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Published: June 24th 2008
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Almost three weeks into our trip and we have not stooped to a meal at McDonald's yet. Something to be proud of, right?
We spent our last morning on Phi Phi reading and swimming. A longtail boat took us to the harbor where we boarded a ferry for the two hour trip to Railay Beach East in Krabi. Wisened after our first ferry experience, we staked out prime territory towards the front of the boat (the bow...or is it the stern?), planning to enjoy the scenery and get some sun. However, about half way through the seas roughened a bit and we got quite wet as the boat crashed through the waves. We stayed outside but had to move to drier territory on the back of the boat. It seemed to be raining everywhere in the distance but somehow not on us.
Still rain free, we arrived at Railay Beach East. With the tide out, we had board longtail boats from the ferry to about half way to shore. From there, we waded through knee deep water along a submerged "sidewalk" to get ashore. Pretty funny scene with everyone carrying two or three bags and trying not to slip
on the moss and water covered sidewalk. It was a bit more than we bargained for! Found a place to stay for 300 Baht/night on Railay East (Phurit Valley Resort), which is only a short walk from the beaches at Railay West and Tonsai. Nice clean bungalows, still cold showers though! Railay West is the better swimming beach but accommodation is dominated by an expensive resort. Tonsai also has a nice beach and you can lay around and watch the climbers (this area is one of the top rock climbing spots in the world, or so I've been told). The rest of our first night was spent uneventfully exploring the island, avoiding the sporadic rain showers, and debating whether we should try our hands at one of the introductory rock climbing courses.
Woke up early on Sunday as there is construction going on right behind our bungalow...yes, even on Sunday morning. Happy to discover that there are an abundance of real coffee shops...no more nescafe for me. Made our way to the beach on Railay West after breakfast and swam and read until one of the frequent rain showers arrived. Fortunately they tend to pass just as suddenly as
they arrive. Having read about all the climbing right off the beach here, we began to wonder what we were missing. As we ate lunch, we watched people with climbing gear walk to the North end of Railay West and then "disappear." We decided to launch an investigation which revealed a well hidden and somewhat treacherous 30 min. hike that led to Tonsai beach and lots of extraordinary rock climbers (at least they seemed extraordinary to my amateur eyes). We spent much of the afternoon watching them work, taking a break only to weather one brief, but fierce, rain shower. Our curiosity properly piqued and a false sense of confidence gained by watching climbers who made even the toughest routes look easy, we signed up for a full day rock climbing course. It rained the rest of the night as we rested and mentally prepared for our big day of climbing.
Woke up to gray skies but no rain. Met our fellow "climbers" in front of the Hot Rock Climbing school at 8:45. There were six of us, all more or less beginners, including a fellow American. Americans seem to be few and far between here...you find people from
all over the world but not many from the states. After gearing up and learning the basics of belaying and knot tying, we started to climb (top rope). Top rope climbing involved climbing a route after someone has already secured the rope at the top of the route. When you lose your grip on the wall, as I did frequently, you don't fall anywhere b/c there is little slack in the rope between you, the ring at the top of the wall through which the rope runs, and the belayer on the ground. That probably doesn't make any sense and the terminology is most definitely wrong, but it's all I can come up with at this point. It's like a pulley system...except you do the climbing and the pulley mechanism comes into play when you reach the top and rappel down...or fall. I have to admit that Christine is a much better climber than I am. While I seemed to fall off the wall every chance I got, she climbed well all day...displaying an impressive natural talent for smart climbing (not wearing out her arms) and perseverance (even after an impressive head bang with the rock at one point). We
both enjoyed our climbing experience tremendously and are eager to give it another shot. This island is incredibly beautiful with rock bolted for climbing rising right out of the water everywhere you look. In the afternoon we climbed on a narrow stretch of beach with water on both sides. Made for some absolutely incredible views. The day left us with dead arms and fingers that could barely pop the tabs on the cans of Chang that we celebrated with (after the climbing was done, of course).
Today the rain has not been fleeting but steady since morning. Not sure what the rest of the day will bring but tomorrow we are off to Bangkok on an overnight bus...about time to explore the City of Angels, the Venice of the East. By the time we leave Bangkok, we'll have only a month of travel left.
Go Cubs Go!
Adam
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Christine & Adam
Island
Quick correction: This isn't an island, but as you can see from a map, is connected to mainland Thailand. However, you can only reach this part via boat as there are no roads from Ao Nang or Krabi town.