Ton Sai: My paradise! (Jackie)

Last week was one of the best vacations of my life. It wasn’t my typical type of ‘vacation’, where I take a break from one activity and replace it with many more. I love delving into new cultures, testing my problem solving skills and creativity, challenging my tongue to wrap around new languages, and trying to adapt to a variety of lifestyles, but sometimes the constant exploration, new and often stressful situations, and trying to fit everything in to an allotted amount of time can be quite wearing. Especially since that’s what I’ve been doing non-stop for the last 2 months. For once, instead of going somewhere foreign, I went somewhere comforting.

After partially ‘planning’ 2 trips I ended up just tossing some random clothes into a bag and taking off with scribbled directions from a co-worker that involved getting off a bus and finding an unmarked white pickup truck that would take me to a dock, which would take me pretty close to a beach he recommended. I never even questioned the accuracy of the directions until I started looking for a bus stop with a white truck near it. I got there though! My destination was Ton Sai, a beach near Krabi. I figured that I would get bored after a couple of days and would meander further north towards Malaysia but after 24 hrs in Ton Sai it was pretty evident that I wasn’t going to go anywhere else. I would love to describe all of the incredible adventures and friends I met there but everyday seemed to hold at least 3 days worth of activity and phases that it would be insane to try. Instead, I’m just going to talk about the first day and post some pics from the others.

(Part of the crossing from Rai lay to Ton Sai- over slippery rocks of course!)

To begin with, Ton Sai is only a 100m from Rai Lai, a very expensive, touristy beach that was apparently the set for some famous movie that I haven’t seen.  The good part about this is that tons of boats go to Rai Lay from every local port, every hour. The best part is that even though Ton Sai is so close, there is no easy way to get there without clamoring over sharp rocks in the ocean for 15 mins (during low tide only), hiking a steep jungle path, or paying an outrageous sum of money to take a boat across. This lovely aspect of nature works as a natural sieve for the type of person who stays on Ton Sai. The people there tended to be young, fit climbers, because it’s hard to cross over without getting splashed by a wave or sweating outrageously in the jungle.  There is also only electricity a few hours a day so it’s impossible to get a cold water or beer before 7pm and it is also hard to find hot showers. These factors seem to be major deterrents for most travelers, leaving everyone on the beach to be of similar dispositions, lifestyle, and instant friends.

After watching the sun set behind towering limestone cliffs from a comfy body sized pillow on the deck of a bar, watching a group of monkeys scamper up the rocks and terrorize two guys doing a stage climb, and watching in awe as a vacationing base jumper flew over the side of one of the mountains only to land perfectly on the beach a few yards away, I was already feeling like I was in paradise.  This is definitely the place for me.

              




















 The beach is surrounded by sharp towering cliffs that are streaked with shades of white, black, orange, and grey. Lush jungle flora pours over the top of the cliffs and floods the spaces behind the beach with palm trees, flowers, and dense greenery. With this backdrop, I prepared to have my first restaurant dinner alone (at the last minute Michelle had ended up in the hospital with a minor malady and wouldn’t join me until the next night.) I was honestly a little nervous at first, feeling sort of silly for being by myself, but as I got accustomed to the idea the thought of dining alone and just savoring the food and the listening to the crashing ocean became quite appealing.  Of course, when someone asked to sit with me as I was flipping through the menu I acquiesced with more than a little relief. Solo dinner is temporarily still off the books.

            After chatting with Misheal, an Israeli rock climber, we decided to climb in the morning- he knew someone I could borrow a harness from and the best places to climb. He showed up at 9am the next morning and told me to grab my shoes, a headlamp, and a swim suit. Ingredients for adventure, but what kind?  We hiked 40 mins to Taiwan wall, set a local plant smoking to keep mosquitos away and started climbing. The routes were gorgeous, some of the best I’ve been on, with great limestone holds and a spectacular view of pristine blue-green ocean rimmed with white cliffs and green jungle whenever I took a moment to look behind me.

                                                                          ( View from the route)

I should mention however that I haven’t been in the gym for 6 months and it’s been more than a year since I’ve climbed outdoors. We climbed two 90 ft routes at the 10b/c level and I thought my arms were going to fall off. My arms, fingers, and shoulders burned badly and my footwork was atrocious. I would have given up near the top of the second route except that Misheal’s gear was still there and I didn’t want to make him re-climb the entire route (he had hurt his wrist the day before, which is why he was taking ‘a day off climbing’ with me.) After pretty much dragging myself in agonizing inches to the top I was exhausted but happy. The view from the top was worth the agony, especially paired with the feeling that I had pushed myself beyond my perceived ability and succeeded. I was proud of that moment (though embarrassed about how terrible of a climber I had become) and was ready to hit the beach. no real choice anyway, I was totally pumped out! 

Still pouring with sweat, I chatted with some other climbers as Misheal packed up the equipment.  Turns out the way to the best beach is through a cave 40 ft up the cliff. And Mishael wasn’t packing up equipment, he was setting it up so that I could belay him while he climbed and so he could up- belay from the cave as I climbed after. The adventure never ends. After climbing half way up, my backpack full of RC equipment unzipped and cascaded random bits down at my friends below. Back down, 8 carabineers and some creativity later, I’m climbing again. Easy route but I’m exhausted. I finally reach the top, enjoy an incredible view, catch my breath and we start caving. 

The cave was unexpectedly cavernous considering it was inside a cliff face, with large echoing spaces, vast arrays of stalagmites and stalactites, and bizarre rock formations. Thankfully, it was also the first dry cave I’ve ever been in which came as a welcome relief as I was hiking in flip flops. There were 5 long bamboo ladders spaced throughout the cave with massive gaps between each rung that made me feel as if I was a little kid, making me slowly lower myself until one knee was bent to my chest, then stretching and wiggling my toes downward, feeling for the next rung in the darkness. Bright light and sea breezes flow through at the exit, allowing green mosses to grow on stalactites, making for a beautiful picture with the ocean and beach below.

   (My pictures of the green part of the cave were too blurry to post so this is somewhere in the middle)

Ok, I’m getting tired of writing already but to summarize the rest of day 1, we ended up on a beautiful beach, swam to a free standing cliff where a lot of people deep water solo and hiked home to wait for Michelle and meet up with some other friends at Sunset bar, watch the sunset and relax. Side note: I was sore for 2 days after this adventure and did not climb the rest of the trip (though Michelle and I were supposed to go deep water soloing on our last day). The rest of the trip we did a lot of kayaking, hiked a nearly vertical muddy trail relying on heavy ropes draped over the trail, swam, snorkeled, made friends, and ate delicious food.  We are planning to go back our next 3 day weekend to deep water solo- and this time I’m bringing my rock climbing gear!

(Kayaking and snorkling on Michelle's birthday!)

(Our parking job)

                        (On our 2 hour hike to the lagoon, incomplete because this was the easy part!)

(Roy, Michelle, and I taking a kayak break)

                          (Sunset bar. Chill, relaxed, and where I spent my first couple of evenings)

                (Monkeys are everywhere in Ton Sai, this one was eating the meat out of a coconut)
                                               
                                      (Michelle! My best friend in Thailand, always up foran adventure!)

                     (Roy and Valentin, on an all day kayak trip. We tried to race the rain and failed!)