Last night I spent relaxing and learning a little Daniel. Was very relaxing and interesting.
This morning we took the James Bond Island hopping tour and it was spectaculor. The island is called the James Bond island because it was in The Man with the Golden Gun. I never saw the movie so it didn't mean that much to me.
The other islands were great though. On Monkey island we canoed through a pitch black bat cave where we saw hundreds of bats sleeping and woke some up with our lights. We then fed wild monkeys that took the fruit right out of our hands. They were really cute. I really enjoyed that part. We also saw dozens of eagles fly around our boat. More eagles than I've ever seen in my entire life.
All of the islands we saw were gorgeous as usual and we stopped for swimming where I jumped and dove off the top of the boat (~25 feet). [My highest dive ever.]
We met a lot of interesting people and on the way back there was a lady-boy show on the boat. It was a bit disturbing but I think my friend enjoyed it a lot because he took the most pictures of the day of it.
It was a really really great day.
Tomorrow to Ko Phi Phi - which is regularly ranked as one of the top islands in the worlds. I'm excited as usual :)
We spent Shabbat in Patong Beach which is very developed and a big difference than Railey.
The Chabad rabbi there, who I call Rav Aharon, is extremely dynamic. He takes care of the entire Chabad house himself which is no small feat. All the other Chabad's we were at had at least 3 rabbi's. There were about 300 people for Friday night dinner and we even stayed for the oneg which was great. Everyone in the room got up and told a story. I probibly spoke more hebrew that night than anytime while I was in Israel. I even gave my story in Hebrew which I was very proud of - and people laughed and clapped which made me feel good :)
The entire shabbat was very nice and we met a lot of interesting and friendly people. We were two of three Americans that Shabbat and only two others were from an English speaking country.
The plan tomorrow is to go Island hopping by speed boat around the Islands near Phuket. Should be exciting.
Today we left Ton Sai / Railey by long tail boat to Ao Nong and took a mini van to Phuket.
The area we are staying in Phuket is basically a mini Israel. There are a crazy amount of Israelis. We don't have much time before Shabbat to tour as we have to get ready.
Shabbat Shalom - I hope all is well!
Railey Beach is known as a rock climbing heaven with over 700 crags. Even though I was still sore from the other day and our trek through the rocks I decided that I shouldn't give up the chance to climb in Railey so this morning I climbed over to Railey West and went rock climbing again.
It was once again terrific, with amazing scenery. I once again failed to complete a 6b but managed to get further than I had in Chiang Mai. I also managed to complete to 6a crags. This time it was 3 of us, a guy from Ireland on a 6 month trip and a guy from Canada on a one month trip. They were really nice and we had a great time.
In the afternoon I had to get back to Ton Sai for lunch (energy bars and cookies) but high tide was up again so I decided to swim from Railey West to Ton Sai which took about 45 minutes. (I also was carrying a water bottle which I threw ahead of me every 5 feet, my glasses, hat, shirt and sandals.) It was very fun.
In the afternoon we went to Phranang Beach which is essentially Railey South and went swimming in the gorgeous emerald clear green water. It was extremely relaxing and refreshing.
Before this trip if someone asked me what the most beautiful natural place I have ever seen I would definitely have said either Bryce Canyon or the Grand Canyon, but now Railey Beach is definitely a contender.
At night I sat down by the beach, under the bright stars (with Mars in clear view), and read some fantasy stories from Hermann Hesse. My Nirvana.
We were planning on spending the night in Krabi Town but I changed my mind as I heard how beautiful Railey Beach is. We took a long tail boat from Ao Nong and we were planning on staying at Railey East as it is cheaper than Railey West, but someone in the boat recommended Ton Sai so we stayed as it is the backpacker beach so we ended up going there instead.
Railey Beach is attached to Krabi but completely divided by mountains, making it only accessible by boat. It is very quiet and undeveloped. We stayed in a tiny bungalow near the beach for 600 baht.
The second we took step onto Ton Sai I could sense the extremely chill vibe: Bob Marley music playing, BBQ's being setup and dozens of unshaven, loosely dressed backpackers attempting to walk on a wire strung between two trees. This was exactly what I was looking for.
We spent the first night hanging out and walking around admiring the magnificent scenery.
The only thing seperating Ton Sai and Railey West (which is a gateway onto Railey East) is a 20 minute trek over sharp jagged rocks. We walked to Railey West the first night and thought the walk was a bit difficult. When we decided to return to Ton Sai at about 9 PM, high tide had come in and it was clear that our difficult walk earlier was now going to be nearly impossible. We didn't realize that all the rocks we had walked on getting there were now under water until a minute into our walk.
