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Published: April 19th 2008
Sunrise at Railay East
Tonya, a girl we met the night before at a party held at Wee's Climbing Shop, had mentioned that she saw a pretty sunset from Ton Sai that morning. I suggested that we get up early and hike to the other side of the mountains so we could see the sun rise for the East Beach. So Chris, Tonya, and myself all rallied for the cause at 5:20am and were rewarded with this. The location of this entry, Railay Beach, is somewhat misleading. It is hard to choose a place to label my first week in Thailand. The fact is that I was in Hat Yai, Krabi, Railay, Ton Sai, Ao Nang, Phuket Town, and saw most of the rest of the Phuket Province by motorbike. I'm choosing to write about my first week because I spent the vast majority of it with my college roommates Joe and Chris. It was special to say the least. What follows are some of my adventures meeting up with them and of course stories of our time together.
I must also say that I was tempted to title this blog entry something other than the Three Amigos thing. This week was really all about one individual we met and got to know during our 5 day stay at Ton Sai beach. His name is Saman, Man for short. Pronounced like lawn, just with an M rather than an L. More to come on him later, however, out of respect to Man I wanted to let you know early on in this entry that he truly defined this week for Chris, Joe, and myself.
With all
First Drink by the River
On my first night in Thailand my new friend Patrick and myself went for a drink down at the River. A 11 hour travel day that began at 7am was rewarded with a cold drink of Beer Chang. Our timing couldn't have been more perfect as we arrived just in time to get settled, shower, and take in the sunset by the river. that said let me get down to the meat of the week, so to speak. I think I left you guys last when I was leaving Malaysia. I had spent a night in Penang and early the next morning I caught a bus to Krabi. Krabi is a medium sized city in Thailand that is a nice jumping off point to some increadible beaches on the Andaman Coast. It is also a place that many travelers coming from the south stop to go out to Phuket, Koh Lanta, and Koh Phi Phi. My reason for stopping there was that I had planned to meet up with Joe and Chris, roommates from college, there and to spend the better part of the week on Ton Sai Beach. So I hopped an early bus where I met a fellow from Finland named Patrick. Patrick and I sat next to one another on a cramped mini-bus for the better part of 12 hours. The bus stopped for us to walk across the boarder and get out passports stamped, and on another occasion to get some food (for some reason we didn't eat). I guess we just figured we would be there soon enough
Longtail Boat to Ton Sai
Chris and Joe arrive later today. So I take the day to go explore Ton Sai with Patrick. We catch a longtail boat from Krabi to Railay East. Silly me, I forgot to reference my instructions from my cousin on how to get to Ton Sai. That would have saved us the hastle of hiking for 45 minutes in the heat while Patrick carried his big backpack. Oops. and would indulge in a nice dinner upon arrival. Next thing you know it is almost 6pm and all I had to eat today was......nothing. What a disgrace? I'm supposed to be Bourdaining it (thanks Dre) through southeast asia and all I have to say for myself is that I missed two, maybe three meals already.
The nice thing about skipping many meals in a day and arriving to a lovely evening in Krabi is that when you get down to the river and sit down for an ice cold beer it tastes better than any beer you have had in your life. And if you have a gander at the first photo I posted you can see what kind of evening sunset accompanied that beer. Furthermore, after we finished the beer, Patrick and I did make our way to the night market and we had some damn good food. The most memorable was by far these sausages on a stick that were smothered in a sweet chili sauce. They tasted somewhat similar to the sausages that my Dad mixes up with his Italian marinara sauce. It did however take all the strenght I had to not eat 20
Pickup Truck to Ao Nang
Chris and Joe have arrived. After consulting my cheet sheet that my cousin Suzanne gave me before I left home we make the smart move and drive to Ao Nang before catching a longtail boat directly to Ton Sai. of those things and return to the guesthouse. Patrick and I were exhausted and got a good night sleep.
