-outty things to hold on to when you climb? Getting to the top shouldn't have been such a problem. Sounds like quite an experience. Take care of Mr. Merk - Molly wants him back in one piece. Take care, Have fun - Miss Karen

[Ms. Donna]

Sounds wonderful!!!!
Loved your descriptions about PHI PHI - I want to go there. Rock-climbing sounded scary.... better to hear about it after the fact, thank you for that. Be careful and watch out for the old man! We want you (both!) back in one piece. No fair describing fake injuries :( Love to u both, The Colosino's

[S]

pictures
What happened to the snorkeling pictures! And who knew that you could climb rocks...now I know you to put on top of the bench to tune the EMKA :-) It looks like you are having a great time. I am jealous sitting here in New Orleans. :-)

[Scott Cabes]

Greetings from the big easy...
Hey guys.. sounds like you're having a blast! Michael... take care of that old man and don't let him try to wrestle any locals. Mark... good luck keeping up with that youngster. And by the way, we had a meeting at the firm and you're out...it's now offiically ED+C. We're interviewing Bubby tomorrow as new client development director. Have fun. Can't wait to hear the stories when you get back! Scott.

[Dahui You]

Michael.. We are all jealous!!!! Stop teasing us!