Hello and welcome back. These days I'm writing you from a small hotel in the north of Bangkok. We're in a residential area outside of the main city area. The reason I'm here is I'm getting certified to teach English abroad. The course is going well and I'll be here for another couple of weeks but that's not what I'm here to write about today.
I left off leaving Phuket which was not quite what we were looking for. Krabi, a smaller city, almost townish, located a couple hours further South offered us just what we were looking for. Beautiful beaches, adventure (a little more than we were hoping for at times) great food, cultural experiences and a genuine taste of Thailand.
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| Routes around the bend |
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| Now that's a climb... |
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| A look from the other side |
When we first came into Krabi, we arrived at a little Japanese travel agency where we were introduced to a nice couple from Japan, Dai and Machiku (Machi for short). I actually brought my climbing shoes on this trip in hopes that I might get lucky enough to use them and indeed I did. As it turns out, if you're looking for sport climbing in Thailand, Krabi is one of the key places to visit. We made our way to the rocks on our first full day there.
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| Headin on up |
After visiting the morning market to pick up some fruit and other treats to hold us through our day, we met Dai and Machi at 7 to head to the rocks. From there we took a taxi to the beach, then a boat ride to a more remote beach, followed by a 15 min walk around the bend, and there we found ourselves at the first rock. The wall had routes between 35 and 60 feet tall and was made out solid limestone. The rock was overall perfect. There were a great range of routes, this particular wall had about 20-30 posted. I'm told that the area has approximately 50 walls, including some pillars rising straight out of the water and many, much taller ones, overlooking the beach. On the day, we ran about 5 routes ranging from a 5.6 to a 5.10b. I was certainly out of practice and shape but no complaints with climbing like that. There are actually some hostels and guests houses very near that first wall. I would love to stay out there for several months just exploring the rock. Needless to say, I would highly recommend visiting this little area if you have any interest in climbing, beautiful jungle scenery, or outstanding beaches.
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| Leaders of the pack |
While the climb brought us adventure on the personal level, overcoming the route and our pushing past personal doubts, the decent more than topped off our adventure tanks for a while. We were just coming to the beachhead where all the taxi boats hang out, walking past the little restaurants and what not when we noticed the urgency of several of the shop keepers. They were shutting down a bit early and a guy from the States who runs a little climbing shop informed us of the cause. There had been an earthquake of magnitude 8.6 off the coast of Indonesia and there was a tsunami warning for the coast where we were. You know, that term never felt so significant before, but all of a sudden it had taken on a whole new meaning.
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| Machi knockin out a 10.b |
There were only about a third of the taxi boats left on the beach. Many were heading back to the main shore. Dai called his travel agency, it was about 4 in the afternoon and we were told that if there was going to be anything, it wouldn't be until after 6:30 at the earliest. If we didn't leave now, we were going to get stranded there overnight, possibly without a place to stay, so we jumped on one of the last boats and headed back.
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| I'll give it a go |
The trip was a tense 20 min sprint through rough water on a long "banana" boat, back to the main wharf where they were to park the boat. We were all a bit nervous with one eye on the horizon as we rode along. Trying not to stew too much on the situation, we all road in relative silence back to shore. We got there to greet a relative empty beach. There were several truck like taxis, trucks that have bench seats and a shade covering in the bed of their truck, but they wouldn't pick us up, apparently waiting for some travelers attending their hotel to come back. Later we saw them pass us with no one in the back.
Luckily, we saw a truck heading out slowly. We ran up and asked if they could give us a ride. It was an amazingly generous Muslim couple. They told us to jump in the bed, we did graciously and we took off. There were many cars on the way out, creating a mini traffic jam. Krabi town, where we were residing, was a ways off. We took a notable turn in a direction we were unfamiliar with. Five minutes later, we pulled into a very secluded area, surrounded by palms and two little buildings. The couple had brought us to there house. The man, Ae, told us we would be safe there and that after the warning, he would take us wherever we needed to go. His English was broken but understandable. We could see his family at the other building, then his extended family started showing up. We met a couple of his cousins, nieces, nephews, sons, daughters and brother. Seeing everyone else taking refuge there took the edge off a bit. Then we waited.
Two more times Ae went out to look for another family he knew was on the beach somewhere. His kindness was pretty incredible and personally inspiring. As we waited, he offered us coffee and tea. About this time, a storm rolled to audibly express what was on everyone's mind. The lightning was bright and tangible, the thunder was loud and frequent, the rain hard. An all out attack from Mother Nature, with a potential water assault from both sides. For me it was an all too real reminder of how small and fragile we really are in the big picture.
That evening, Ae approached us again and said, "You must be hungry." This was after locating the family he had been looking for. They gave him a call once they found a save place with a phone. His wife and his or her sister began preparing food for us. I almost couldn't believe the generosity of this family. They had done more than enough up to this point, but to top it all off, the meal that they prepared was hands down the best food I've had in Thailand. He invited us to take a seat at the dinner mat. I say mat because it was litterally an ornate woven mat where he placed pillows for seats. Shortly after sitting, six different types of food were placed before us. For each type of food, there were two or three plates of it. Curry, fish, vegetables, soups, and two more stir fry dishes, each with its own unique sauce. Everyone received a plate with a scoop of rice, while three more large plates of rice sat waiting had we the need for more. The meal proved to be more than the nine of us could handle (that nine being those who went climbing with us and the other family). Apparently Ae's family ate either later, earlier, or somewhere else. Given the choice I would eat there every night... As it was placed before us, Ae took the seat next to me, and I had to fight back tears as I took it all in. We all ate to our hearts, and stomachs, content. Dinner was followed by a dessert that we got to participate in preparing (cain sugar cubes, covered in sticky rice powder, rolled into balls and boiled till ready).
Over all it was just an absolutely incredible experience, and one that I can never forget. After taking us home, we offered him some money, he tried not to accept but we insisted. I just told him that someday I would pay it forward. I don't know when or where but its certainly a promise I intend to honor.
This was our first day out, and there was more to come. Fortunately it was a bit LESS adventurous. That, however, I'll write about in the days to come. Thank you so much for joining me again. I hope everything is lovely wherever you are. Hopefully, I can share some of this sun your way, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
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| Ae and his family - Thank you for everything! |
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