Last days in Krabi

We spent the next 2 days climbing on our own with rented gear (using rented gear is a bit of a scary prospect but we decided against bringing all that heavy gear for a short climbing trip).


The first day we hooked up with a couple from the deep water solo. They were both much better climbers than us but were taking a rest day of their own (this was one of the guys who was climbing soloing up 50 feet yesterday). We climbed at the Diamond Cave which ended up getting crazy busy so we moved over to the Eagle wall in the afternoon. John did great as my rope gun and I'm sure got a bit of extra confidence having such good climbers with us.




























The next day we started very early and headed back to the area we went our first day. The climbing here really helps build your confidence. I only wish we had more time.






















But we have already overstayed our intended visit here and its time to make one last visit to the our regular dinner restaurant on the beach, one last beer at the beach bar, and head over to the Peace Bar for a Fireshow before and catching a boat to the mainland and making our way to Bali. I definitely think we will be back to Krabi for a climbing trip, but next time we will bring our own climbing gear.

Learning to Let Go and JUMP!

We decided to take a rest day so we signed up for a deep water solo trip - also done out of Wee's climbing school. Essentially you pile into a long tail boat carrying torn and tattered climbing shoes, snorkels and a kayak, and head for some limestone karsts that have very deep water beneath their overhung stalagtites.






The longtail anchors not far from the rock and two by two a guide paddles you over to the ladder to start your ascent of the rock. You free climb, no ropes, as high as you can and then you ... JUMP.









Ok that is the game plan but my mind has a very hard time letting go of a perfectly good handhold even if the drop is only 10 feet and into warm tropical water. But I managed 3 climbs and eventually jumped off all 3 times. John performed much better with a smoothly executed backflip off the rock after climbing about 35 feet up (sorry no pics only on video). But even this was nothing compared to 2 of the guys on our trip. They climbed at least 50 feet on some spectacular stalagitites and crazy overhanging walls. It was amazing to watch but I can't say I was inspired - I'm just not a jumper even with clear blue waters below me.

Big Jugs and Sharp Edges - part 2

Day 2 - Min takes us to Pee Wee's and John does a few leads. The ratings here are the French standard - which doesn't mean much to us (we use the Yosemite method at home). We are climbing 5 and 6a, 6a+ climbs which, according to the guidebook, would be up to 5.10b. Let's just say the ratings are ego boosting as I don't normally climb that level at home. The climbs are a lot of fun, very different from our slabby sandstone at home and we are really wishing we had brought our own gear so we could get some more time on the rock. Our day ends a little abruptly when another guy starts soloing (without using the bolts for protection) next to us. Min is unwilling to stick around since if there is an accident he will have a responsibility to aid in a rescue. He tells us later that several accidents occur every year where climbers think the climb is easy for them so they solo and - just one slip and you are falling off. As it is there are a lot of hurt climbers walking around - bandaged arms, feet, crutches, scrapes and cuts etc. The rock is definitely sharp and a fall could do some damage. Luckily, we manage to get by with sore muscles, and various little bruises I incur from using my knees too often to balance myself.

Of course we are amatuers compared to the majority of climbers here. It is amazing to watch them gracefully move across the rock, sometimes completely upside-down. There is a great beach bar that provides an awesome viewing spot for watching climbers on some fantastic overhanging walls.

One afternoon while lounging on the beach deck we are taken by surprise when 2 basejumpers jump off the top of the karst landing on the beach in front of us. TonSai doesn't have the crystal blue waters or white sandy beaches, but if you like climbing and just chillin out at a beach bar, meeting new friends who all have common interests -climbing and being outdoors, sipping on a fruit shake or kickin back some Singha Beers, this is the place to go. Of course watching the glistening golden muscular bodies (of both genders) climb, shoot pool, walk a slackline or give a fireshow isn't so hard to take either. Check out some of these photos:

East Railey

A hidden lagoon reached only by a questionable trail of bouldering, down climbing and a little luck.

The famous "James Bond Beach"

Nightly fireshow

Practicing your slacklining skills seems to be the normal pastime here.

Big Jugs and Sharp Edges

Our guide is Min and we board the longtail boat to Railey East to get started on some easy climbs. Muay Thai and One-Two-Three are areas overrun by the climbing guides and schools. It is mayhem. Every route has a rope on it and lines of people waiting to take their turn.


But the atmosphere is friendly, the guides all seem to share the routes and you can't ask for a better scenic spot - limestone stalagtites framing blue skies, the ocean lapping the shore right behind us and longtail boats coming and going adding that unique Thailand feel.




















The climbing here is very positive. Big jugs (that means very big handholds), and good quality rock.


















These areas have also been rececntly rebolted so they are well protected.














We have only signed up for a half day session as we want to ease into it rather than overdo it on day one and in no time its 1 pm. We head back to the shop and sign up for another half day tomorrow.


















Here's the view from the top of a climb today.

