1-25-08 Deep Water Soloing

I was looking forward to Deep Water Soloing (DWS) since I learned what it was. You climb extremely steep rock over extremely deep water. You fall, you're fine! No ropes, no hassles, you're only limited by two things. Your fear and your imagination. Wee's Climbing School was doing a trip the day after my birthday for 600 baht ($20) so we signed up. The tide was high at noon (ideal) and so there was no better time.

We woke up, grabbed breakfast, lounged for a bit, then headed to Wee's. We chose some shoes that had two criteria - smallest holes and best fit, from the supply they had to offer and we were off! We jumped into the longtail boats and headed out to the islands you can see off the coast out in the ocean. As we headed out, I found out that one of the younger kids on the boat was trying David Lama's route from the movie First Ascent, a beautiful line that has a crux around 20m off the water rated 8a+ (13c). Apparently he was consistently touching the final hold, only to whip off into the air for a long, long fall to the ocean below.

This was our first stop, and there were a few easier options for sissies like me. From the longtail, you take a kayak over to a stalagtite. You climb a rope ladder and then head off up the large stalagtite to a ledge above. From here there are a few traversing options, I took the harder one traversing along the lip of a massive roof for about 60' until it turns a corner. Most of the traverse is 30' off the water, but it trends downward, and I was rewarded with a stalagtite I could climb down onto to jump off. It was my first DWS, and it was awesome!

Nath went with me next time, and she attempted the traverse I had just completed. A large step across early in the traverse to a stalagtite stopped her, and she opted to jump off. I traversed a bit more, but having done it already I just chucked off myself. It was so fun!

I did one more easy problem and jumped off, while Nath stayed in the boat. While we were there, the kid pitched off the last moves of the 8a+ twice to take the roughly 60' fall to the water below. Inspiring to watch! Eventually we all jumped back in the boat and rounded the corner of the island we were at to find a spectacularly idyllic beach! We ate some lunch, Nath and I did some snorkeling and skin diving to see fish, a beautiful giant clam, and I even saw a little squid or nautilus (not sure which one). After that fun, we headed back to the cliffs. The cliff on the side of the beach offered unlimited traversing potential, which I took advantage of until I pumped out and pitched off a few times. I rounded a corner and joined some of the other participants at the areas main section.

There were many features to climb, and you could go almost anywhere you wanted. I followed some Brits up some easy features to about 35' and we came to a blank vertical face with a few pockets. The moves involved matching in a sloping pocket while smearing your wet shoes on less than ideal feet. A true challenge at that height! The first Brit made it, the 2nd fell, and I managed to follow successfully. My heart was racing and I jumped off shortly thereafter from the easier territory I was on. The Brit returned later to continue to about the 45' height where he continued traversing on good holds until he made a huge reach out to a stalagtite and dropped off.

I felt rather scared above 30', and I wanted to push my mental limits. I knew I couldn't really be hurt from 45', so I went for it. Nath took pictures from the boat and got some pretty good ones. I repeated the tough blank traverse and gained some larger horizontal shelfs that were easy climbing. From there, I had to move up and right on ever shrinking holds, until I was about 3-4' from the stalagtite. I hiked my feet way up, and made the huge reach. It was hard, but soon I was dangling from the bottom of the beautiful feature victorious. I looked down, steeled myself, and let go for the plunge into the ocean below. The whole thing took so long, that I was the last one on the rock, and I got back in the boat for the return trip feeling like I got exactly what I wanted. I was challenged mentally, but I succeeded and attained my goal!

Nath did a little bit more DWS before we left, but it just wasn't her thing. She prefers the soft catch of a rope to the splash of the ocean. I've run into someone who may be headed out again, and I look forward to trying this awesome aspect of rock climbing again in the future!

Le 25 janvier 2008: Vivre selon les marees

Josh va enfin mieux et la routine reprends de son train. Il fait bon de vivre au meme endroit et de ne pas avoir a se soucier des tracas du voyagement.

Les plages et villages de Tonsai et Railey sont l'une a cote de l'autre. Tonsai c'est l'ou on habite, Railey est plus touristique, meilleure plage et plus dispendieux. Quant a nous, ce qui importe c'est que le matin c'est mieux de faire de l'escalade a Railey, et l'apres-midi, l'ombre est du cote de Tonsai. On fait le trajet a chaque deux jours environ, et a chaque fois c'est different.

