From one Paradise to another...

We'd been living on an island for a week, blissfully doing absolutely nothing (except some sweet climbing, eating massive amounts of anything curried, and avoiding Thai whiskey buckets at all cost). Ko Phi Phi was beginning to feel like home. We had built a good community of friends and neighbors and established stomping grounds that, with time, would have developed into old haunts. It was not an easy decision to leave, but we had to. Otherwise, I'm afraid we might have stayed far longer than either of us intended...

We reluctantly boarded the boat, questioning our decision til the last mooring was un-moored. And we'd done it... We had just left the most perfect place on earth.

...But on to the next one; that's what we do. A traveler is no traveler if he dilly-dally's in a single port. Next stop: Hat Rai Leh, or (english-ized), Railay Beach. Home, we were told, to some of the best climbing anywhere.

Rai Leh is a peninsula that juts into the Andaman Sea just west of the port town of Krabi. As our longtail boat surfed into the eastern bay of Rai Leh, it was immediately apparent why climber's flock here: rock, and lots of it, reaching up and out of the sea like thumbs giving a welcoming and gigantic thumbs up. I felt my forearms quiver, giddy with anticipation. Once we landed, we played the accomodation game (finding a place to sleep has become a sport for Claire and I) and came out victorious, with a lovely aircon/hotwater bungalow nested high above the coastline with dramatic views of the aforementioned limestone fingers from our spacious and well-lit porch.

With a place to stay squared away, we were off to explore our new home. Straight to the rock, at the southern end of the beach, to get some beta on the vertical adventures ahead. Our closer explorations revealed that the rock was extremely overhanging, and that the climbing would be challenging, at least. Sweet. We decided to check out ritzy West Railay, dubbed the "sunset side" for fairly obvious reasons. A concrete-paved path leads the way from East (the more budget-friendly side where we had decided to stay) to West. The view from the westside is no less dramatic than from ours: whitesand beach gaurded by limestone karst, the quintissential picture of the Southern Thailand beach. We mosied (sp?) northward up the beach, stepping over intricate circular patterns composed of teeny balls of sand (which I astutely noted are the by-product of a sand crab's mealtime activity.) We then made our our way over a jungled headland to Ton Sai Beach, home to yet more climbing. After a quick bite at a beachside eatery (glass noodle salad that set my mouth ablaze), we decided to take the inland path back to our bungalow, making a giant loop of our excursion. This decision made for some interesting travel...

I suppose we'd become accustomed to the manicured, brick-laden paths of Phi Phi, but what we thought would be a quick jaunt turned into our first jungle trekking adventure. The path was little more than a foot trail, barely distinguishable from the overgrown undergrowth of the jungle floor. And above... monkeys? There's no worse feeling than hiking in monkey country. Steep ascent up the hill, panting all the while. Then, the treacherous descent. I would have liked a sled. The long and short of it is we made it back to our side, scored some curry and rice, and took it back to the bungalow to accompany the view. Life is good.

We awoke this morning to the pitter patter, and at times downright roar, of rain. No climbing today. So the decision was easy: boat back to the mainland, where internet is cheap, and up date the blog because it's been awhile... So here I am, in an internet cafe in Krabi, dry and happy to be writing this. I hope you're all doing well. We sure are.

How about them Bengals?