Patrick was eager to get to Ton Sai beach in the morning and he was checking out of the guesthouse today. I however was staying one more night, anticipating the arrival of my buddies. But I did join Patrick for the day out to Ton Sai beach. It is a short taxi/boat ride away from Krabi and I had no problem getting back in plenty of time to meet Chris and Joe. I considered the day to be an opportunity to explore a bit of Ton Sai and sort out accomodation for the next few nights, when Joe, Chris, and myself returned. The day was a great success. I got to spend more time with Patrick, I met some really nice girls on the beach that we would no doubt run into the next few days, and I planned a kayaking trip from me and my buds when we got there the next day.
If I go on explaining eat moment of each day this week then this blog entry could go on for quite a long time and
All Smiles
I got Chris and Joe to my left, a beautiful beach to my right, we are headed on a longtail boat to the most fantastic beach paradise I have ever been to, how could I not be smiling? you would most likely be bored to death. So I'll try to hit some of the highlights. But first, why did I choose Ton Sai beach. I mean, Joe is flying halfway around the world to spend one week of his precious vacation here. It isn't exactly the first spot on most tourists list in Thailand. The big hits are Koh Phi Phi, Koh Phangan, Bangkok, Chaing Mai....etc.... Well the answer to that is relatively simple. It was one of the first stops on my way through Thailand, on the South to North track. More importantly, my cousin Suzanne had just returned to California after spending the better part of three months there and was absolutely certain that we would love it. And love it we did. Ton Sai has so much to offer. It is a rock climbers paradise, you can kayak around beautiful limestone cliffs, the beaches are spectacular, the hiking is rigourous but inspiring, and the people are not your typical thailand backpackers. Without getting to much into a philisophical rant here about what a typcial thailand backpacker is, I'll just say that the people who come through Ton Sai are more laid back, are really passionate
Just Hanging Out
Before I go on to show you a picture of the master at work, let me show off my limited skills in this picture. You can see why this might be a rock climbers paradise. You dangle from the limestone with views like this just over your shoulder. about their physical activities, and tend to be satisfied with a more relaxed and laid back night life, rather than the all night drinking madness that you find other places. Add all these things up and I'm a happy camper.
Joe and Chris did eventually arrive. They pulled up to find me sipping on my first beer of the evening and writing in my journal. I stared through the smokey glass windows of the taxi as it pulled up to the guesthouse and for several moments wasn't sure it was them. When the 6 foot 4 inch frame sitting behind the glass started waving dramatically I knew they had made it. Joe and Chris popped out the car with nothing more than small packbacks (which I had instructed them to bring nothing more) and two huge smiles. They didn't seem phased by the long day of travel they had. Rather than slow things down I showed them quickly to the room where they put their things down and we went out for a repeat of my first night in Krabi. Drinks by the river and food at the market. Of course I didn't waste my time with any of
It was MANESS!!!!
This was my introduction to Man on the rock. Argueably the best rock climber on all of this province (I'm convinced he is without question) shows us some of his skills at Prah-nang beach. Folks, I took a close look at that wall he is on and there is nothing to grab on to, period. But he managed to go Spiderman on us, except this guy had no special effects. Suck on that Toby McGuire. the other food temptatins there. I went straight for the sausages and they were just like I remembered them from the night before.
