Journey to Chiang Mai

We are in Chiang Mai now, which is in the north of Thailand.  After leaving Ton Sai we spent a day traveling to the Malaysian border to get a new visa.  We then took an overnight bus to Bangkok and spent a very sleep deprived day killing time until our evening train to Chiang Mai.  I cannot emphasize enough how much I enjoy train travel over the bus.  The train trip was wonderful and I got a full 12 hours of sleep, we also picked up some real cheese and crackers and gorged ourselves.  There are definitely some foods we miss, cheese and bread seem to be high on that list right now.  Upon arriving in Chiang Mai we walked to our guesthouse, dropped our gear and found the rock climbing shop.  They were super helpful and we picked up the guidebook, they also have a bouldering wall and show movies.  The next day we started climbing after renting motorbikes and cruising around town a little so I could learn how to ride, I was a bit nervous but got the hang of it.   We rode the 40k to the crag and climbed the limestone cliffs, which is what we've been doing for several days.  The climbing here is good, not great and there isn't a lot of it, but it should keep us busy for the rest of our time in Thailand.  It's different to be back in a city,  it's noisy and smoggy, but it's a nice city to be in.  There are a lot of Wats and old architecture and monks in saffron robes, and markets and coffee shops.  And most important a 7-eleven on every corner!  We'll be here for another week or so and then on the Laos.

Ian enjoying the artwork in Krabi.

  

Interesting statue in a mall in Bangkok.

CHEESE!!

My motorbike, I liked the color.

Exploring the caves at Crazyhorse Buttress.

Ian on the train.

They let us back in!

Last Adventures in Ton Sai

Our last few days in Ton Sai we did some of the things we had talked about.  We went through one of the karsts in a cave system that accesses one of the climbing areas.  It wasn't too complicated, but it was fun and makes you realize that the mountains are made of swiss cheese.  We also went deep water soloing with Wee's climbing school.  This was super fun and more about jumping into the water than actually climbing.  I was amazed at the people in the group that immediately climbed 60 to 80 feet to jump.  Though they did hesitate and ponder the decisions in life that brought them to that moment.  A few had to be talked down and one got a massive bruise on his leg.  Ian and I were a bit more cautious, Ian being much braver than me and we worked our way up to higher jumps.  It was a great way to spend our last day.  We are currently in Krabi, we did a visa run to the Malaysian border today and are taking an overnight bus to Bangkok tomorrow.  We'll head to Chiang Mai in another day or two to spend our last two weeks in Thailand.  It was hard to leave Ton Sai, though the climbing isn't the best we've done, you can't beat the location.  Being able to jump in the ocean right after a climb and the quiet, chill island-like lifestyle is tough to beat.  I have a feeling we'll be back again in the next few years.  We also changed our plane ticket back to Florida to March 2nd rather than the 30th so Ian could easily go back to work when he gets called.  Our current plan is to go to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky and get a little more climbing in before returning to winter.  If you want to climb in March/April come to Kentucky!

Climbing up the bamboo "ladders" inside the mountain.

'

Our caving experience.

The cave ended in a rappel down to the ground which overlooked the beach on Railay West.

Riding in the longtail boat out to deep water solo.

The fun/craziness begins!

Ian takes a plunge.

A modified bat hang.

Ian goes higher.

Took a little thinking before he made the jump.

Britta falling off the 5.11d, super fun but sharp climb.

Local Wildlife

Ian learning his praying mantis technique.

So we are finishing up our time in Ton Sai, need to head to Malaysia for another visa.  We've had a great time here.  I'll post pics of our latest adventures soon, but here are some of the local wildlife.  Other interesting animals that I spotted were a giant (3 or 4 feet long) iguana, a few snakes, goats, a goose, a few snakes, tree frogs, giant spiders, squirrels, a weezle, jelly fish, sea cucumbers, starfish and many cool bugs.  We are heading to northern Thailand next, to Chiang Mai.

Our doorman, he kept out the rif-raf.

Used to be a pufferfish.

Mmmm, delicious moth.

Electrical wires are easier to travel than trees.

Dusky Languars, were my favorite monkeys, though really shy.

A foot-long iguana.

Some Thailand Photos

We are still in Ton Sai and will be for about another week, but here are some pics.  Not much to report, climbing, swimming, hanging with friends, life is good.

Ian and a "bird catcher" spider.

Apparently Santa parties hard in Thailand.

Overlooking Railay beach from the top of Crystal Flame, a 3 pitch climb.

Sunset after a swim.

Ian monkeying around.

I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts...

Happy New Year!

On December 20 we took a 4 hour train from Agra to Delhi took a taxi to the airport, flew overnight to Bangkok and got a taxi to our hotel.  We were hot, tired and slightly delirious, but while we were checking in they brought us fresh made pineapple juice and I knew we had just gotten to paradise.  We spent 3 days and 2 nights in Bangkok recovering from India and doing "city" things like buying a new camera (ours took a header off a climb in China) and eating really good food to try to combat the weight we had lost.  The camera turned into a mini-epic as the one we bought was from a certified Nikon dealer but when we tried to use it after charging the battery, the lens was broken.  After some arguing we were told that we had to bring it across town to have the techs fix it, they don't do exchanges here.  I was pissed, we only had 3 hours to catch our bus to Krabi!  I put the fear of god into the techs that it had to be fixed, after they told us it was a 2 day wait.  They did fix it though and we were on our way to Ton Sai.  We took an overnight bus to Surathani, another bus to Krabi Town, a pickup to Ao Nang and a longtail boat to Ton Sai.  While wandering around trying to find a room we were hailed by our friends Noah and Amanda, who are fellow Alaskans, we had no idea they would be here.  We spent a few days hanging with them, it was nice to have instant friends in a new place.  So Ton Sai and connecting Railay are some of the most beautiful places to rock climb, right on the beach, amazing views and really dramatic rock.  We are planning to climb for a few more weeks before we head to Chang Mai to check out the climbing up north.  There are great trails for me to run, picture perfect beaches, great food, fun people and good rock climbing, we are in heaven!  Happy New Year!

A spirit house in Bangkok.

The Bangkok skyline from our hotel room.

The retro restaurant at the Hotel Atlanta, where we stayed in Bangkok.

The pool at our hotel, the first hotel pool in Bangkok back in the 50's.

Our pickup ride to Ao Nang.

On the longtail boat coming into Ton Sai.

The ants go marching one by one...

Fighting the crowds on Ton Sai beach.

Kicking it on the beach.

The view from Railay towards Ton Sai.