Chapter 2, Pt. 1: Bangkok and Southern Thailand

Hello again friendly readers!

Thank you for returning for the second installment of this travel saga in four chapters. If you are tuning in to this blog for the first time, scroll down to the earlier post, "Introduction and Chapter 1", for some orientation. For your reading and viewing pleasure, I have decided to deliver Chapter 2 in two parts. The story commences where we left off: Aiyanna and I, after our cross country drive, flying with Moshe around the globe...


We land in Bangkok to the hustle and bustle of one of the world's biggest and busiest cities. Last time I was in Bangkok, I arrived from India to a city that seemed to sparkle in comparison to the dirt of Delhi; this time, traveling from America, Bangkok's heat and city smog overwhelm me, but Aiyanna and I are excited to be here. Jet lagged, on the other side of the planet, we take to the streets.


Aiyanna's father leads us from our dingy room on Khao San Rd to his favorite part of Bangkok-- China Town. Here he shows us where he gets tingling electro-accupuncture by Chinese doctors while pushing us into his favorite Thai massage parlor: rejuvenating after our long flight.


The markets of Bangkok are full of exotic fruits; everything is in season. Mangosteins sell for 20 baht, or about 80 cents, a kilo. We eat our fill.


Thailand is predominantly, though not exclusively, Buddhist, and the many temples in Bangkok and accross the country host many striking images: shimmering Buddhas, saffron robed monks, and enormous candles burning with blessings.


We are not long in Bangkok. The city is a difficult place to relax, and Aiyanna and Moshe have work to do: a book to read. We head out of Bangkok first class on an overnight sleeper train South to Krabi and the Andaman Coast. None of us being accustomed to first class travel, we felt pampered on the sleeper train as we rolled out of Bangkok, and, as I looked at the people staying along the tracks, observed the poverty outside the window.


Boats remain a crucial mode of transportation in Bangkok and all over Thailand...


...After arriving in Krabi Town we chartered a boat to Railay Beach, which is not accessible by road. The seas were rough as rain poured down on our long-tail driver.


Aiyanna and Moshe grin at the adventure; I trust in the longtail driver while hoping a rogue wave doesn't overturn our small vessel and ruin my camera gear.


Twenty minutes later we land at Railay East, the cliffs looming and beckoning. We hike across the isthmus to Railay West, and then around the cliffs at low tide to Tonsai Bay, our home for the next two weeks.


Mountain View Resort: our bungalow and home sweet mildewing home for the next two weeks. Hot shower? No way. Mosquitoes? Ravenous. 5 dollars a night? We'll take it!


Let me introduce a few of my friends for the next two weeks:
Frogs found by flashlight during the monsoon rains...


Sea slugs in the tidepools...

Giant orb spiders over our heads...

Cats doing battle with enormous stick bugs... and more you will see as you read on!



If you read my blog over my last adventures, you might remember I was in Thailand and Tonsai three years ago. Last time I was at Tonsai I had a birthday and turned 26; this time at Tonsai I turned 29. If it seemed unlikely to me to find myself here for a second birthday, the experience I had at dinner that night was far more serendipitous. Aiyanna and I, while eating a big fish dinner to celebrate, were joined by two other travelers. These two travelers, as it turned out, were also BOTH celebrating their birthdays, and to push the unlikelihood of this 3-way-birthday meeting to even greater levels of incomprehensibility, turns out they were turning 23 and 31, which alongside my 29, made 3 prime numbers!! I was so utterly flabbergasted... a small world scenario to the highest degree.


I furthermore thanked my lucky stars for a full moon and relatively clear skies the night of my birthday; I am indeed a very lucky person, so grateful for everything...


Working on the project that brought us all to Thailand together, here are Aiyanna and Moshe reading and editing the book sunset-beachside...



As a glorious sunset washes the ocean in pinks and purples, a conflict is brewing. In a way, this sunset is symbolic in the story of Aiyanna and Moshe's work. Up to this point, everything was rosy: Moshe was exuberant to be at Tonsai, and he marveled at Aiyanna's writing and enjoyed a book largely about himself. But as the sun set over the bay, so did his good humor, and he became angry with the words he read. He and Aiyanna began to fight over whose stories, whose voices, whose perspectives were allowed within the pages of the book. I looked on with empathy for each, simultaneously immersed and separate from their story.


While they worked and struggled, I used the time to improve my slackline skills...


And tried to get some of my climbing strength back. Here I am fighting my project "Lion King", 6C+ (11d), which was my nemesis through the 2 weeks at Tonsai. It's basically a tall boulder problem with huge jugs, but it's steep, polished, and baking in the sun almost all day long... but still, it's a beauty of a beast, and someday I'll send it without falling.