A maree basse, on passe par la plage, autour des rochers. A maree haute, on prend un petit sentier par la jungle. Il y a aussi un sentier plus long qui mene du cote est de Railey, qui est moins abrupte, mais ou il y a plus de moustiques. Sinon, pour rester du cote ouest, y'a d'autres possibilites lorsqu'on laisse aller son imagination. L'autre jour, on n'avait pas l'equipement d'escalade avec nous, la maree etait haute, on est revenu a la nage :) Aussi, un soir, apres l'escalade, on etait pris a Railey a cause d'un orage. Oh que ca tombait, un vrai orage tropical, rien a voir avec la petite plus de San Diego! On pense a payer les bateaux qui circulent a maree haute, mais ils ne naviguent pas sous la pluie. Habituellement on est trop cheap pour cette option. On prefere marcher 30-45 minutes plutot que de payer 80 Baths pour un ticket pour prendre le bateau. Passer par la jungle serait beaucoup trop glissant et donc dangereux. Apres une meilleure investigation de la maree, on decide donc de rentrer a pied, entre les roches, l'eau au genoux, trempes sous la pluie; mais avec des amis et une lampe de poche c'est bien amusant!

Pour l'escalade ca depend aussi des marees. Certaines parois sont accessibles qu'a maree basse. Par exemple, il y a des voies d'escalade sur des iles ou dans des grottes ou l'on peut s'y rendre a pied a maree basse. Il faut donc ajuster nos horaires. La derniere fois on a un peu tarde et on a du revenir a la plage, l'eau a la hauteur de la taille, equipement d'escalade au-dessus de la tete, c'etait un peu lourd, mais encore une fois bien drole!

Al'oppose, a maree haute, on a eu la chance d'experimenter le 'deep water soloing'. Il s'agit de grimper les paroies rocheuses d'une ile (qu'on atteint en bateau, puis en kayak), sans corde, puisque l'idee est de tomber dans l'eau. Josh qui n'a peur de rien a evidemment adore. Pour ma part, je prefere grimper avec une corde!! J'ai eu beaucoup de plaisir, une belle esperience, mais ce n'est pas mon sport. J'avais trop peur d'attrapper un 'flat' en tombant dans l'eau, et je ne pouvais pas grimper rien d'interessant, que des trucs facile, car je ne voulais pas aller si haut. Josh a terminer la journee en beaute en repoussant ses limites. Il a grimpe jusqu'a un stalagtite qu'il a pu agripper avec ses deux mains et s'est laisse tombe a environ 15 metres de haut!!! C'etait impressionnant. Tout le monde dans le bateau l'ont applaudi. J'etais bien contente pour lui, moi j'en ai eu assez avec quelques metres de haut! Cote impressionnant, il y avait un jeune garcon avec nous sur le bateau qui a comme projet de grimper la voie du film 'First ascent' (difficulte 8a du systeme francais, soit plus de 5.13 selon le systeme americain). C'etait beau a voir...

Le 19 janvier 2008: Le revers de la medaille

Eh oui, les problemes commencent! Josh est malade, mais vraiment malade. Le classique quoi: maux d'etomac, crampes, vomissements, diarrhee, etc. Repos force pour quelques jours. Il fait pitie a voir. Par chance moi je vais bien. Ca me rappelle quand j'etais malade dans le desert au Maroc, malheureusement pas que de bons souvenirs!

Mais non seulement ca, on vient de passer la pire nuit de notre vie dans notre nouveau bungalow: infeste de rats! Oui, oui, de vrais gros rats. Il vivent dans le grenier, et apparemment on decide de descendre dans notre bungalow pendant la nuit pour attaquer mon paquet de gomme. C'etait juste horrible, pas juste un ou deux rats, mais un grand nombre. On pouvait entendre leurs cris, suivre leur parcours lorsqu'ils marchaient autour du lit, et s'inquieter de les entendre gruger pres de nos sacs. Le pire est lorsqu'ils descendaient par la tete de lit, ah, j'en tremble encore juste a y penser. Il y en avait tellement, qu'on a finit par laisser la lumiere ouverte toute la nuit pour reduire le nombre de rat dans le bungalow. La nuit d'avant on pensait que c'etait les ecureuils. Josh avait donc accroche tous nos effets personnels au mur. Mais cette nuit, avec la lumiere allumee, je pouvais voir leurs ombres sur le mur... J'ai adore Ratatouille (le film) mais les vrais rats partout dans notre petit bungalow ce n'etait vraiment pas drole. Le matin enfin arrive, je repars a la recherche d'un nouvel endroit ou habiter. Josh reste au lit, il est trop malade pour aller ou que ce soit. Apres une couple d'heures de recherche (a revenir au bungalow chaque 30 min. pour m'assurer que mon pauvre Josh s'en sort) on a deux options. Je suis tres selective cette fois dans mes visites. La premiere option est le plus cheap des bungalow, 300 Bahts par nuit (~10$) pour un bungalow de bamboo, mais juste une epaisseur de bamboo, pas de grenier, tout ouvert. Comme ca au moins personne d'autre que nous peut l'habiter! Et on a notre moustiquaire pour le lit, donc pas grave si les moustiques peuvent y entrer. La deuxieme option est de payer beaucoup plus cher, 800 Bahts pour un Bungalow de bois, ou 1200 Baths pour un bungalow avec de vrais murs (en platre ou en chaux). Ca me fait tellement penser a l'histoire des trois petits cochons. On opte donc pour la maison de pailles (le cheap bungalow en bamboo) qui risque de s'envoler au vent s'il y a un tsunami !!! Si ca ne va pas, la nuit prochaine on demenagera encore.