We walked through the dark water (we had no flashlight and the island has very poor lighting) and managed to survive - even though my friend resisted my insistance that we follow the buddy system where we must always hear and see each other.
I recieved many cuts and bruises from the hike but thankfully we are still alive to see Day 11.
Today me and my friend split up: I went rock climbing and he went white water rafting. I was looking for something that was outdoors and more active making rock climbing a natural choice.
It was terrific. It was just me and two Thai tour guys. (I used The Peak tour guide service if you are going to Thailand - they are first class). The first three climbs I had (5b, 5c rating and each about 15-20 meters) I found fairly easy. I then convinced them to let me climb a 6b+ which was a total disaster and embarrassingly I couldn't finish it :( It was really great trying though and definitely tested my limits. Also note, it took the guide a really long time to climb it himself.
We then ate lunch which was free but I brought along tuna and crackers (which is what we have been doing for several days and now we are finally out of). I did take a look at the menu and noticed that everything was 30 baht (~3 shekel)! That included a soup, a meat dish and a side.
After lunch we went out to another crag for a 6a+, 35m climb near the top of the mountain. The rocks were limestone and different parts had different colors: yellow, red, black, and brown. Most of the mountain was a cove for owls and bees - I was a bit scared every time I saw several bees fly out of one of the holes as when your climbing you can't see what's in the next hole you put your hand in.
I had a lot of difficulty near the the beginning part and tried a million times. I was determined I could do it. After several tries, scraped knees, torn skin, and bruised fingers I decided maybe I could pass the hard part if I just pull the belaying rope rather than actually climb the rocks. The guide said if I can do it he'll be OK with it.
It was definitely harder to pull myself up with the rope than actually climbing but I was having a very difficult time finding proper food placement. Thank God I was able to pull myself up using the belaying rope for about a foot. (Yes, I am aware this is cheating...)
After that I was nearly completely spent but managed to make it to the top with a bunch of breaks. The view at the top was spectacular, overlooking numerous types of trees and dozens of green mountains and light brown lakes. Clearly the sense of accomplishment was also excellent. I had the guide hold me up there for about 5 minutes just to take in the moment. It was truly magnificent.
Now I'm waiting for my friend to get back from white water rafting.
I really need some time to relax from the rock climbing. Thankfully we are heading out to Krabi Beach tomorrow!
We also got fitted for suits and shirts which I am already having buyers remorse. We went to Supreme Collections which so far seems to be doing a good job. They are very friendly and speak english well. On the downside, we are paying twice as much as any other store we asked.
On that note, we are the worst shoppers ever, or as the Israelis here call us "Friars". We get taken advantage of all the time. We'll spend an hour bargaining over everything and then when we finally make purchases constantly check our buys at other stores selling similar wares. To say the least, we have not been doing too well. The Thai people are born for haggling and sales.
Today was the best day in Thailand so far. We rode elephants, went bamboo rafting, oxen riding, saw an elephant circus and visited (exploited) children in a village.
For a quick run down:
Elephant Riding: Awesome! Very bumpy but really cool. We even walked through a river. (The Thai people made fun of my friends weight again and made him ride on an elephant by himself (opposed to with someone else, but unfourtanetly they didn't use the pregnant line - so really it was just mean.)
Oxen Riding: Not too exciting. Reminded me of Borat.
Elephant Show: Majestic! The Elephants PAINT PICTURES, kick soccer balls, and do other tricks. We saw so many elephants today - likely over a hundred different ones.
Bamboo Raft: Was extremely relaxing and we got to look at the glorious landscape. This was exactly why we came to Northern Thailand.
Long Neck Village: Weird. We drove to this village called the Long Neck Karen village where the women wear golden rings around their necks, legs and sides from the age of 5. Their necks stretch because of it. They wear these things to protect them if a tiger tries to bite them. (I didn't ask what happens if they are bitten somewhere else.)
The weird part about the village is that it's basically a human zoo. They put about a dozen women and little girls in booths and some of the little girls were clearly pretty upset about that. We played with some of the little boys though and that was fun.
Tomorrow the plan is to go rock climbing.
Hopefully I will be able to post some pictures in the near future.
Note: I am well aware of the terrible grammer and mistakes in the blog lately. I only have a few minutes to write each day. Sorry!
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