Finally!! Only a month later and I have all the Thailand posts finished! It's kinda pathetic but whatevs.
Our last stop was Railey and then to the climbers beach haven of Tonsai. Railey is gorgeous! Picturesque beaches with warm greenish-blue water and heavenly resorts with all the trimmings. We arrived on East Railey and walked over to West Railey before hiking up and over a bit of jungle to get to the secluded Tonsai beach. If the tide is out you can take a short cut around the beach but when we arrived with our heavy packs the tide was in so it was up and over the hot sweaty jungle for us. Tonsai only has power from about 6pm till 9am in the morning. It was interesting to go to a restaurant and have them tell you that the blender to make your smoothie wouldn't be available till 6pm.
view of West and East Railey (matthewandcassiephoto)
sunset on Tonsai
Tonsai is the "climbers paradise" in Thailand. There are three climbing shops all within walking distance and the accomadations are much cheaper than what you find over the hill in Railey. We stayed in the nicest place at Tonsai and it was still much cheaper than anything in Railay plus we were right next to the fun climbing scene and a wonderous magical place called Mama's chicken.
While walking back to our bungalow this monkey was sitting in our path
Butterfly on our bungalow patio
Even with several dining possibilities on Tonsai we ended up going to Mama's everynight. The chicken and curry dishes and sweet sticky rice were so incredibly delicious and the prices were the cheapest around. For the two of us to eat till our bellies were protruding to obease proportions cost us a mere 4 dollars total. The sticky rice with bananas was a favorite of mine for breakfast although I found I was unable to move my protruding belly very well on climbs. Christian's favorite was the BBQ chicken which he would usually order two helpings of. Of all the things we miss about Thailand I think Mama's Chicken is at the top of the list.
Here is the chicken guy grilling chicken. If you got to Mama's too late they would be out of chicken. I think they only killed enough chicken for that day and then there was no more.
Our first day on Tonsai we met up with two of our really good friends Matt and Cassie. We met them in Utah when they joined the Utah Climbing club. We climbed with them for about 5 years but they left just over a year ago to go on a two year climbing adventure all over the world. We're so jealous of all their adventures and will often sit at work and stare at the pictures from the various destinations they blog about. If you want to feel like your own adventures pale in comparison or just to see some awesome pictures go to http://matthewandcassie.blogspot.com/ and check out where they are now. I've borrowed some of the pictures in this post from Matt and Cassie's flicker account. It was nice having friends in Thailand to reminice about old adventures and dream about new ones and relish the moments of our current one.
Matt and Cassie
First adventure was deep water soloing (DWS)! I was really excited to try this but also incredibly nervous because although I like to think I'm awesome at everything it was scary to jump/fall from high places and dodge jellyfish at the same time. Occasionally we would see these really huge jelly fish with diameters verging on extra large pizza sizes. They would slowly undulate by and you would have to wait till they passed before you fell/jumped into the water. Christian however, was much better at jumping from high places into the water and did not seem to fear the jelly fish quite like I do. The climbing was fun and it was nice to just feel free on the rock without being hindered by harnesses and ropes. We stopped for lunch at a secluded alcove where we could snorkel and relax. Being the climbers that we are though we found it much more appealing to boulder along the rock face on the beach instead of looking at the fish.
Just look at the color of that water!
climbing (matthewandcassiephoto)
Matt climbing the giant tufa
Christian climbing (matthewandcassiephoto)
A picture with both of us climbing (matthewandcassiephoto)
Me deciding how far up I should climb before it got too high... Christian is laughing at me (matthewandcassiephoto)
Should I keep going?