Krabi - a climber's paradise

One and a half hour express boat trip from Ko Tao and a short ride in the back of a sawngthaew (picture this: a pick-up truck with benches in the back filled to the brim with tourists, a few hanging out the back steps, and backpacks piled high on the top of the rig) and we arrive in Chumphon, a fishing village turned traveler's pit stop town which is apparently starting to develop its own tourist trade as well - beach, dive trips etc. But we were on a mission - to get to Krabi and find ourselves a crag to climb.

We spent the night in Chumphon at Fame's guesthouse which was nothing to speak of - cheap and our room was new - so new that around the corner on the same floor you could see the framing of yet more potential rooms, some new beds, etc. We decided to book a minivan ride to Ao Nang, Krabi - a 4 hour drive - the next morning at 6:30 am and from there we would catch a longtail boat over to Railey Beach where you can find world class rock climbing. I could barely make it through dinner before I had to rush back to our room with a bout of traveler's disease. This better pass quickly if you get my drift or the journey tomorrow will be interesting to say the least. At 5 am there was a knock on our door - aka "wake-up call". Kind of early we thought. Then again at 5:30 there was another knock "please hurry". We went downstairs to find a few vans already filling with passengers. What's this - an early departure - we still needed to get coffee, tea and breakfast. Ok "to go" it is. Apparently someone was going to try to catch a boat to Ko Phi Phi in 4 hours - that's cutting it close. Especially as once we were on the road our driver took some back streets, to get the best price on gas maybe? Why they do not gas up the night before I cannot understand but this seems to be a pattern. Then we stop on the highway, for no discernible reason. Our driver jumps out and runs down the street. Yes, very odd. Then he returns a few minutes later - winded - and we are off again. No explanation, just a little giggling from the driver. Shortly before the boat drop off and the town of Krabi we stop again at a tourist information shop. The driver must get a commission for bring tourists in as this stop was obviously out of the way. Oh well, even the direct minibus is far from direct.

We arrive in Ao Nang and decide to grab lunch and look for a wifi location to check on bills and things. About 3 pm we catch the longtail boat over to TonSai Beach and set out to find a bungalow. TonSai is the climbers beach, meaning it is much cheaper than Railey West which is more the honeymooners' beach with more upscale resorts. There is also Railey East which has mangroves on its main beach.


The place is pretty packed but we find a wood bungalow at Green Valley Resort which is cute and reasonably priced - 700 baht. It is fairly basic, a double bed, fan, cold shower, but a big breakfast buffet is included and it has a nice balcony, and very friendly staff. We spend the next day lounging and get a feel for the "island". Railey is not really an island but it is accessible only by boat due to the topography, large limestone outcroppings which of course make it ideal for rock climbing.

You can walk the rocky shoreline over to Railey West which has a better beach, but only at low tide. When we decide to head over its high tide so we take the jungle path through the interior of the "island". Its about a 30 minute walk, which is balmy in this heat. We are soaked when we arrive at the beach and the water is less than refreshing - it is shallow, no deeper than your waist for about 70 yards and feels more like very salty bath water than the ocean.

As the sun starts to set its time to head back to our "low-rent" district Now that the tide has gone out we can walk the beach back - or rather pick our way through the rocks. That evening we arrange a climbing guide for through Wee's Climbing School down the road from our bungalow. While we were in search of a room they had offerred us a place to leave our bags - their gratuitous hospitality won them our climbing business.

"JUST ONE MORE NIGHT, AGAIN"

Our mornings have become very routine - we wake about 8 a.m. And John goes out an opens our windows so we can view our little cove and watch the ebb and flow of the ocean. The dive boats are usually just arriving at the dive spot near our cove. Some of our neighbors have a routine of a morning snorkel and swim, followed by tai chi and sunbathing. Have I mentioned many women go topless here? Just a side note. Anyway, after awhile of just admiring the view John will head up to our little restaurant and order breakfast from our very excitable Thai host - banana pancake and nescafe for John, fruit, yogurt and tea for me. Then as we enjoy breakfast on our little deck with its oceanview we contemplate our day. This envitably results in us hoping on our scooter to explore another beach, after telling our host that we will stay "just one more day". They smile and nod, acknowledging that this is a normal occurrence - the inability to leave the island. We spend our last 2 days on Ko Tao by adding a morning swim and snorkel from our cove over to a neighboring private beach to our normal routine. I don't know if they are feeding the fish there but there are millions of fish right at the shore that just circle you as you enter the water. If you lie there with your mask on they will surround you and swim towards you, mouths open, as if they will go right into your mask, swerving around you at the last minute. I wish I had an underwater camera for that one!

Unfortunately we had a little bit of bad luck in Ko Tao, on our last night we lost a rented snorkel and mask on the rutted bumpy road out to Tanote Bay. And there was already that little incident I had with the motorscooter plus some additional underbelly scratches from the rocky terrain. All in all it was't so bad though. Both places were reasonable (in fact John had to insist on paying the woman we rented the snorkel from more than she asked as he knew what it was worth. She was a sweetheart who helped us with boat tickets and watched our bags the day we left town). We had to just chalk the extra expense up to incidental traveling expenses.

