March
29th, 2006
I
climbed up very hesitantly, and very much aware that I was gaining
an increasing fear of heights with age. The ladder wasn't in
the best condition, and was extroadinarily high, with rungs
that were just far enough apart to instill a bit of fear. At
the top of the ladder of doom, we had to traverse a very narrow
ledge to get to our climbing area - luckily there were again
fixed ropes to grab hold of. Sketchy!!!!!! But - holy moly,
when we reached the top and looked back down, it was worth the
fear. And
that was just the approach - the actual rock climbing? Perfection.
(Though It was a bit exposed and scared the leading out of me.) March 28th, 2006 Railay Today we: -Climbed, climbed, climbed.... Today was our best day yet - We had our most substancial breakfast to date and set out for the 123 wall to climb - unfortunately we forgot to factor in the tidal situation. There had been ground aplenty to walk on last night..but this morning the water came right up to the rock. Some more motivated climbers were standing in the water adn holding their rope on their knees as not to wet it while they belayed. Gregg and I instead headed for nearby Phra Nang Beach instead. Which - might I add, is one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen - (The only other one I can think of in the running is the pristine strech of Mediterranean I saw in Turkey). The coast was simply filled with towering rocks, eroded into all kinds of beautiful formations, with stalagtites hanging out over the water. We finally located the wall with the climb we were looking for - it was a 10B - about my level, easy for Gregg though. It was a bit dicey at times - definitely not a place where one wanted to take a fall, luckily neither of us did. By the time we both reached the top we were oh so sweaty and hot and ready to swim in the Andaman Sea. I swam over to the limestone wall in the water, attempting to climb on them, but extrodinarily quickly cut the side of my toe and the tops of a few others. My foot was bleeding when I pulled it out of the water, so I hobbled about the peninsula to buy first aid items. The
remainder of the day was filled with outdoor meals and climbing.
Thoughts of home were far away, and I didn't wish to return.
I wasn't checking my email or calling home this week - I was
as far as I could be from the everyday stresses in my life.
March 27th, 2006 Railay! Finally! Today we: -Took a longtail boat from Ao Nang to Railay -Had a run in with the monkeys I walked out with blurry morning eyes curious to see where we had arrived last night. Limestone cliffs, green, green and more greeg, banana trees - and other fine elements of paradise. The portions in Thailand have been so small compared to American standards - and we have grown used to eating these small meals. We were beside ourselves when we saw a buffet breakfast! With our packs on, we walked to the beach and caught a longtail boat - which required some light wading to get to. Even with gray overcast skies, it was fairly delightful. We
docked and looked looked up to find ourselves steps from our
hotel Railay is only accessible by boat, though it is part of
a peninsula, not an island. There are no roads even once you
arrive. Everything in Railay is reached via foot path. Some
of which are only accesible at the mercy of the tides. It is
quiet and quaint and cloaked in trees and other vegetation.
It is uncrowded, hails generally a younger crowd, and is utterly
surrounded by world class rock climbing. We climbed some easier stuff - It was a beautiful day out, and we were surrounded by perfection. I was on the wall, when Gregg said - "to your right...", Which, in climbing is most likely construed as "There is a hand or foot hold to your right that you are neglecting.." I looked right...and there, just feet away from me - Monkeys!!!! EVERYWHERE!!!! There were probably 15 - 20 all in all that jumped down from a nearby tree onto the rock and climbed past me. Monkeys are naughty and not to be messed with, so I lowered down a bit and let them pass. Not a bad way to kick off Railay! Monkeys are adorable creatures, I don't care what anyone says. We quickly outgrew Diamond Cave and went to another climbing wall - 123 wall - more amazing climbing! Tall walls made of limestone, formed by water erosion into an amazing expanse of toofahs, caves, stalagtites, gaping holds, and other general goodness in the rock....I couldn't have been more pleased with my surroundings. The drastic tides around here had filled in a bit by the time we were done - we walked back through water - the path we had come in on was now completely submerged. Water came right up to our dinner table! ...Today,
was a good day.