In the morning we made a few stops before we headed to Ton Sai. I had to buy a couple things that people at the beach had requested. Stuff in Krabi is way cheeper. So we ran a bit of a bootleg operation. We loaded up on bottles upon bottles of liquor that we hoped to sell to other backpackers at the beach. In the end we broke even but the thought of running some business like selling liquor to our fellow backpackers was exciting for the few days we were together. Eventually we made it to our guesthouse at Ton Sai. The Garden View Resort. It barely had a Garden and was about 10 rooms in total, not exactly a resort. But it was a comfortable room with a fan and its own bathroom. I've come to appriciate when I get my own toilet in the room. We wandered about the area for a while so the boys could get a lay of the land and we stopped for a late lunch. I'm going to
Did I mention the Skills
Another popular pasttime in the Railay area is to tight rope walk. And of course, Man is a master. talk a bit more about his lunch becuase it was the begining of a daily tradition that has lasted for almost three weeks now. We arrived to a small cart where a women was selling BBQ'd chicken legs and sticky rice. The smell coming off that BBQ made my toes tingle a little bit. I glanced over to see that she had converted a 50 gallong steel barrel into a BBQ. The chicken was cooked to perfection. The color it had achieved was the product of slowly cooking a perfectly marinated chicken leg over low temperature coals. The skin was crispy and the meat was juicy, falling off the bone with each bite. I drenched my chicken in sweet chili sauce and couldn't restrain myself when it came time to lick the plate clean of any residual sauce that had escaped my lips earlier. That was it, chicken from my lady every day. The last two weeks were defined by variety. I tried something new every day and never ate the same dish twice. But the options were limited on Ton Sai and I'm grateful for that. I returned every day to see the same smile and shining eyes behind
I give it a try
How hard could it be? They make it look so easy. I gave it a try and failed miserably. Later on during our stay Man coached me for a long time and by the time I left I could walk one of these things with the slightest amount of grace. To all of my Gold's Gym buddies that read this, if you think you GOT CORE, then you should try hopping on one of these things for a bit. It makes standing on the stability ball feel like cake. I think we should rig one of these up in the aerobics room at Gold's and make a class out of it. that BBQ. There is a level of respect that is unspoken when you give your business to the same person every day. I could sense that she was grateful for it and she knew that I loved what she was feeding me. I also have a bit of a heart connection to this lady because it was where I tried my first Som Tom ever. Som Tom is a thai papaya salad. It is mixed with tomato, green beans, garlic, chilis, lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, carrots and thinly sliced papaya, topped with toasted peanuts. It gets mixed and mashed in a mortor and I've had one, sometimes two, and even on occasion three, a day since. Som Tom and BBQ chicken have kept me alive the last few weeks since I tried them in Ton Sai and will continue to do so until I leave Thailand and can't find it anymore.
Later on that day we stop in at Wee's Climbing shop. Wee's is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, climbing shop in Ton Sai. It is also the shop that our new friend Man works at. Man is my cousin Suzanne's boyfriend and I was
Our first Sunset at Railay
Liz, Patrick, Joe, and Chris all pose for this photo while we watch the sun go down on our first night together on Ton Sai. told that I absolutely must go and see him. I did have a little gift that Suzanne had sent with me for him that was a nice ice breaker when we stopped in to see him. But there was no ice breaker needed. Man was the best host we could ask for. I learned so much from him in the few days we spent there. We didn't even get to spend as much time with him as he would have liked (he kept telling us that he wished we could have spent more time together but he had to work). But on that first day he made a point to leave his duties at the shop and take us for a walk around to some of the surrounding beaches. The beaches around here all all separated by short hikes through the jungle. It may sound inconvenient but really it is very special. You are completely isolated at these beaches. You can only really reach them by boat and you feel like you are on an island. In fact, most everyone makes the mistake of calling the beaches islands when they talk about where they are and where they went on
Friendly Visitor
Wildlife is everywhere at Ton Sai. This little lizard popped up on our patio just as we were getting ready to leave for the day. such and such day (it was so much fun at the island...). Man escorted us to Pra-nang beach. He climbed up and over mountian of rocks with such grace as we followed clumbsily . I did my very best to keep up with him, challenging my safety over the rocks, just so I could save face in front of him. But my panting and sweat was impossible to hide at the end of the hike and it was right there that I began to get a sense of the many things that separated Man from me and just about everyone else. We got to Pra-nang beach and we got to watch some of his climbing buddies scale the rocks like spiderman. It was increadible to watch these guys jump around the rocks with now ropes at heights that could easily kill any inexperienced climber who fell. Man bought us some sweet corn on the cob that had been sitting over some hot coals nearby. He then proceeded to chalk up his hands a bit and play around on the rocks himself. It took about 10 minutes for me to realize it but Man is fucking good at rock climbing. I'm
Looking Back at Ton Sai and Railay West
Chris and I hiked up to this spot one evening to watch the sunset and to get some great views. What do you think? not just talking good like, wow he got up that rock and nobody else it. I'm talking, he gets up the rock that nobody else gets up but he does it with so much grace that it truly looks like he is attached the limestone and has spiderman grip. It is beautiful to watch.
