Rock Climbing Isn't for Wussies!

The muddy beach during low tide at East Railay, Thailand.
see all photos »

I decided on visiting Railey which can only be accessed by a long tail boat. After buying your ticket, you wait until there are at least 6 people before heading off. Thankfully this only took about 10 minutes. With it being high tide, we entered into calf deep water that splashed up to our knees. Despite having my pants rolled up, they still got soaked. After clambering aboard it was maybe a 15-20 minute ride around the rocks to the West Railey beach as the boat from Ao Nang doesn't go to the East Railay beach where I was heading to. Navigating off the boat in less deep water, there were signs to the east beach.

The beautiful beach at West Railay, Thailand.
see all photos »

I walked along with a Thai girl who didn't speak much English, but she was quite happy when she heard that I was from San Francisco as she was on her way to meet up with her sister who was taking English classes in San Francisco. We parted ways at her resort and I ventured on my way. With no map in LP and no indication where my hotel might be, I kept trudging along, very hot and very sweaty. I finally saw someone to help me and he told me I was heading the wrong way. Disheartened, I headed back down the hill where I ran into a Thai woman on a motorbike that I had seen earlier. Realizing that I might be lost, she was very helpful by showing me a short cut to my hotel, Railay Viewpoint Resort.

He was actually just yawing ;)
see all photos »

Once there, I was shown two rooms, one with hot water and one without. Honestly, at that moment they could have told me I would be showering with ice cubes and I would have been happy as a clam! I ended up choosing the room with the cold water given that it was a bungalow as opposed to a plain old room and it was cheaper. One of the pluses of the hotel was that it had a pool. As soon as I could I went into it. After finally cooling down, I decided to walk around.

The east beach is not pretty at all, lined with a couple of mangroves and with muddy beaches at low tide and not swimming water at high tide, hence the accommodation on this side being cheaper. I walked to as far south as I could go before heading through a walkway to get to the west beach. Along the left side of the walkway was one of the huge rocks seen at Railay that was really cool to walk along. After about 10 minutes I came out to some rock climbers and a little seating area just before the beach. As I sat watching the climbers, I must have been distracted by a noise and when I looked up, just above me where two monkeys, one cleaning the other. Turns out this little area had a bunch of monkeys hanging around. Deciding to move on, I walked along the beautiful beach (no wonder the prices are higher over here!) as far as I could. I guess that maybe if it was low tide, you might be able to walk all the way around to where the boat had dropped me off.

Cute monkey doing his own branch climbing at West Railay, Thailand.
see all photos »

All hotels have their own restaurant but just to the left of my hotel was a handful of bars, travel agencies and places to eat. As I tried to decide where to eat, I noticed that one place was showing the Simpson's movie, so much for obeying piracy laws! I opted for Lucky's that had average food and the service was very slow, but since I wasn't going anywhere, it suited me just fine.

I had planned on trying rock climbing the following morning, but waking up to rain, I decided that it was not an optimal time to go. After the rain finally subsided I headed back to Lucky's for breakfast. No sooner than I had sat down, a local came over and sat down at my table. He introduced himself as something like Bill, knowing that it couldn't be since it is not a very Thai name! He was the bartender there and had apparently seen me the night before - not surprising as I do kind of stand out when eating alone and reading my book when there are mostly couples and families around me. Not wanting to be rude, I let him sit there, hoping that the lack of conversation would lead to his departure. I was wrong! I couldn't really understand much of what he was saying, but caught on that he wanted to go to the beach with me and wanted me to stay another 4 or 5 days. With my breakfast having arrived and the guy still not leaving and still trying to communicate with me, I gave him my LP to browse through the pictures so that I could get through breakfast as quickly as possible and leave. For a moment there he did leave, only to come back and as he did, planted a kiss on my cheek, quite out of the blue! Next thing he is saying he loves me - boy these Thai men move fast ;) With breakfast finished and declining his additional offers to hang out with me, I left. As I was leaving, he asked that I come to the bar restaurant that night - I had already decided that I was going in the opposite direction that night for dinner.

Getting ready for my second climb at East Railay, Thailand.
see all photos »

So, the good news is that my infected foot is well on the way to recovery. The bad news, as I walking back to change to go to the pool, I saw this huge colorful spider in my way. In my attempt to avoid it, I took a large step and I ended up slipping on the mossy pavement from all the rain. Unfortunately, I went down hard. My first thought was that I had landed on the spider, which totally freaked me out given how much I hate them. However, that thought dissipated as soon as I looked down at my right knee that had a huge chunk out of it and blood oozing from three different areas. I hobbled back to my room and I was thankful to have the antiseptic wipes that Deb had given me (thanks Deb!) especially since I managed to forget my antibiotic cream. With my knee swelling up, I decided that I should get some ointment of some kind and some more bandages. I also checked in about climbing to see how much time I had before I had to commit to going.

As she is up there!
see all photos »

I decided I had to go for it, hurt knee or not. Meeting up at Tex Rock Climbing, I got kitted out and the guide, Sing, his mentee, Say and Amer, another traveler and I headed south to the area that has some climbs of various difficulty and lengths. Our first couple of climbs were relatively easy but from there it got just darn hard, for me at least! Amer, who enjoys climbing trees took to climbing very easier (sound familiar Newt?). I on the other hand had more challenges. Surprisingly, it wasn't the height that bothered me but having to trust your balance. Plus, I felt a little rushed as Sing would yell up to give me advice about where to go to next when I looked like I was hesitating. What he failed to remember is that my arms aren't that long! Plus, I know that the shoes are supposed to feel one size smaller so that you have a better grip, but I think it has to be more comfortable if you have your own. On top of that, my bruised knee kept scraping the rock, which caused it to bleed even more. As I waited for Amer to finish up a longer climb, I ended up talking to a climber in another group. Turns out that she and her three friends were the first Americans I had run into and where from San Francisco no less. They had rock climbed at home so definitely had much of a clue about what to do. After five climbs, a banged up knee and very sore arms (I know you aren't supposed to use your arms to pull yourself up) I concluded that to do this again, I would have to do some practice at the gym - Robin and Leslie, perhaps a trip or two to MIssion Cliffs when I get back?

Taking a moment to pose.
see all photos »

Tired from rock climbing I called it a night with just dinner at the hotel next door. I had planned on going further down the beach, but given that there was little light, I decided not to.

I had thought about going to the Phi Phi islands next, but given that I was going to get plenty of beach time on the east coast, I decided to go to Phang Nga instead - not to be confused with Pha Ngan which is the island on the east coast. I guess with my wonderful Thai accent I almost ended up on the island too soon!