And here I am flailing through a 7b (12bish) on the Tonsai Wall. After making it through the crux, I was too pumped to finish; alas 7b is a little too hard for me these days.


Aiyanna also had time to learn to climb...


And climb she did! Here she is on a 6a (10a) at the beach, and not pictured is her at the top, grinning.


Hard work, hard play, and lots of time to relax at the beach side bars-- I tell you, life was rough!



Night or day, the karst cliffs plunging into the ocean make for inspiring scenery.


July through September is monsoon season in S.E. Asia.


Watching a monsoon rush in over the ocean, and then observing its ripping power blowing a driving rain sideways, was a pretty awesome thing (when it doesn't catch you off guard at a crag!).


And then, because you can't climb when it's raining sideways, you hide under Chicken Momma's shack and eat a delectable barbeque chicken leg.


Let me introduce you to some more of my friends:
Snail under banana leaf...


Shiny beetle...


Cliff-side monkey...


And snacking tree monkey.



There are some strong climbers congregating in Tonsai. Here Kay, from Sweeden, sends an 8b+ (14b) project.


Opting out of climbing the 8b's, I stuck to 6c's like this bouldery fellow. A nice climb! We did this 6c and then another one that was even better...


The climb went up and around the arrette here. Lucky me I climbed it first, because as Simon tried to go up after me, a huge monsoon came in and nearly blew him off. It was another beautiful storm...




Moshe went back (angrily) to Bangkok, and without the book project to work on during the day, Aiyanna and I took some time to leave Tonsai and wander around Railay. Here is "Happy Island" off of Au Nang beach. Yes, there are climbing routes on Happy Island-- when the tide is out.


She walks in beauty and thoughtfulness...


I boulder in Chacos...


And we make a treacherous mud climb to a lagoon...


It was a vertical drop by a mud-slick rope to the lagoon. Aiyanna opted out, I tried my luck...


I am a muddy animal.


The lagoon was la-great, though I didn't stay too long what with the bird sized mosquitoes and Aiyanna waiting beachside. Some friends of ours had been mud wrestling here the day earlier, although they complained the water made them itch! I thought better to just look.


Here's a good view of the whole area: Railay East on the right, Railay West left, and Tonsai in the distance below the far cliffs... no roads, just water!


Our time at Tonsai running out, we spent our last evening bouldering at the beach. We both felt stronger than when we arrived, and Aiyanna seemed much more confident on the rock. She look quite strong here making a traverse over the sand!


Tonsai is a great place. Sitting back and watching a climber silhouetted by sunset hues, it's no wonder why climbers flock to these cliffs. But the climbing scene has changed Tonsai. What once upon a time 15 years ago was a quiet fishing village is turning into a resort town that attracts far more people each year than its infrastructure (or rather total lack of infrastructure) can handle. Trash-- paper, plastic, and styrofoam, is burned, and the sewage of so many visiting butts creates far more waste than any of the septic systems can handle: a smell is evident from time to time, from place to place. All these issues left me wondering about myself as a traveler and a tourist in Thailand. These questions would follow me as we left Tonsai, returned to Krabi, and eventually headed north. But more of that later...


Krabi Town proved an interesting place to spend a day:

Fresh treats from the market in Krabi town. A handful of hot chili's anyone? No? Maybe some snails then? Still no takers? We also opted out, just looking and not buying these delicacies.


One-thousand two-hundred and thirty-seven stairs to the top of the Tiger Cave Temple. Turns out this stairway is not for the faint of heart! Aiyanna looks at the top, "Seriously? 1,237? OK..."


Too busy gripping the railing and pulling ourselves up the often nearly vertical stairway to count, we just had to take the signs word for it. It felt much longer than I anticipated...


Looking up, we couldn't see the top, but from the top, it was very impressive to see the bottom!




Of course the views of the surrounding karsts of Krabi Province were quite breathtaking-- even more breathtaking than the stairway! Definitely worth the climb. These were our last views of Krabi Province, and the next morning we boarded a bus to Phuket Airport, and then a plane to Chiang Mai in the North of Thailand, where Chapter 2 will resume when I find time again to write.

Thank you for reading everyone! I know this post has been long; there were just a lot of pictures I wanted to show you. There is still a lot more to come from Thailand, and perhaps the best is yet to come in Laos; indeed a wise person once told me that the best is ALWAYS yet to come! May that be true for us all. Love and peace to all.

PS: For more stories of our travels, please read Aiyanna's great blog @ www.birdbeartracks.blogspot.com. She's such a talented writer, I'm sure you will enjoy it also!