climbing limestone thai style..

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the concept of a place so swimming with rock climbers and climbing culture that you can turn up on your own and the next day be climbing with some really cool people is a new one to me, however it was very welcomed!

after two months of pure site seeing, i was pretty burned out.. i guess people, human history and culture arent really my strong points when it comes to staying focused..

again when you are doing one thing every day (climbing rocks) there aren't that many different ways to write about it..
i did however meet some excellent people during my stay, and learnt from, enjoyed the company of, and laughed with some of the most generous, helpful and fun loving travelers i have met to date.. definitely very happy with my time spent in tonsai..
these people together gave me the knowledge to start lead climbing this is where you go up first and take the rope with you, rather than being attached from above, the rope comes from below, resulting in much larger possible falls, but a much more rewarding climb to be had..

one note worthy event was indeed the roads turning to rivers with 2days of solid monsoon rain, unheard of, even by the locals.. tonsai escaped relatively unharmed, however nearby railay was well and truely washed away.. their "brick on sand" style of building was no match for the rivers that formed under the structures soon collapsing footpaths, gardens and shopfronts..

in my usual style, i did not take many photos of the events that took place and i only made an effort to do so on the last day.. luckily, the last day was one of the most scenic climbs i had done.. unfortunately, i did not feel like lead climbing that day (a 9hour climbing session the day before left me exhausted..) so the photos are top rope..

=)
fun times, awesome people, beautiful place.. life is good!

(photo 19 is looking back at the wall we had just spent the morning climbing where most of the photos were taken..)

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