It all hit me in a moment. He was coaching one of his friends, telling him in Thai something like you need to put your foot or hand here and there and do this and that. His buddy, who had been the star of the show up until then was having a hard time with this route. So Man got on the wall. Mind you he was wearing jeans, sandals, and had no chalk on his hands. He crouched down on the bottom of the rock, all four limbs holding or standing on the virtical wall. He made a squatting motion and then suddenly jumped a full bodies length in the air and stopped dead. He was dangling from an overhang, his sandals about 5 to 6 feet from the ground, and all that was holding him up were his index and middle finger of
George of the Jungle
Chris in his element. Out in nature, shirt off, taking in a spectacular view of the Andaman Coast. his right hand. He effortlessly pulled himself up and continued to climb over our heads and shimmy down a stalagtite back to the ground. Amazing barely does what I saw just then any justice. But in true Man fashion he just climbed off the rock and very humbly walked back to sit with us.
It was like that all week with him. There was something to do, some talent being displayed by someone, and ultimately you realized that Man could do it too, and he was always better than anyone else at it. He never made an attempt show someone up or to out do a friend. In fact it was usually our curiousity that got him out of a hammock to show us how to do something. Like tight rope walking. He gladly took time to teach me how to walk the tigh rope during the week we were there and in the process displayed is mastery of the task. One night he got out the Didgeridoo and asked if I played. As some of you may know I do have my own didgeridoo, an aboriginal instrument, and I can play it a little bit. So I blew
The Hike to the Lagoon
I mentioned the hike to the Lagoon and how serious a hike it was. Here is a glimpse of Joe on his way to the lagoon. Still early on in the game so all smiles. away for a few minutes in hopes that I had impressed our kind host. He smiled and asked me about how I circular breath and showed true interest. I did my best to explain but was cut short when he grabbed the instrument and started to play like he had be born with a didgeridoo attached to his lips. And that was the flow with Man. "Oh, no I don't do that, that must have been someone else you saw doing that...." "This is my first time doing something".... It was always genuine, he was always humble, he always kept a low profile. The way I reasoned through it was that in such a small place like Ton Sai, a guy like Man could be a celebrity. He was probably the best climber in the area. He had routed most of the climbs in the area and knew more about the rocks than the majority of people there. He could do just about any trick you asked him to do, play the didgeridoo, spin a fire stick, walk a tight rope, etc.... But for him leading the simple and laid back life was most important. He liked things they way
The Aftermath
Here is Joe after our lagoon adventure. Totally whacked (Tony Bourdains word for exhausted, out of sorts, just down right not well). Notice Joe is completely covered in dirt, leaves in his hair, face pressed to the sand, and in all seriousness passed out sleeping. This was not a staged photograph. they were, slow, laid back, easy going, and not too much stardom. As it is Ton Sai has grown quite a bit in the last 5 years. It is getting busier each year, bringing more climbers and backpackers to see everything this place has to offer. It is good for Wee's shop but at the same time it is changing the way of life for guys like Man. He has been there for most of his life from what I gather, climbing since he was very young, and as more and more people find out about Ton Sai and all its wonders life will continue to change and get a bit faster. But he remains so calm, so grounded, and so present through the lot of it.
