Sigh

My last post from SE Asia. I'm trying to burn up some baht, so decided to log on and post. The internet rates here in Railay are ridiculous, relatively speaking: 3 Baht per minute, which is roughly US$4 per hour. I think rates in Bangkok, in the tourist areas, were half to a third the cost.

So, that was a nice segue to the sticker shock I experienced when we arrived on Railay Beach. That, and the weather, were making me very unimpressed. But, after settling in for a day, things got better. First the weather, which makes the west beach much better looking. And, when the tide is high, the east beach is decent. It's amazing the difference between high and low tides.

Tracy has pretty much been rock climbing the entire time. She signed up for a 2-day lesson, which turned into 4 days of climbing. I watched her climb the first day (Thursday) and then explored the peninsula a bit, but apparently I missed out on most of the good stuff. Though the peninsula looks small (you can walk from the west to east sides in about 10-15 minutes), there is a lot more to find north-south. And, what looks like a jungle ending, reveals paths to climbing sites if you just venture in a bit. And, some of those sites have accessible views for non-climbers. Especially good is a cave you climb to (via ladders) on the Thai Wand (sp?) wall off of Phrah Nang beach. I never did make it up the rope to the lagoon and lookout. Next time I suppose.

I tried climbing for the first time on Friday. Did ok. Learned how to belay and lead belay right from the start. Crazy. Made it up 2.5 climbs before pooping out. Scraped up my fingers on that last climb, and arms just got too tired. Pool time after that!

On Saturday, I tried a "Discovery" scuba dive. That was fun. So much more to see when you can stay underwater. And it is so cool to be able to use air as a ballast like the dolphins do (I think they do).

Today, Sunday, I tried another half day of climbing. Made it through 3 full climbs this time without too much incident. Climbed a 6a(?) level wall, whatever that means. All I know is it was the hardest one I did and I got stuck in one spot, but the two Andreas' and Bao (my belayer) helped me get unstuck.

Oh, before I forget, we met Jess(ica) and Tik (Tracy's climbing guide), who were awesome. Jess showed us some local haunts which was really great, b/c it got rid of my sticker shock, and the food was local and some of the best we had on the island. Tik let us climb with him and showed Tracy a ton of stuff. He's just so chill and generous. Actually, all the locals here are super nice and I think once you are around for a while, they just accept you into their community.

OK, have probably burned enough baht. Will post more later (yeah, you've heard that line before).