APRIL

2005: JULY, JUNE, MAY, MARCH, FEBRUARY, JANUARY,
2004: DECEMBER, NOVEMBER, OCTOBER, SEPTEMBER, AUGUST, JULY, JUNE

Saturday, April 30, 2005 - KANCHANABURI to BANGKOK, THAILAND -

Friday, April 29, 2005 - KANCHANABURI, THAILAND -

Wednesday, April 27, 2005 - RAYONG, THAILAND to KAWTHOUNG MYANMAR to BANGKOK, THAILAND - George and I woke early and headed down to Pon's Place for a quick breakfast of sticky rice and other banana-wrapped delights and some strong Thai coffee. We headed out with Pon around 7:35 to Thai immigration to check out of the country. Next we went down to the docks, where dozens of men were shoveling huge piles of fish in to baskets. We hopped on a boat similar to the longtails of Southern Thailand and sped off. We stopped at another office, another segment of Thai immigration, to check out again, presumably. We crossed the, well, I can't seem to find the body of water we crossed to get to Kawthoung, at the end of a peninsula. Kawthoung used to be Victoria Point when the British were still in business. It was a nice ride on an overcast day. We arrived and paid $5 to get a one day visa when we arrived in Myanmar. There were a dozen boats or so vying for spots at the office on stilts. The drivers were very skilled and managed to steer their boat to the wooden stairs, get their man to within jumping distance, then back up and return a few minutes later as he ran out, jumping precariously over the murky water with a fistful of passports. We landed at Kawthoung proper and were showed where we could get exit stamps. This took a few seconds. A group of Myanmar teenagers tried to get us interested in a tour of the city, but they just kinda followed us and practiced their English. I was looking for certain items that I was not to find there - there was no tourist market, only large slabs of meat under a layer of flies, longyis, kitchen items and fabrics. They did take us to "Tourist Market", which consisted of a few dozen [water buffalo?] horns, a ferret skin, python skins and little skulls of various animals. I bought a small flask of Grand Royal whisky, paying a dollar (too much). We only had a few more minutes before our boat would take us back to Thailand, so I recommended a teahouse. I'd spent some time in the tea houses in Myanmar, so I was happy to return and drink the milky tea and eat the little pastries. We rushed this, watching some home videos of americans with their pets. Back at the jetty I gave the kids the rest of the $2.50 I'd changed over - about a buck, which proved a very lucrative 30 minutes for the three of them. We raced back across the bay back to Thailand. We checked back in at the two spots we'd stopped at in the morning, then our driver took us back to our hotel to grab our bags and try to catch the 10:30 bus to Bangkok. Our laundry wasn't ready, and we couldn't convey to the people working there that we didn't need everything folded. We ended up missing the 10:30, so I stopped at the Post Office and mailed my rope, climbing shoes, harness, books, coral and mask & snorkel for 1950 baht. Ouch. Hopefully the slow boat gets it to Danville, as there is no insurance and no guarantee that it will. We walked to a guesthouse and ate some lunch. A german chatted us up, the standard traveler conversation. We got a sawnthaew to the bus station, boarded a 1:30 bus and settled in. It was a comfortable ride to Chumporn, where we changed buses. This bus was quite uncomfortable - much more for George probably than me - but we rode it out. We stopped at an excellent night market for bbq squid, mussel omelletes, curry & rice, shish kebabs and a legit brownie. Good eats. The long ride eventually dropped us off in Bangkok at 12:30am.