(matthewandcassiephoto)
(matthewandcassiephoto)
Christian leaps from the highest jumping point (matthewandcassiephoto)
Our lunch alcove (matthewandcassiephoto)
The third day the four of us went sea kayaking out to what I think was called Happy island. We could see it from the beach and thought it would be fun to paddle out and see it. Sea kayaking would have been fun and relaxing except that I had the "pleasure" of sharing a tandem kayak with sargent Christian. Christian grew up in a family of very avid and skilled kayakers. I thought I knew what I was doing but was reminded several times in the course of our pleasure cruise that I'm a dainty dipper and I fail at keeping a proper paddling pace. You see its beautiful out there in the ocean and the fishies are so pretty and I get easily distracted. Christian started drill sargenting me with "right, left, right, left" and "pay attention". Several times he would just give up and say "paddle down" which meant he'd paddle and I would stare at the fish swimming below. We've decided that for our marriage to make it we should not got tandem kayaking together ever again. Regardless of the now humorous situation we had a great time and I got a good work out. We had to cut our day slightly short when we noticed a storm on the horizon quickly moving in. We (mostly Christian) paddled for our lives when the waves picked up to about 4 feet high and made it to shore just in time to watch the heavens let loose and the rains explode over the ocean. We watched the storm while sucking chicken juices off our fingers at Mama's kitchen.
Hanging on the Phranang beach (matthewandcassiephoto)
Playing in the ocean (matthewandcassiephoto)
Our the fourth day we hiked to a hidden lagoon. We'd heard about the place and talked to people that had been but we had no idea how much fun it would be. The path was scrambling up and over large tree roots and sloshing through mud puddles. By the time we got to the lagoon we were covered in mud and scrapes. The lagoon was gorgeous and fun to swim around in. Christian and I made some mud people out of the mud and sticks and mounted them in a rock alcove where hundreds of other mud people had been sculpted and placed by previous lagoon visitors.
View of Railey before we drop into the lagoon
Decending into the lagoon
It looks Jurassic Park-esque
We found it! (matthewandcassiephoto)
Christian in the lagoon (matthewandcassiephoto)
Afterwards we went to Phranang beach which is possibly the most beautiful beach in the world. At the far end of Phranang there is a fertility cave where tons of wooden sculptures are places and decorated with flowers. I loved visiting and laughing (quietly of course... I didn't want to be disrespectful) at the cave.
While walking along the beach we came across a boat pulled up to the shore that was grilling meats and making smoothies. We got some meat on a stick that was as usual amazing and drank a coconut smoothie.
On the opposite end of the beach from the penis cave was a great swing that looked out over the ocean. Past the swing we found another cave with tons of climbing routes and more spectacular views. We decided to come back the next day and climb them.
the swing
We finished our day playing in the ocean and rolling around in the sand. I noticed a lot of girls posing on the beach in front of the ocean for what I can only assume was their new Facebook profile picture. Their boyfriend or girlfriend would take pictures as they would pose much like many of the Victoria Secret model cover shots. There would be pouting lips and sultry straes but mostly they looked rediculous. At one point this girl was flopping about in the waves trying to look sexy and a jelly fish was pushed ashore right next to her. I couldn't help but laugh. I also couldn't help but pose for my own sexy picture!
Cassie and I playing in the ocean
Frolicking in the ocean (matthewandcassiephoto)
Me with a serious happy face (matthewandcassiephoto)
The fifth day we all set out to try some of the sport climbing in the area. We went to a few different spots including the cave area we'd been to the previous day. The climbing there was fantastic and the features of the rock were so fun to climb on. Giant tufa's with bulbous hand holds and an ocean behind you made for a perfect day and amazing climbing. We finished off our day at... yep you guessed it Mama's! Yummy chicken!!
More happy faces while climbing
Christian's serious climbing face (matthewandcassiephoto)
Mama's chicken
Leaving Tonsai was very sad. Not only did we have to say goodbye to a wonderful place but also to our friends who we likely wont see for another year as they continue on their climbing journey. We left Tonsai via one of these long-tailed boats and made it half way before a storm pummled us. When we arrived in Ao Nang we were completely soaked through.
Long-tailed boat(matthewandcassiephoto)
We took the overnight sleeper train to Bangkok but this time we upgraded to first class and had a cabin all to ourselves. It was an awesome way to travel.
This brings us back to Bangkok which you've all ready read about. Going to Thailand was an incredible vacation. I highly recommend if you have the vacation time and funds you should go. It was an incredible experience that we will not soon forget. Even now I find myself looking over pictures and reflecting on the great moments with fondness.
What a great adventure!