As for the rest of our stay at Ton Sai, it consisted of Kayaking. We rented two kayaks between the three of us and cruised around for 4 hours. Joe and I flipped our kayak just moments after passing all our valuables to chris's kayak thinking that if one of the boats was going to tip it would probably be ours. We also hiked to a lagoon, the pictures of us getting
Joy comes in many forms
For Joe this hike to the lagoon took it completely out of him. He'll admit that he did have some fun but for the most part it was rough. For me, however, I just loved every minute of it. From the steep ascend, to this breathtaking view, to the trecherous descend, and then back out. there and Joe afterwards tells the story. We went climbing one day with Man, ropes and everything. Man was truely in his element when he was leading his group of climbing students. We climbed up a couple different routes. He coached us on how to do what was necessary to make it to the top. He then led us up in to some increadible caves that were so dark we need flashlights. We then absailed down an enourmous cliff with the ocean views behind us. At the bottom we had to hike down a slipperly steep hillside in the rain. It took all my focus and concentration to make it down. I fell several times. The ropes that were avaialbe to use on the way down were crucial. And here is where I get to tell you another hilarious and impressive story about Man.
Before we made the decent back to the beach, following the absail, we heard Man say something like "Wait, i have to get my flower...." He disappeared in to the jungle briefly. He speaks english good enough but not perfectly. We all made guesses as to what he meant by flower. I thought he meant
Rotti (Banana Pancake)
If you have been to Thailand then you know the that it is really not about beautiful views, wonderful people, and spicy Thai food. It is in fact about the banana pancakes. Don't get me wrong, all that other stuff is nice, but a thin layer of dough wrapped around slices of banana, covered in your choice of toppings (chocolate, nutella, sweetened condensed milk, sugar, jams, etc..) is why you come here. Chris got addicted and is seen here enjoying his second of the day. He was on a strict two pancake a day diet. Sorry friends, they are not gluten free. he was going to get a chalk bag that he tossed off the cliff. Someone else thought he meant he was going to take a crap in the woods, and there were other guesses that all turned up to be wrong. Moments after he vanished from sight, leaving all of us scratching our heads, he returned carrying what I can only describe as a baby palm tree. It was a tree, not a flower and it was bigger then he was. He has this monstrous thing slung over his shoulder and he then declared that it was time to head down the mountain. I'll remind you that this was a trecherous descend. There was not very good footing and with the rain it was only getting worse. I had a hard enough time getting myself down without a tree. Man managed to get down in half the time it did and he was carrying our climbing gear, and a palm tree. The guy is an animal. It was probably the single most impressive thing he did the whole time we were there. And he was so funny about the whole thing. He had this huge grin on his face the
Climbing for Real
With the safety of some ropes, with Man attached to the other end, I start my first trip up the rock. whole way down and when I saw him at the bottom. I guess it was sort of illegal to be taking a tree from the jungle so we did this big covert operation to get it in the boat without anyone seeing. I have a vivid image of Man running across the beach with the big flower and high stepping through the shallow water while he tossed the tree in to the boat.
The next morning he was up at 5:30am digging a hole and planting his baby. How I knew he was up at 5:30 was because we were up at 5:00 on our way to see the sunrise. We had planned that the night before we Chris and I were at the BBQ that was held for the students of Wee's climbing school. It was a great little party. Man had secured us more beer than we could finish, we ate BBQ squid and prawns, and Man introduced me to my first ever raw oyster. I sat and shucked about 40 or 50 oysters with him before he prepared one with lime juice, some chili's, garlic and fried onions. I slurped it down and enjoyed the delicious
Further Up
I made it all the way to the top without too much trouble. It helps to have a little Thai Man (no pun intended) below me telling me where my hands and feet need to go when I get stuck. taste of the sea. The texture was amazing. I gave the oysters a go without any fixings, with just lime, with just chili's, and loved each and every one. Not the most exotic thing I've eaten on my trip but the fact that I had never had a raw oyster in my life has come up several times this year and each time I've said that I was going to try one soon. I'm glad I waited until that night. It will remain as part of the memories I have of Ton Sai, my time with Joe and Chris, and of course Man.