March 26th, 2006 Last Day in Bangkok! (Please see picture descriptions for more information about some of the places we visited). Today we: -Watched monks gathering alms at dawn -Visited the Bawon Temple and Wat Pho -Took a flight to the Krabi Province As we hoped to, we awoke at dawn to watch the monks gathering their daily alms. They can only eat before noon, and food that is given to them - so every morning they walk around at dawn and collect food from people who are gaining merit by supplying them. Gaining merit is a way for Buddhists to help take control over their Karma. Even in the streets, the monks were all barefoot as the collected their food. We followed them back to the Bawon Temple - where they disapeared into thin air. Gregg and I found a peaceful chapel to sit in awhile, and observe people praying to Buddha. Generally they come in alone, leave their shoes at the door, put their hands together in a praying position and bow - then sit on the floor facing Buddha in quiet meditation. The shutter on my camera was embarasingly loud in this silent sanctuary - but no one even looked back at me. In the dark peaceful silence, people came in and out - eventually a classroom of children came. They entered without a peep, and began chanting together. This was our last day in Bangkok - and we reserved it for the things I had originally really wanted to to - the touristy things like the Wat Pho and the Grand Palace. However, after trying to see places on my list in Prague, and battling tour buses - I was not optimistic about the morning. These places become more like museums of part of a city, then portals into the culture - and I think one needs to make that distinction when looking for a well rounded experience. I felt most like I was seeing Bangkok, when we were walking around town watching people live out their daily lives. We only actually got around to seeing the Wat Pho - the largeest temple in Bangkok - which houses the reclining Buddha - a 150 foot long golden statue of Buddha attaining enlightenment. The tourists were starting to roll in - so we escaped and explored the grounds. We both felt that architecture had lost so much of its character. Every detail of this building was intricately done by hand - Nowadays it is a rush to get itbuuilt bigger, cheaper, faster - and as a result, buildings often lack a certain depth that I enjoyed in Prague and parts of Bangkok. Just the night before, we watched a special on National Geographic in out hotel on Dubai's relentless attempts to spoil the universe. Look up their ridiculous man made palm island. They have begun creating full sized islands - in ludicrous shapes, like the map of the world, to tattoo the beautiful waters they were fortunate enough to border. At which point to we stop playing God and stop building souless condominiums? Wat Pho is the premier massage school in Bangkok - so we collected one each before heading out. All we had time for during the afternoon in Bangkok was a test fitting from our tailor (attempt one was BAD...) and lunch nearby. We headed to Krabi (a province on the Andamon sea, not far from Phuket) via Air Asia. Their slogan was "Now everyone can fly." I wonder who couldn't fly before. Our original plan had been to take an overnight 1s class sleeper train down here - but they were all booked up when we attempted to purchase advance tickets. When we disembarket the vessel - the entrance to the airport was COVERED in disgusting locusts. We had to step on them (crunch crunch) and wave them out of the way to enter. It was one of the grosser moments in my life. I was creeped out for a good 5 minutes afterwards. I hoped that wouldn't be a recurring little game down here. Gregg pretended he was all tough and told me I was a princess. It rained as we rode in our taxi in the dark to Ao Nang. In the morning we would board a long tail boat and arrive in Railay. Our
bungalow in Ao Nang was ridiculously lavish compared to our Bangkok
hotel. There were flowers waiting for us on the bed - and towels
folded in geometric patterns. I could't wait to see this place
in daylight.
March 25th, 2006 Bangkok - Public Market and Chinatown (Please see picture descriptions for more information about some of the places we visited). Today we: -Visited the impossibly large weekend market -Battled crowds in Chinatown -Rode the Water Ferry up the River -Visited one of the many tailors in Thailand The Weekend Market was impossibly expansive in all directions. It was hot and crowded, though neither factor affected me adversely, especially once we saw how ridiculously cheap it all was! We saw everything from puppies to clothing to dirty sneakers to furniture I swore I'd return for once I had a house of my own. We both ate Pad Thai for lunch, $1 each. We left the Public Market headed for the water. How simple we thought it would be! There is a rather large river that forms the border of Bangkok. Yet when we asked vendor after vendor which direction the water was, they were clueless. Eventually we began walking in the direction we thought was accurate, but it seemed farther then we expected. We caught a Tuk Tuk, and said we wanted to go to the water. We showed him on the map and all. He drove us around for a bit, dumped us off on another Tuk Tuk Driver and fled. The second Tuk Tuk driver ran us around in the wrong direction for 30 or so until we told him to let us out. Finding the water was proving hopeless! We took a cab to Chinatown, after which we had a much easier time locating the Longlia (water). Chinatown was DIZZYING! SMOGGY! CROWDED! It made the rest of Bangkok look deserted and overpriced. We weaved in and out as fast as we could - and headed for the water. Some nice lady in a camera shop had finally heard of it. We reached the mythical waters, and boarded a ferry in a northernly direction - passing the Wat Arun in Thornburi across the water, and the Grand Palace on our side. Glorious! However, broken down buildings lined the waterfront - I hoped thoroughly that they were abandoned, and not anyone's home. How idealistically stupid of me, huh? When reached our hotel, Gregg anounced he was going to the custom tailor in the lobby of our hotel to have a suit made.(there is a custom tailor, massage parlor, beauty salon and 7-11 on every corner). Now I don't know how many of you know gregg, but he is more likely to recite the telephone book from meory in reverse alphabetical order then go out and buy a suit. Once I got there, I decided to get some pants and shirts made. All said and done, he got - a suit of the finest fabric, two dress shirts, two nice pants and a pair of jeans all custom tailored for $250. I got two shirts, two pairs of pants and jeans, custom, for $150. We
again scoured the Khao San Road for dinner, though that didn't last
long, as the sleepies set in far too early for my young blood.