Josh a donc passe la journee entre le lit et la salle de bain. Je me suis occupee du demenagement, comme vous le savez, j'ai beaucoup d'experience de ce cote! J'ai donc remplis les sacs a dos, demenage un par un au nouveau bungalow, reinstalle le tout, et retourner chercher Josh, qui a du utiliser tous ses efforts pour marcher jusqu'au nouveau bungalow...

Tout est bien qui finit bien. On est ici depuis quelques jours maintenant, et c'est le meilleur bungalow qu'on a habite! Un peu plus eloigne en haut de la cote, donc plus loin de la rue, mais beaucoup plus tranquille. On a l'electricite de 5h du soir a 8h30 du matin plutot que de 18h a 6h (je vous dis, la fanne le matin pour dormir un peu ca fait toute la difference!). Faut comprendre qu'il n'y a pas de 'vraie' electricite ici. Tout fonctionne sur generatrice. Notre salle de bain a la meilleur des douches, on avait pas encore eu autant de pression d'eau depuis notre arrivee en Thailande. Evidemment, pour ceux a qui ca ne viendrait pas a l'idee, l'eau est froide, y'a pas de chauffe eau ici. Mais tant que je prends ma douche avant le couche de soleil, ca va, il fait chaud dehors. Le soir la temperature descend un peu, ce qui est parfait pour dormir. Ah, quel bonheur, on a dormir 12h et on s'est reveille au chant des oiseaux.

Je repense aux rats, et si j'en avais pas mal dans le coup a avoir ete crispee et stressee toute la nuit d'horreur, je serais certaine que tout ca etait un cauchemar. Chaque fois qu'on passe devand l'ancien bungalow, y'a de nouveaux locataires. Je me demande si je devrais les avertir...

1-15-08 Tonsai/Railay

We're here! One of the major destinations of the trip. We're on beautiful world class beaches surrounded by endless beautiful limestone formations waiting to be climbed! Our life is glorious right now!


We got in, and promptly looked at every affordable bungaloo at Tonsai. As soon as we had seen them all, and failed at bargaining since it was high season and many were full, we chose one that was about 400 baht/night ($14) and thought it would be alright. Once we dumped our packs and settled in a little, we quickly departed to find some FOOD!


Within 15 minutes we ran into Neil Simpson from the Vertical Hold climbing gym! It was hilarous. Here's this sweaty guy jingling back in the dark covered in climbing gear just finishing up with some nighttime rope soloing, and it was a friend from San Diego! Neil ended up being VERY helpful getting us settled here at Tonsai, and we ended up climbing with him for the next few days as he showed us everything from a tour on how to get around to a beautiful secluded tidal lagoon that is only full at high tide.

The evening we went to the tidal lagoon, we were stuck in Railay during a heavy rain at night and we were supposed to meet some friends in Tonsai where we were staying. There are 4 ways to Tonsai - longtail boat, walking across sharp rocks at low tide, a trail through a short bit of jungle with some scrambling connecting the two beaches, or a very long small trail up through behind the beaches through the jungle. We were close to the beach crossing, but the tide was coming in. We decided to brave it with a single mag light between 4 people and we waded through the ocean over the sharp limestone boulders while it downpoured on us. We were laughing the whole time and showed up late and soaked for dinner. It was a fun little adventure!


As the first two days passed, we became unhappier and unhappier in our bungaloo. It turned out that the shower didn't work, so we had to fill a bucket thing and pour it over us. Power is limited here at Tonsai, so we only had electricity from 6pm to 6am. Our bathroom was enclosed, so all day we referred to it as the "dungeon" since you had to descend concrete stairs to enter it, and the water from the shower didn't drain properly. We needed out....


Luckily, Neil was on his way out of Tonsai, so we just jumped into his bungaloo. Andaman (recommended to us by others) was where he was staying, and they have cheaper bungaloos that are pretty good. They were full, but Neil sweet talked them and we jumped ahead on the waiting list since we were there and had money in hand to give them. Soon we were unpacking and happy with our new home for 500 baht/night ($18).

