The Month of Monsoons

While my big plans to keep everyone updated on my amazing last lazy days in Thailand fell short because the Internet cafe couldn't connect to blogspot, I'm secretly glad because the last thing I wanted to do in the most beautiful and peaceful place in the world was sit in a hot Internet cafe and write about what I was wishing I was doing for that hour. Charlie and I successfully made it to Singapore, found each other in the airport (we were on different flights- it made for a lonely day of travel), and got to our hostel. The YMCA, shockingly, was pretty nice. Our day in Singapore showed us why- they're standard of living is ridiculous. I saw so many people walking out of Miu Miu, Prada, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, etc carrying LARGE shopping bags, and the food was so expensive! But the city was clean and safe, so we spent our free day wandering and then watched a few Olympic events at an outdoor restaurant in Chinatown. The next morning we met with Josh, a long time friend and travel companion, in the Singapore airport and got on a plane to Krabi, Thailand. Tiger Air was certainly not the finest travel experience I've ever had, but the service was good and, as a climber/young traveler abroad this is important, cheap! We took a bus from the airport for 500 baht (seems like so much, but in actuality is less than 15 dollars) to the Ao Nang dock and hired a boat to Ao Ton Sai beach, our home for two weeks. Despite exhaustion and agreement that we'd take a rest day, we couldn't help ourselves when we saw the cliff faces on the beach- climbing was inevitable. We hit the sand running (not actually we were carrying heavy backpacks and it was a million degrees). And so for the next two weeks we woke up late, ate lazy breakfasts while avoiding bees and watching monkeys, then climbed till a late lunch when the sun hit the walls, swam/kayaked/napped/tanned/read until the shade covered the walls again in the late afternoons, then climbed until well after sundown with headlamps. We were definitely not the only ones with this schedule- most of the people staying on Ton Sai, rather than the more popular and much more touristy railay beaches just across the bay (reachable by a 30 min hike), were climbing fanatics as well. Railay certainly offers some great climbing, but has mostly easier climbs. We spent zero days there, even though I probably would have loved it-the boys are far to strong to enjoy those areas. I mostly hopped on the boys' warm ups and spent the rest of the day taking photos, finishing my summer reading, and tanning, which of course is just my version of heaven. Josh and Charlie killed it, both flashing and sending several 5.13s each. I re-worked my favorite climb in the world, Lars and Lars, a 7a (5.11d). We also spent a day Deep Water Soloing at the Spiderman Wall. I was terrified, to say the least, as jumping from heights into dark water is not my favorite activity. But in the end I actually had a lot of fun. We went in a group of 14 climbers from all over the world and got to talk to some interesting individuals. Charlie and Josh, of course, had no fear and both effortlessly scaled the walls and jumped off from huge heights. A monsoon came to join us on the wall, although when you're already wet, rain isn't the biggest concern. The coolest part of the day though? I GOT STUNG BY JELLYFISH!!! Really tiny ones, and it barely even registered what was happening-it only felt like tiny pinpricks, but I still feel like such a badass now! My favorite bits about being on Ton Sai, besides the world class climbing and the exceptionally unique sunsets, were the places we ate. If you ever go to Ton Sai, there are a few places you absolutely must try. At Mama's Chicken, a small shack of a restaurant down the path next to the Pirate/Sunset Bar, the pad thai, green curry, and fried rice are all incredible. It looks like a sketchy place to eat, but the food is out of this world. Depending on the day, you pay when you order and sit down to wait before they bring it to you, and other days you pay when you finish following some sort of honor code-ask when you order though, I once sat for an hour waiting and they informed me they hadn't started my food because I hadn't paid, when that day for lunch I had paid after eating...It's Thailand, you just have to go with the flow. The smoothie stall on that same path is MINDBLOWING- no matter what fruit you get the girl who runs it will make it fantastic. My personal favorite was mango, banana and orange. Local Thai is on Railay, another local restaurant that doesn't look appealing and yet has some of the best food I've ever eaten (although Mama's will always have the number one spot in my heart). The restaurant closest to the climbing cave on the beach that has a deck overlooking the ocean has decent food too- I loved the fried rice and the sweet and sour chicken. On my last day, a monsoon like no other decided to strike just as Charlie and Josh were helping me to hike over to Railay to catch a boat to Krabi with all my bags. I was terrified that no boats would leave that day because when I told a local I'd be leaving that day, they laughed and said "no, storm is here". It was very encouraging. But boats did leave, and I took a tuktuk in Krabi to my hotel, checked in, showered in the first truly hot water I'd felt in weeks, and curled up to ride out the storm in my pjs. Saying goodbye to the boys was hard, I always have so much fun with them. The next day I was back on Tiger Air (Note: The Krabi airport is tiny, and there are never lines. You need MAYBE an hour before a flight, even less. Not two. Definitely not two. I had to kill an hour and 45 minutes there on my own.). I spent the afternoon in Singapore with my Mom! Our family needs to start planning on the same itinerary. We went to the Raffles Hotel for high tea, which was incredible. I don't think I've ever seen such an arrangement of tiny chocolate treats. After a champagne toast to an amazing summer, we retired to our own hotel, the Fairmont, and I packed for my big flight the following day. A 3 AM wakeup, a million hours of flying later, and I was safely back at home in LA for a 24 hour layover before heading to school. Overall, the end to my summer could not have been more perfect. Thailand is one of the most beautiful locations I've ever been to, and I would be devastated to even entertain the idea that I'll never return. Mama's Chicken has not served it's last pad thai to me!