We said good bye to our friend Deb and caught the 4 pm boat to Chumphon where we would spend the night before heading to Krabi in the morning. Good bye Jansom Bay Bungalows, good bye Ko Tao.

What's Down That Little Dirt Road

Day 4 - Freedom Beach was the easiest to reach with a paved road all the way. Great beach restaurant The beach is near the 3rd largest bay on the Island - - unfortunately most of the coral was destroyed and therefore not much to look at; some sections showed signs of new growth so hopefully in the future this will be a beautiful reef.





Later that same day we decide to check Sunset Beach down a long, very, very steep dirt road. This was definitely the trickiest road so far. We thought we were lost for a few minutes before we regained our bearings and then we discovered this quaint beach with several mud-like huts and little treehouses clustered around a little beach. Snorkeling was not so great - more damaged coral, but the beach was very private and relaxing.



On our way back to town the bike required some manhandling to get it up a particularly rutted area. We both got off and had to push, lift and trottle over a ledge. We made back into town as the rain started. That night brought the first real thunderstorm of our trip. In typical island fashion it came fast and hard but only lasted 30 minutes. There are always night divers in the bay outside our bungalow and I wondered - did they even know it rained?

Swimming With Reef Sharks

Day 3 of beach recon we hiked from our bungalow to Sai Thong or San Nuen beach (not sure as signs listed both names). It was only 800 meters but John had hurt his ankle wakeboarding yesterday making the terrain of rocks, roots and makeshift planks a bit difficult. So by the time we arrived we nearly had to turn back around as we were meeting our friend Deb that afternoon to head to Shark Bay. Sai Thong was a beautiful find, only accessible by hiking or boat taxi. Along the way there were other small beach areas which would have made for perfect private picnic areas. But we had a date with the Sharks.

Shark Bay was down one of those rutted dirt roads but when you arrived the beach opened up with a long stretch of sand and a couple of beach bars, one of which had a monkey addicted to french fries.
We grabbed a quick bite - need to be well feed if you are going to be shark bait - and started off on our snorkel in search of reef sharks. The tide was going out and it was already quite shallow. You skimmed the surface holding your breathe to add some buoyancy as you floated what felt like mere inches over coral, sea urchins and fish heading out to the reef some distance from the shore. Then we spotted our first shark, then another. They were about 4 - 5 feet long, except one which seemed a bit longer and plumper ... Hmmm. One even swam right under us, exhilarating! But I must admit trying to float back into shore over that coral was scarier then swimming with the sharks.

Wakeboarding in Thailand

It is not uncommon to find wakeboarding, waterskiing, parasailing, and various other options of watersports in touristy beach locations, but what is uncommon is finding one with equipment worth more than 5 cents. Typically we might consider paying a little money to get a little fix of our water fun. But usually once we look at the gear we decide we would just rather spend the money elsewhere and wait until we get home to ski or board Yes, I know that sounds a little snobby, but I admit it, when you have excellent equipment at home and the means to waterski and wakeboard when you want, its hard to pay someone to just thrash about in the water. But there it was in downtown Mae Hat a top of the line Liquid Force wakeboard. So John waited a few days, letting the desire build a little, and then he bite the bullet and took a ride. the boat was full of people, only one other guy along to ride the others (including me) just there to watch and add a little weight to the boat for a bigger wake. John did not disappoint, with a couple of clean backrolls he easily outdid the others and left with a big grin on his face. (sorry no pics of the backroll).

Help Wanted: Beach Exploration

We have spent the last few days dealing with the difficult task of beach exploration. We rented another motorscooter and picked up a map and decided we wanted to check out some smaller beaches around the island. The majority of visitors to Ko Tao seem to plant themselves in either Mad Haad, which is where all the piers are, plenty of dive shops, restaurants etc., or Sairee Beach which has the most accommodations, hip bars, and also plenty of dive shops. Many of the roads turn into a steep rutted dirt road not to far from the main towns. It is recommended that you park the bike and walk from there. But with John's superior scooter skills ("sss") obtained by years of driving a motorcycle and riding a mountain bike we make it to the end of the road everytime. Ok, once in a while I have to get off short sections and walk. And, to be honest, the one time I took the throttle to get the bike up a hill (since John was helping someone else with their bike), I almost crashed (note - I easily made it up the steep hill and around the turn I just did not let off the throttle and kept going almost into the hillside - guess I am a little out of practice).

We visited Tanote Bay on the east coast - amazing snorkeling with tons of coral and numerous fish, fantastic beach, a couple of restaurants, some great looking bungalows and a dive shop, but a long rocky and rutted road to get there.

The next day we hit Aow Luek Bay also on the east coast. Again great snorkeling and a beautiful beach with a big sandy area in the water (the other beaches tend to have a lot of coral and sea cucumbers very close to shore). This area is less developed but we were not impressed with the restaurant. However, for those interested this beach sported the most topless women of the beaches we visited.