Farewell my Lovely

 Ton Sai was are little climbers paradise. The climbing was hard at first. It was real steep, often over-hung (more than vertical), with huge very polished holds. It is interesting when you move to a different type of climbing how you think about climbing changes a little. On this stuff you know where the next move is -most of the time- and you just have to make it. Sometimes it will play tricks on you. What seems a big old fat hold is really just some smooth as glass sloping rock. All the chalk on it a testament to previous climbers mistakes. Its been fun climbing in Ton Sai similar to the Red River Gorge but different too. To use the Thai phrase its same same but different.
In other news we came across a truly hilarious shrine. The story goes that a princess from one of the islands was coming over to marry a king on the main land. En route their ship sank just off the coast of Raileh and she died. Later she became viewed as a fertility god by the local fishers. Fisherman continue the long tradition of placing huge wooden penises in the Goddess' cave to please her, calm the storms and bring them many children. This practice transcends religion both Muslims and Buddhist alike both pray and bring offerings to this shrine. I have certainly never seen anything like it and don't think that I ever will again. The cave is located on Phra Nang Beach which is truly one of the most spectacular beaches I have every seen. It was particularly awesome at 6 30 in the morning before all the fucking Russian showed up.
The Limestone really does do spectacular things, forming caves and stalactites hanging at impossible angles with lush ever green forest on the tops. There is so much climbing here that has never been done we are just going to have to come back in a couple of years with some aid gear and put up some first assents.

Well now we are off to Phuket to have some R&R with Elliot (a family friend living in China) his wife Flora and unknown to us half of Russia.

Whats Up Tiger Lily

As we start to get settled in here in Ton Sai we have noticed a few recurring themes. Theme one is monkeys and cats, they are fucking everywhere and they do hilarious things. Yesterday there was a little kitten stalking a monkey, the kitten made a noise and the monkey turned around and threw a piece of fruit at it and ran away. Another theme is every one is really relaxed. Things get done slowly the people here are friendly and laid back and it is contagious. The last and so far only negative part of our trip is the trash. It is as ubiquitous as the monkeys and cats but not nearly as adorable. The area that we are staying in gets much of its charm and laid back life style from the fact that it is hard to get here and it is really hot. This also means that it is hard to get rid of trash and the huge poorly hidden piles of sometimes burning trash really stinks. The locals certainly realize the problem but don't have the resource to do much about it. Its hard to tell how much the average tourist things about it but the bars and restaurants have started putting up info about it. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be much Zach and I can do about it other than throw away as little as possible and pick up the trash that we see. Well on a lighter note today was our first day off climbing. We spent the day reading, getting massages, and playing chess. Well the sun is about to set and I am going to go out on the porch with a cold drink and watch it go down over the huge limestone cliffs.

First Days in Paradise

Well after we settled in on our first day we enjoyed a delicious chia tea over a game of chess. After that we wandered around Ton Sai in a jet lagged state of delirium and promptly fell asleep at about 5 in the afternoon. Don't worry our trip gets way more exciting soon. One of the benefits of waking up insanely early is that we get out rock climbing before it gets hot and crowded. For the past three mornings our schedule has been wake up and decide where we are going to climb. Eat a small early breakfast and get out to the crag as the sun is coming up. We then climb until about 11 O'clock, chill on the beach have another breakfast/lunch a beer and a nap while we relax in the shade and wait out the heat of the day. Then around four we may go back out or not and be in bed by nine. Although I am sure there is wonderful night life here we are enjoying things the way they are and fully realize that our ability to wake up before 5 in the morning is a gift that wont last long and we should use it while we can.

In the begining there was a train ride

After a few weeks of somewhat careful planning Zach and I set out for Thailand on January 12. The trip there was Hell on wheels, wings and water. It was an hour and a half on a train, followed by sixteen hours on a plane, two hours in Shanghai, four hours on another plane to Bangkok, five and a half hours in Bangkok, an hour and a half plane to Krabi, a half hour bus to AO Nang, and finally a thirty minute boat ride to Ton Sai a wonderful secluded rock climbing paradise. Ton Sai/Railay is a series of four beaches blocked off from one another by jungle and cliffs and blocked off from the rest of the mainland by lots of jungle and cliffs. The rock formations are truly amazing, I cannot describe them in words and wont have to when I figure out how to post pictures.

The Unexpected Journey

It was late July and I was sitting in the Mud-House coffee shop in Crozet, VA. It was hot. Very hot, and the Mud-House had air condition, ice coffee that I didn't have to make, and couches that I could doze away the afternoon on. As I finished my fourth iced coffee I decided that enough was enough and as Mud-House had decided that free refills no longer applied to me I checked my email in preparation to leave the land of free internet once more. I found an email from my buddy Zach asking if I wanted to go to Mexico for rock climbing after I graduated from college. Research started immediately. What we found was a lot of warnings about the area we where planning on going. So we shifted directions. West. Really west, so west that it was east. So here we come Thailand.

Welcome

Hey Yall and welcome to the internet version of Zach and Pete's excellent adventure to Thailand.
I will post as often as I can and keep yall in the loop with stories, musing, and ramblings, also pictures and videos if I can figure out how.