Monday, April 25, 2005 - TONSAI BEACH, THAILAND - George and I woke up early, grabbed a mueslix, banana pancake and coffee berakfast at Mambo and headed out to get some gear. After procuring a harness, shoes and a sling of quickdraws, we walked over to 1-2-3 Wall, which was nearly underwater. Damn full moon high tide. We climbed a few 5's on Muay Thai, then headed up to the high viewpoint above the lagoon. We roped up for this, though I think it would be ok to freeclimb it. coming down would be another story, but its better not to think about coming down when you're trying something new. We dropped down in to the lagoon. It was a treacherous approach; I don't know how some of the people that have been there have managed the fixed ropes and exposed drops. It was beautiful though, ringed by steep limestone cliffs on all sides. The tide had gone down a bit, and I'm told that the water level rises and falls according to the tide. I'm not sure how it all works, but I heard someone expounding about a limestone osmosis theory. We ate the lunch that Bing Tate sold us for a buck - excellent yellow rice with chicken, mango, BBQ chicken and sticky rice and lots more water. We continued on - back up the cliff, then down, then down Phra Nang beach to Escher's World. I led a 6B, perhaps my first official one, but a climb I'd been on before and problem-solved. George played around with that one and the 6A that could be top-roped next to it. We climbed through the cave to get to Thaiwand Wall and rappelled out of the cave. I would have liked to have led the 6A+ on the far right, but the sun was dropping and there was a 6A+ next to Groove Tube on Fire Wall that had stumped me my first day climbing with Evan. George gave me a ride on it, and though I had a few problems with it, I figured it out and was able to send it.
George and I had a pow-wow and made some travel plans for the next few days. We had planned to be in Ao Nang or Krabi that night, but we opted for another Mambo Bungalow, Dream Valley BBQ and beers at Wee's and Insomnia. Chai T was out of commission but was ressurrected as I left. He sold me a coral necklace, not of black coral like we talked about, but white coral. I put it on and haven't taken it off, but I'm a little concerned that it's more of a chick necklace than a tough BLACK CORAL necklace that I or even Jim Anchower could pull off. But considering the number of times I've looked in a mirror this past month, I don't know why I care. He decided to make a space cake (for my departure I like to think), so the boys got to mixing eggs and milk and batter and served up a delicious pancake. We all dug in and our hearts were full of joy. All good things must come to an end my time in Tonsai had reached that, so I packed it up and said goodbye to everyone and the cats and the swing and Tonsai Bay and everything else that had contributed to the idyllic month I'd just spent there in my home away from home. Check Tonsai out...

Sunday, April 24, 2005 - KO PHI-PHI DON to TONSAI BEACH, THAILAND - We're trying to get to Ko Lanta this afternoon to get in as an extra for a movie they're filming there. Apparently it pays 1200 baht, plus food, and all you have to do is play the extra game. There are always hidden daggers, though, so maybe we'll be cooking in the afternoon sun hour after hour. If George gets back from his dives on time, we'll make the boat, otherwise I'll make him go climbing with me and we'll spend another night here. He woke up 8 minutes past the time he was supposed to be at the dive shop, so that probably didn't help. Mai pen rai.
I checked out the tsunami damage to the island. It was unbelievable. Entire five star resorts were completely destroyed, only a empty lot and some weathered palm trees remaining. The first floor of many hotels was cleared out, most of them you can see through to the sea. There were a lot of people out volunteering and I believe vast improvements have been made the last few months, but the memories are still very fresh. It doesn't seem like conversation will go very far before the tsunami enters in, one way or another. The people have stoically returned to their old jobs and continued on, despite the devastating loss of family, friends, home, place of business and love for the sea.
I met up with George at 2:15. We bought tickets to Ko Lanta, as a movie was to be filmed there tomorrow, Monday, and they needed extras. We went down to the pier with all our gear, where we were informed that there was no Lanta boat at that time today. "No more" was all we got. We went back to the ticket agency and changed our tickets to Tonsai/Railay. The boat ride was nice and it was good to return to Tonsai for one last day and night. We checked back in to Mambo and settled back in. I took a long walk down Tonsai beach to collect some of the excellent coral specimens. These pieces, added to my rope, harness, climbing shoes, mask and snorkel and a few books will make a very expensive box to ship back. I'll pay any reliable candidate 1000 baht right now if they can fly it back to the SF Bay area.
We headed out to Dream Valley to eat a fish BBQ. The BBQ is excellent - $2.75 gets you 150 grams of fresh squid which can be fried up with garlic and basil, 150 grams Barracuda, and all-you-can eat fruit and salad bar and a baked potato. We dined and left content. We repaired to Insomnia for beers and social-bonding, Tonsai style.

Saturday, April 23, 2005 - KO PHI-PHI DON, THAILAND - George was off on his second day of dive certification, so I tried to meet Sandra, the nurse who had agreed to be my climbing partner, at 11am at the clinic. The clinic is part of Carlitos bar. The bar gave the clinic part of their dance floor, so there were boxes of donated medical equipment and other supplies. I didn't get out climbing with her, spent the afternoon organizing the clinic and unpacking everything with two other volunteers, Martin and Kaz. Everything looks much better now, though it might not meet WHO standards. Funny to get vials of old [but not expired] anti-malarial pills from San Diego, Ca, used tubes of Chinese cream and lots of medicine that I didn't learn about while studying for my English degree at UCSB.
I met up with George later for dinner at Hippie's, then watched their cabaret show. We had drinks with our neighbor at our bungalow, an interesting Canadian guy. We continued down to the beach for the full moon party, which was similar to the Ko Pha-Ngan melee, but on a much, much smaller scale. This party had 100, maybe 150 people, and many were getting dragged into the water. It was raining, but not many people noticed, and it didn't last too long. George and I stayed until 2:30 or so. He had a 7:30 wake-up, which I did not envy.

