Tonsai beach - No Power, no hot water, no problem :)

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Despite Kata being a quiet town, I grew tired of the touristy areas in Phuket. I decided to try a remote island in Krabi called Railey. I had to take a 4 hour long bus trip to get to Krabi. Upon arrival I found a driver to take me to Ao Nang... or so I thought. After a 25 minute ride the other passenger became aware that I probably wasn't being taken to the right place. It turns out that the driver hadn't really meant Ao Nang and I had to pay an extra 300 to convince him to head that direction. Considering I could have been stuck in the middle of nowhere in Thailand I considered 300 baht to be a fair price.

After a 6 hour journey I finally arrived at Tonsai beach. There was no one to greet the boat, no electric signs at all, and very few wooden sign with directions. I realized almost instantly that this is what I wanted to experience in Thailand. The power is only on from 6:30pm to 7am. The internet exists, but is solar powered and usually only available at night.
Unplugging myself from the rest if the world wasn't an easy task. I realized how much power and the Internet had become a part of me. The inital fear if missing that "one important email" quickly abated and left me in pure relaxation. We should all unplug from the world more often.

I missed the deep water solo climbing due to bad weather and low season. I ended up signing up for a normal climbing course instead. After dropping off my things I wandered the island with nothing but a light, rudamentary map and water. I saw railey west, railey east, limestone formations seemingly created just for climbers, bat cave, and tonsai beach. The fast way back was an unmarked climbing trail over the rocks. It was at this moment I thought I was prepared because of my light. Unfortunately it the sky started a torrential downpour making me hurry back to my bungalow for my poncho. Thankfully I brought my waterproof bags for my camera.

After a nice dinner and Mai Tai I turned in early to Dave energy for my day of climbing. My 300 baht/night room had a mosquito net and only cold water. I'm guessing this is standard on this island both due to the lack of power and copious amount of aggressive Mosquitos. If you ever come here be sure to bring mosquito repellant, headlamp, toilet paper, and beach towel.

I awoke at 7 am to very loud thunder and rain. It didn't stop until 12 noon. While waiting for the climbing lesson I chilled out by my bungalow reading "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo". Surrounded by nature and a lack of amenities I felt somehow back to my roots as a human being even thought I have never lived with so little. It is easy to see all the things you take for granted in society when you have little and see others with almost nothing.

Climbing outdoors for the first time was exhilerating. The views was spectacular since the site was right on the water. The limestone formations looked right out of a rock climbing magazine. The guides had clearly climbed this site thousands of times with tourists and made everything very comfortable. The climbs were 6a+ and not too hard with the exception of one climb that had sharp finger holds. The climbs went up to 30 meters high!

It felt great to finally do something I had always wanted to do. There is something about being on vacation in a new place that makes adventure easier to seek. It's unfortunate everyday life can't be so full of variety and spice.
The next day was full of rain as well, but I met a lot of cool people and wandered the island. Tonsai is a great place to get away and experience nature away from so many of the amenities we have in America. I hope to come back and do more advanced climbing some day 😊

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Photos

Bat cave
Awe inspiring bat cave with limestone formations.

Railey or Tonsai....?
This totally looks like one of the signs out of a movie that gets swapped to trick visitors into a trap.

Cobra in the toilet
One of the climbing instructors went to use the bathroom and instead saw a cobra come out of the toilet! Seriously, a F*$%ING COBRA came out of the toilet. They tried to get him out with sticks, but it retreated into the pipes. Needless to say I was very careful with my #2s from then on!