Travel Photography | 56. Climbing the Deep waters at Tonsai Beach

On my way to Surat Thani, then Krabi and onwards to Tonsai beach, highly recommended by Antti and Markus.

I was really excited to ride a train after a long time of bus-riding and motorbiking. There is some sort of serenity in that I can’t quite describe. Also, my late grandfather was a locomotive mecanic so I guess on some level I share his passion for trains.

This is what happened in my life 24-31.1.2012.

The picture of the King can be found almost anywhere in Thailand. Also, it is a crime (apparently) to disrespect his image in any way. For example stepping on money on the sidewalk is illegal, as the money has his picture.

Ahh… Nothing quite like the feeling when you wake up in the morning on a train and make your way to the open doorway with a cup of coffee and watch the sun go up, scenery pass you by. These are the times you remember why travelling just is the best damn thing!

Reached Surat Thani overnight and took a minibus to Krabi, then from Krabi, a minibus to the pier to take a boat to Railey beach to reach Tonsai. No hassle there, everything went smoothly.

At Railey, it was high tide, which meant I couldn’t walk to Tonsai (only 10 min walk) but had to take another boat or wait for low tide. I was eager to go find a bungalow so I opted for the expensive boat at 200BTH for just me.

Finally, I was at Tonsai! What an awesome place I thought!

Took a bungalow at the very end of the beach, Viking bungalows. This is what I ran into, first hand. Band of monkies raiding the trash!

Later I learned these pesky creatures are master thieves and more often than you would think, I saw the restaurant owners chase monkies with slingshots after they’ve run away with a bunch of bananas. :D

Also, there were quite a few notes from tourists about gear such as cameras stolen by monkies. So beware of that if you come here.

The chill-out bar. The whole beach was filled with these awesome, relaxed restaurants and bars, filled with interesting, cool people. Just as I expected. There were tonnes of more a little uphill. Too bad I was there mostly after dark, so no pics…

One major reason I wanted to get here was that Tonsai (& Railey) is home to over 2000 (that’s right two THOUSAND) climbing routes from beginner to monkey-man.

Standing below these amazing cliffs surrounding the beaches, I felt humbled. I had never in my life climbed outdoors.

What a place to start!

I heard there are also a lot of caves to explore by climbing or kayaks but I didn’t get around to going…

It can happen when you are too busy relaxing on the hammock with cheap whisky and a book or chilling out in the bars with others. I guess there is a time for everything.

You do not get tired of this view.

The first thing I wanted to do was to hook up my hammock on the terrace of my bungalow.

Nice and cozy eh?

Next day I signed up for a leading course (climbing first, setting up the rope for others). I started rope climbing last year with my friend in Finland and didn’t have time to do it before my trip. Figured this would be THE place to do it.

Admittedly I was a little worried because it had been almost half a year since I climbed (or did any physical exercise for that matter). Luckily my instructor was a relaxed local pro, staying on the beach for the third year already. It was just me and him, giving me the edge of attention.

Also, he was pretty relaxed on account of all the weed he smoked.

Taking a lunch break on a nearby coffee shop.

On top of a 5a lead, being my last for the day, I was exhausted. Also, the last move was very long, meaning I had to use all my strength to reach the last fix point to clip the rope on.

I failed the first try and kindly enough my instructor “slacked” me a little extra rope to teach me not to be afraid to free fall 2 meters before the rope caught me.

Nearly crapped my pants.

Exhausted on the top of a feel good 5a, my last climb.

The view was totally worth it. Btw this is only one fourth of the height of the cliff. After all, the route was pretty easy.

After I couldn’t muster the strength to even try the grade 4 routes, I decided to call it a day after 7 hours of sheer climbing fun.

Sun is setting, time to head to the bars.

Moved my hammock closer to the beach on a neat tree, 2 meters above ground.

Next day all my body was aching like hell, so I took one day off before trying deep water solo climbing. It means climbing solo (duh) over deep waters (duh) without anything besides your shoes (and most people wore pants too).

You could go as high as 30 meters, but you had to be ready to fall or jump from that height as there was no other way down.

Unless you have enough strength to climb back, which I never do.

As I was alone, I tagged along with a group of crazy and cool people, including Dominic, Vince, Ben and Holly.

Ben was hungover and I truly felt for him.

If memory serves, this was called “spider cliff.”

Easy going routes here. Still, being a little afraid of water AND heights, I couldn’t get higher than 10 meters. It is a different game climbing mostly without chalk on slippery surfaces over water with no rope.

This point looked very cool! Sadly I couldn’t climb up there. Was already too tired and scared to even try.

On the way back we ran into a small rainstorm, which served as good fun for most of us anyhow.

Afterwards, the sea water felt almost hot!

Our crazy cameraman, Vince.

Our even crazier 16 year old captain.

Hell, one week went past way too quickly. I will definitely come back one day.

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(First published 31/01/2012 at LiveJournal)

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