Friday, April 22, 2005 - TONSAI BEACH to KO PHI-PHI DON, THAILAND - George and I checked out of Mambo, ate a quick breakfast of mueslix, yoghurt and fruit with a coffee and jumped on a longtail boat to Railay West. While waiting for our boat to Phi-Phi, I read the Asian Wall Street journal. There was a good article about a French financier killed by his mistress. We motored for an hour or so, then stopped at Bamboo island to snorkel, then continued on to Ko Phi-Phi. George and I checked in to a palatial hotel room, complete with tile floor, towels, a flushing toilet, soap, hot water (not sure why that is here) and big comfy beds with clean sheets. Its five star luxury after the last month in Tonsai. The tsunami ripped through Ko Phi-Phi, so most of the resorts are a distant memory. It's strange to even comprehend the level of destruction here. They've done an incredible job of rebuilding though.
George signed up for a dive class, and I'm in the process of arranging climbing tomorrow. There is a nice wall with lots of 6A+'s at the end of the beach here, and I can charter a longtail boat to go climbing on the beach where they filmed The Beach. I haven't found any climbers or a single climbing shop, so I'm not sure what I'll be doing tomorrow. Maybe volunteering. Hasta...

Thursday, April 14, 2005 to April 21, 2005 - TONSAI BEACH, THAILAND - Climbing, climbing, climbing...

