Tonsai - Home Sweet Home.

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On our way to Tonsai, Mathew and I picked up a friend. Andrew was a South African teaching English in Taiwan. He was vacationing at the moment, and we all stayed together to save money so accomodations would be "cheap cheap."
There was a price to pay in Tonsai, and it's paid in blood. I was attacked by mosquitoes quicker than I could swat. One morning, from simply rolling out of bed to walking to breakfast, I got 16 mosquito bites on my right leg alone. Needless to say, I made a great investment in "OFF" spray. That and "Tiger Balm" to calm the skin if I missed a spot with Deet. "Deet me up, Scotty!" The more the deet, the happier I was.
Well, I can't say I was happy when we first got to Tonsai. I actually wrote in my diary, "every minute here seems like an eternity in Hell." I was miserable at first, and asked Mathew if we could leave. There were many times, even that I thought maybe I would just head back to America.
So there I was, ready to leave. One step away from begging Mathew, "Please, take me out of this mosquito-ridden jungle" and something happened - I made some friends. It is funny how a perspective can change completely with the introduction of friends. I met Dan, Dani and Matt. They are three New Zealanders who I got along well with. I think the accents charm me. They introduced me to two Americans, Anna and Daniel. The six of us went rock climbing the next morning, and this was the first time for me on a rock. That was when I fell in love. Me + Big Rock = happily ever after.
We had a blast. We got all hot and sweaty climbing in West Riley, and then went into the ocean to swim and cool off. What could be better than that? Dani and I fed consumerism by buying bathing suits, and put them to good use. Here are a couple of pictures of Dani, Matt and me, and a monkey... so cute!
I also met a man named "Dave" who was doing yoga. He was a bright intuitive man who came to Tonsai to climb and do Yoga. His next door neighbor, "Mark" got along well with Mathew and me, and therein formed our circle of friends.

Andrew (the South African)
Dani, Dan and Mat (The New Zealanders)
Daniel and Anna (The Americans)
Dave (the Yoga-lover)
Mark (The English doctor)

Just a little geography lesson: If you head over to Au Nang Pier, you have two options: West Riley, or Tonsai. Tonsai is a rock climber's and smoker's heaven. Electricity comes on at 5:30 pm, and goes off at 8:00 am. So, still in the last century, it was a good place to start, as to beat any last bit of "Princess" out of me.
It's high time one gets used to no air conditioning and peeing outdoors since the bathrooms available are worse alternatives.

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There are no words to describe the joy and freedom of traveling and not having a cell phone, and minimal access to the internet. I left my phone in the trunk of my car back in Florida, and still in the back of my mind sometimes think I hear it ringing and look in my bag to find my phone to answer it. Soon, that will stop, and I will be one with Mother Nature...

I had an interesting conversation with a traveler couple who both brought their phones from their home country. He explained that we don't commit like we used to. Before cell phones were common and accessible as they are now, people would commit to doing something and stick to it. Meeting at a X location at 7pm Saturday meant that you were committed on Saturday night. Now, people will say, "sure, we can go out for coffee tomorrow morning. Call me then." So as to not fully commit, and to possibly cancel, since it's much easier since everyone's phone accessible.

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Photos

Andrew
Our new friend, "Andrew" was a solid guy. He stayed with us for about a week, and then left. We miss him!

George of the Jungle
Walking through the back roads of Tonsai, there are monkeys everywhere.

Dani, Matt and me
Happy at the beach after a hard morning of climbing.

new bathing suits!
We love our new bathing suits.

feeding the monkey pineapple
I would like to think that the monkey liked me, but really, he was just after the pineapple I was feeding him. So cute...

Rock climbing
It's easy to climb to the top, if only for the view.

Rock climbing
I made it to the top... the view was beautiful.

Pumella fruit
Mark introduced me to the cousin of grapefruit, and Mathew and I soon became addicted.

Mark having fun
Unlike our former President Clinton, Mark DID infact inhale...

mathew climbing
mathew is climbing on Cobra wall.

Frogs in Mark
Frogs seemed drawn to Mark's room. Sometimes two at a time. Mark was baffled by this, but I knew the real reason. The frogs were envious of his PRINCE status. Isn't that how all prince's start out?

Advanced Hammocking Positions
Mark intoduced me to "Advanced Hammocking Positions" and is just thinking about his next move. In the course of one day, I learned over 42 AHP! He is so talented!

Mathew and his Hammock
Mathew travels with his hammock. For good reason!

Mark belaying Joni
I made my scuba instructor cry (almost) when I told him I preferred rock climbing to Scuba diving. Although I do recommend both!

Big Rocks.
Look at that...
the rock formations were so beautiful, it seemed like someone took waterpaints and spilled it over the sides of the mountains.

Big Rocks.
Imagine climbing that.

West Railay
Come and stay for a while...

Comments

["Andrew"]

Memories!
Hey Joni! Your pics look great! Really great to relive Tonsai in my head. Had a great time with you and Mat there. Some of the pics remind me that you enjoyed a range of monkey business there on Tonsai:) Lekker lekker! A

[Anna Davies]

Ahhh, good times!
Joni, I will never forgot our trek on the water in the KAyak...it was tough but we made it back to land! Thanks for being a trooper!

[JRenee]

For sure... Kayaking is NOT my thing. I enjoyed staying on land with ya much more! xox