March 24th, 2006 Exploring Bangkok (Please see picture descriptions for more information about some of the places we visited). Today we: -Saw Dusit Park / Zoo -Visited Wat Benchmabophit (Marble Temple) -Got a 2 dollar full body massage -Wandered around aimlessly -Ate / shopped on the Khao San Road We started the day at the Zoo, nestled in Dusit Park. We got a bit lost trying to find it - and when we asked directions, we were told we didnt want to go there because there were protestors. Like hell we didn't! Desire to go there, fully renewed! Perhaps we missed the protestors, or perhaps America has a different spin on protest - but when we got there, it looked more like a silent conference of saphron robed monks then a political protest. It would however, be just like me to by myopic-ly focused on one picture while destructive riots blazed behind me. Thailand is 95% Buddhist - and thus far seems a much more peaceful, calm and patient nation than us. The
Zoo entrance set us back 60 cents each. We vowed to work hard until
that debt was paid off. It was enjoyable, but left little to remark
on. The monkeys were, as usual, my favorite.
March 23rd, 2006 Arriving in Bangkok I was EXHAUSTED when I left Israel. I hadn't sleep a decent night in a few weeks now, and had been going going going. As much as one loves their family - too much exposure for prolonged periods of time can lead to stress. Combined with sleep deprivation can cause stomach ulceration. My plane was cramped and stuffy flying to France, but nearly empty from Paris to Bangkok. I had two full seats to myself, a luxury I cannot recall in recent memory. The plane landed in Bangkok, nearly on top of a golf course around 4:30 pm. Somehow I cheated jet lag and managed to stay up till bedtime and get perfectly adjusted immediately. Bangkok was crazy from the moment I left the plane. It was massively overpopulated, hot, humid, stuffy and smoggy and I loved it instantly. Infinite cabs, 5 lanes wide lined up outside the airport. I got in one - one driving on the right (not correct) side of the car, and began the 45 minute drive to the Khao San area. 10 dollars got me there, including an obscenely large tip by Thai standards. Few people we encountered in Thailand spoke passable English, but my cab driver was fluent enough to school me on the protests around Bangkok. Nonviolent riots blocked off roads and filled public spaces while protestors tried to get their Prime Minister, Taksin, to resign. Some feel he has let democracy slide, and is too power hungry. The driver felt that he had done much in his first 4 year term to revive Thailand, clean it up and boost the economy. He believed that it was impossible tot have drastic change without some negative side effects. Taksin was reelected for a second 4 year term, of which one year has passed. Like the USA, the Prime Minister is limited to two 4 year terms. Traffic wasn't too bad until we pulled off the highway. At which point my head was spinning from all the motorcycles, tuk tuks, cabs and cars. It was disconcerting to have traffic flowing from the other side of the street as I was accustomed. There were plenty of nice cars driving around, which was in contrast to my vision of poor impoverished Thailand. One motorcycle passed carrying a man and a woman. The women held an infant, bottle feeding it as the man navigated the motorcyle in and out of fast paced traffic. This was a sight that would grow to shock me less as I saw it again and again throughout Thailand. Very few, if any, motorcyclists I saw wore helmets, and often children were sandwhiched on to two seater bikes. Gregg was waiting for me in our hotel room. We reunied (YAY!) and walked around our immediate neighborhood. Even in the evening it was hot, in the high 90s. The streets were lined with vendors cooking over hot pots and pans in the street. It struck me that I walk by, often times don't even noticing them - but this is their life. I go back to my cushy existence - and they stay here working in the intense heat day and night, over hot pots and pans. It always upsets me that people who did nothing to deserve otherwise are deprived of the luxuries that make my life liveable. We ate a typical Thai dinner at one of the restaurants we passed - an open air half inside half outside place - the bill, including dessert and beer for Gregg....8 dollars. Things sure are CHEAP here! Shortly thereafter that night, and every other night in Thailand, I was asleep the minute my head hit the pillow.
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