Monday, Dec 31, 2007

Think of a place where huge pieces of rock are melting into an already liquid sea; then imagine a prehistoric ice age that flashed by instantly freezing the oozing giants; now, if you will, imagine that this ice age has passed, but the rock has not yet begun to melt, but is alive with trees, grasses and ferns--and as high as any average city building.

This is has been my experience with Thailand so far, but it has become an entirely different world here on the shore province of Krabi.

My ferry departed today at 9am, and I was fortunate enough to wake early again and catch the sunrise squeeze up from behind a thick blanket of clouds.. the hike to this stretch of coast was about one and a half hours and I wanted to get back to my bungalow to shower, eat breakfast, and check out. I didn't have the time so I hired a water taxi to take me back to my beach. It costs roughly 80BHT to hire one of these cabbies and it's hard not to have a great time gliding over the water in a long-tailed boat, with a loud and long propellar pushing you briskly along.

I took this picture as I was riding:

I boarded the ferry with little time to spare and arrived and hour and a half later in Krabi. After getting haggled by taxis and people who visit the docks with their own personal car (to make extra money from unsuspecting tourists), I chose the cheapest and enjoyed a dangerous and thrilling ride through the towns surrounding the port.

After 25 minutes, I found myself in Ao Nang; hired a water taxi to Rai Lay, where I was to meet up with my friend Kristen. And she found me right away!

We caught up over lunch--I had two--and she gave me a cursory tour of the beaches that were around. I'm happy to say there is plenty of rock climbing to be had around here and I jumped on some problems right away. We then hired a sea kayak and ventured off into the sea of stone giants! This was incredible: not only were there caves, huge stalagtites dangling just feet to hundreds of feet over our heads, awe inspiring views of the beaches and elevated caves in the cliff-face, there were hundreds of questions bouncing through our minds, which could only be answered by exploring each nook and cranny of the sea-level caves (so cool), climbing (from a kayak) to an elevated cave some 20 feet from the water (and then jumped off of), and by a quiet sense of reverence which both Kristen and I had been consumed with from the get-go.

The kayak trip ended because a huge storm was blowing in and we wanted to make it back without being cast-away in one of these caves. We didn't make it, but it was great that we didn't. We were caught in a heavy downpour and were getting soaked. Once we made it to shore we went swimming in the rain. The water was warm and inviting, and danced with silver drops on top of rolling waves--it was an experience never to be forgotten.

New years was great and started off with some drinks at the Bungalow in East Rai Lay, just Kristen and I; then moved to a restaurant then to a couple of bars, then to the shore to fail triumphantly at lighting a fire-balloon (not sure what it is actually called)--it turned into a small, quick bon fire, but seemed to satisfy the 5 of us that were concerned with getting it afloat.

If I keep updating this blog with my experiences like this, it may be time to write a novel.

Thailand is a place of infinite beauty and I can't wait to climb tomorrow and explore more of this wonderful country!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!