Wednesday, April 13, 2005- TONSAI BEACH, THAILAND - I suppose I owe my biographers a few more words than climbing squared, so I'll postulate a few theorums and formulate a few equations in an effort to deconstruct life on Tonsai Beach. I've been here for almost three weeks and have settled into a wonderful routine. I usually wake two hours earlier than I'd like, around 7am, get a breakfast of coffee, mueslix with fruit and yoghurt, and either a banana and pineapple pancake or french toast. Mama serves up the best breakfast in Tonsai. I've been heading into the jungle, over the hill, then down to Railay East. You can get a vague idea in this picture (walking from Tonsai to Diamond Cave area), though there is a much nicer one on the wall of this internet hut. Can't find it online, so sorry. The walk takes 30 minutes or so to the climbs at the south end of Railay Beach. I've been climbing with some Canadians - Nathan, Ryan and his wife Lee, though they're climbing at the 6B+ level, while I'm stuck at 6A+. I have to come down a lot of routes they put up. We'll climb 2, 3 maybe 4 routes, then repair to their hotel - Viewpoint Resort - for a swim in their pool. You can only really swim at Railay East on high tide, and even then its not nearly as nice as Phra-Nang, Railay West of Tonsai. We'll get some Thai food at Mama's for lunch and I'll continue drinking copious amounts of water cut with electrolyte powder - sometimes more than 6 liters of water a day. It's damn not and very humid, so I'm often sweating. I'll buy two scoops of ice cream at the mini-mart, then head back out for an afternoon of climbing. We often end after dark, though I'm not a huge fan of climbing that big hill in the dark to get back to mama's after a long day of climbing. I get back to my bungalow around six or seven and shower off the layers of sweat, chalk and dirt. I'm usually completely exhausted at this point and lie in my mosquito netted tomb. A few nights I didn't have the strength to get dinner. I think it has something to do with the electrolyte stuff, so I've been adding the powders. Most nights I'll either dine at Mama's and read a bit, or head down the hill a bit into Tonsai to meet up with peeps and get a BBQ dinner. I'm often at Insomnia, an idyllic bar on the beach. Chai-T tends the bar there and often proffers a one meter piece of bamboo with various accroutements after you've been there for a few minutes. There are three or four bar cats that are quite entertaining. They are very friendly and don't mind the music, the smoke and the stoned conversation the bartenders have with them. I've seen the cats knock over stuff, then get a several minute long lecture from Chai-T. They seem to listen well but continue knocking things over. When they get too rowdy, smoke will get blown in their direction, which often engenders the desired result. The music is excellent here - Thievery Corporation, Groove Armada, lots of Indian beats and reggae I haven't heard of - and very little euro-trance or pop shit that no one likes. There is a tobacco hookah here, which I tried once with a few friends from Alaska. We'd climbed all day and decided to try some apple tobacco in the hookah. It melted away all the aches and pains, but had a soporific effect. I wanted to sleep in the roundhouse that night so I wouldn't have to climb the hill to get back to my bungalow. There is a sign at Insomnia - Live/Love the life you Love/Live. It looks a lot cooler carved in to a piece of driftwood than it does here. Insomnia has an excellent driftwood swing on a tree that extends out over the beach. On high tide you can swing out over the advancing water. I've developed a swinging technique called Circular Swinging - which is, just that - swinging in circles. It's best not to try this on your own, as it can be quite dangerous and very demoralizing if you don't get it the first time. I've tried to get a few cocky neophytes going with this evolution of swinging, but this is not something you jump in to after ten years off the swing. You have to work up to it. The secret is in the arms, and that's all I can give you now. Of course don't try this down at your local elementary school, you need room to roam.
Tonsai is in the jungle, until, of course, you get down to the incredible beach. On a recent night my friends and I encountered a 12-15 foot (that is the consensus among five people) black boa constrictor. It was a big, big snake. It was much bigger than my biceps, which more than one person has described as pythons. I don't know if I need to see a bigger snake. There are also lots of monkeys. They stole my papaya when I was eating at Orchid last week and are often swinging through the trees near the climbs. It is a lot of fun to see them literally run up a sheer rock face, when we practically need a ladder built in to the rock to climb it. I can only imagine the conversations they have with each other while watching us, with all of our ropes and gear, climb 15 meters in 25 minutes. They must wonder why we do it, as I often do when I'm twenty minutes in to my 12 meter climb. Their babies look like aliens. There are lots of lizards, up to two or three feet (w/out tail) and I think even some Jesus Christ lizards, which are my personal favorites. I haven't seen any monitor lizards, the huge water lizards that get bigger than komodo dragons (which are technically a monitor lizard). There were many in Malaysia, and apparently there used to be many here. The animals don't seem to be moving though, they're living with everyone else in Tonsai.
So, lots of climbing, lots of good Thai food, many interesting people from around the world, warm waters, warmer climate, football on the beach, only one flush toilet(barely) in the last six weeks, maybe more. George Siambis is coming in from Greece to take a look at things. I'm planning an overnight kayak trip out to Ko Poda to do some more deep water free soloing (climb up the cliff, then jump into the water), and then we'll probably head out to Phi-Phi to do a day of climbing, then volunteer, then dive. Then on to Chiang Mai, then Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. I should return to China sometime in June, work for six weeks or so, then catch my flight home on the first of August. August 1 will be a sobering day. I think my childhood will unceremoniously end on that Shanghai to San Francisco flight. Anyone know any nice beach swings in California?
Today is Songkran, the biggest festival day of the year in Thailand. It is their new year, and is celebrated for up to ten days (in Chiang Mai). People throw water on you all day here, then follow that up with baby powder. In Ao Nang, the streets were gridlock with pickups and people partying on the side of the street. The pickups had several barrels of water and up to a dozen people. They would throw water on the people on the street, then those people would throw water on them, then they would smear the powder & water paste on people's faces. It was impossible to go near anyone and not get water tossed on you. No one was able to escape it. I saw two motorcycle cops get swarmed by twenty people. There was an endless downpour of water on the two cops and their bikes, then people fought to violently smear the powder on their faces and uniforms. It was not hostile - the cops were smiling - but it was crazy that it was happening. Those people would be quickly arrested and detained as "enemies of the state" in America. I've repaired to this internet hut to escape the melee occuring outside - there are many crazed Thais outside, filled with liquor now, intent on dousing anything that moves with water and powder. I'm with a friend of mine from Denmark - Rasmus - and we're kicking it live with some Thai who are apparently throwing a party tonight. I can't imagine ten days of this. Everyone is transformed in to crazed beasts. I wish I could have taken some pictures, but water and baby powder are not friends of the digital camera.
developing...

Friday, April 1, 2005 to Today- TONSAI BEACH, THAILAND - Climbing, climbing, climbing...