It was amidst all the drinking and seafood that we decided that getting up on our last day in Ton Sai at 5am was a good idea. We hiked the long way to Railey Beach East to see the sun come up. It was about a 30 minute hike through the jungle and it ended with the most spectacular sunrise I have ever seen. In fact, it was probably the best sunrise/sunset/any sun near the horizon I have even wittnessed period. I hope you can appreciate that in the photo I put up. Chris and I
The Princess Caves
Before we go into total darkness we pose for a picture at the Princess Caves. We climbed bamboo ladders in total dark with flashlights until we reached the top from where we absailed down 60 feet. made the hike with a girl named Tonya we met the night before. She actually inspired us when she said that she had been up the morning before to see it. She didn't go to the east beach and was therefore equally as impressed with the sunrise on this morning. Joe didn't make it with us. In fact, when we got up to leave in the morning we found Joe passed out on the front patio, his sandals had been replaced by a pair that belonged to someone else and were much smaller. After we peeled his face of the pavement and got him in a bed we left.
That was our last day on Ton Sai. Chris and I had been talking about getting a massage before we left and we had only the morning left to do it. So we treeted ourselves to a Thai Massage. This was Chris' first massage of his life. We both walked away completely blissed out and so relaxed that we could hardly walk. We went for one last meal of Chicken and Som Tom. I said goodbye to our lovely cook and we hiked up the hill to say our last
Baddest Dudes of Ton Sai
I wish I had more pictures of Man. But this one would still probably be my favorite. Man and two of his climbing instructor buddies drive us back to Ton Sai on a longtail after a long afternoon of climbing, laughing, cave exploring, and absailing. Man is in the middle. goodbyes to Man. He left us with a few words of wisdom and a couple tips on avoiding trouble in Phuket, our next stop. The three of us jumped on a ferry boat and took the 3 hour ride towards Phuket Town where we stayed the next two nights. On our last day the three of us rented motorbikes and drove all over the Phuket Province. We logged something like 100 miles and saw pretty much the whole thing. We saw beaches, more beaches, and again more beaches. There was some eating here and there, some really nice lookout spots, and one last dinner together. We got to bed at a reasonable hour and the boys were up early and off to the airport.
So that wraps up my week with Joe and Chris. It was a very special treet to have two of my closest friends with me while I am so far away from home. I had a great time with them. I learned a lot about traveling with friends and I think they learned a lot about what it means to be traveling vs. being on vacation. I hope I inspired something in each of them,
Evidence we made actaully went
If you were thinking that I stole that last photo from some site on the internet then here is one of the three of us standing in front of the most spectacular sunrise of my life. I suppose if your name is Mr/Mrs Skepticism then you might say I photoshopped out pictures in to this one. Your choice... just as they inspired something in me. The goal for me is to always go home with something new. A lesson learned, a different state of being, an inspiration of sorts, or just the passion to take life on in a new way. For Joe, he was away only 9 days, Chris a bit longer. But even in a short time you can experience a great deal. And if you are paying attention during that short ride you can learn a tremendous amount about yourself. This was a great week for me. I had to think a lot about what it means to really give yourself fully to an experience. That was all that my friends had before they were on a plane home. I have 2 more months and could easily hide behind that comfort. I could hide and say that, well if I miss out today then there is two more months left. But I'd rather give myself over to this experience completely and daily and in each momment. It is the lesson that Man was teaching me the entire week. To live in the momment because we really don't know what is going to happen tomorrow.
Wild Hogs
The three of us spent our only full day in Phuket on these three motorbikes, or as I like to call them, Hogs. Inspired by the Hollywood motion picture, Wild Hogs, we set out on this beasts to see all that we could in a day. We covered most of the Island and it was the perfect end to a perfect week together. Infinite gratitude to my teachers during this week. Infinite gratitude to the the guru within me that is guiding me through this journey. And infinite gatitude and blessings to all of you who are with me in my thoughts and my heart.
Love
Marcus
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Amy Streeter
non-member comment
hey marcus! great entry...if i wasnt sold before (which i was) i definitely am now! by the way, that "tight roping" you were doing is officially called slack lining...its pretty popular with some climbers cuz it improves balance. there is even a club at my school! hah chaoo