We went climbing the next day, and the next, and were loving it. Nath was working her way up to leading 6b+ (5.11a) and I managed to onsight a 7a+ (5.12a) that was wildly steep. We were having fun trying street vendor mango sticky rice, and swimming at the beautiful beaches between climbs, but that all came to an end on our third night in Neil's bungaloo....

On the way home that night, I felt a little funny. Was I hungry, or sick? I wasn't sure, so I ate! Oops... I was sick! We went home as the sun fell, and I immediately went to bed. However, that didn't last long as the stomach cramps set in as did the frequent trips to the bathroom (which luckily wasn't the dungeon anymore). I won't give you horrible graphic details, but it was the worst night of my life. By the end standing was extremely difficult, and I almost passed out a few times. To add to the nightmare, since we were awake at night for the first time, we found out our bungaloo was infested with rats! It was a complete horror to lay there sick hearing them scurrying all over the entire room all night. After two hours we turned the light on, but that didn't even work! Nath saw one, but for the most part they just stayed out of view but they were all there and there were many of them! One almost ran across Nath's head through the mosquito net at one point.

In the morning, Nath went to work finding us another bungaloo. She visited all the others with openings, including the more expensive ones while I laid in bed, sicker than I'd ever been. She would check in on me and try to get me to eat and drink and did a wonderful job all day taking care of everything while I tried to survive. In the end, Andaman told us that the 300 baht/night bungaloos were full until Nath told them about the rats. Then suddenly they had one free! Surprise surprise.... Nath packed all of my stuff, and hers, and then moved us into the bungaloo carrying loads while I slowly staggered up the hill to our new, hopefully better, home.

It turned out that while cheaper and smaller, the new bungaloo was paradise! It was farther from any sounds, no enclosed attic area for rats to live, just as nice as the last one although a little smaller, and had great water pressure in the shower! We were set! After 2 rest days, I was feeling better, although it was 4 days before drinking water didn't hurt my stomach.

Soon we were back to climbing hard every day and enjoying the beach. We did amazing climbs day after day, saw monkeys, and pretty much worked ourselves into destruction. After a few days of climbing limestone, you're ready for a break! So, we called the next day a rest day and went to sleep. I woke early, and went for a run, only to return to Nath in bed with the closest thing she could find to cake since it was my birthday! I had totally forgotten! We lounged on the most beautiful beach I've ever seen for a few hours that day, swam, I cliff jumped, and we ended the evening with dinner at a "nice" restaurant ($7/person!) that we really like and drank a little cheap Thai rum on the beach that night with some friends. It was awesome!

Le 15 janvier 2008: La plage de Railey

Les plages et villages de Tonsai et Railey sont tout pres l'une de l'autre. Le matin, c'est mieux de grimper a Railey et l'apres-midi l'ombre est du cote de Tonsai. On fait donc cette route a chaque jour et a chaque jour c'est different. A maree basse, on passe par la plage, autour des rochers. A maree haute, on prend un petit sentier abrupte dans la jungle... ou on nage! Il y a aussi un sentier plus long, mais moins abrupte qui mene de l'autre cote de Railey. L'autre jour, il y a eu un orage en apres-midi, oh que ca tombait, du vrai tropical! Pas moyen d'aller dans la jungle, trop dangereux de glisser. Les bateux qui font habituellement le trajet a maree haute ne naviguent evidemment pas sous la pluie, et de toute facon on est trop cheap pour payer le 80 Bahts, soit environ 2.60$. On decide donc, accompagnes d'amis, d'y aller a pied, par la mer, l'eau au genoux, c'etait bien drole...

Sinon, comment dire. La plage est magnifique, sable blanc, beaucoup de touristes par contre a Railey. L'eau est tellement chaude, plus chaude qu'un bain, c'est impressionnant. La jungle, avec ses immenses arbres et ses cordes de Tarzan, encore une fois va falloir prendre des photos pour mes fieuilles. Et l'escalade, ah que c'est beau. Je n'ai jamais rien grimpe de comparable. C'est drolement amusant de grimper autour et au-dessus des stalagtites. C'est plutot apic par contre, pas beaucoup d'option pour les pieds, va falloir que je me fasse des bras! Il y a aussi des grottes un peu partout, jusqu'a present on en a visite qu'une. Et les singes!! Ah oui, ils sont egalement partout et grimpent beaucoup plus vite que nous :)

Le 14 janvier 2008: Escalade a Tonsai

Aujourd'hui, c'est l'escalade qui nous attends. On prend un bateau vers Tonsai, une toute petite plage, habitee que par des grimpeurs, puisqu'entouree de parois d'escalade. C'est magnifique, le sable blanc, l'eau verte, le ciel bleu, les bateaux et la roche avec ses surplombs et ses stalagtites... j'en oublie les poissons et j'ai vraiment hate de grimper!

Il fallait d'abord trouver un bungalow ou habiter pour les 4-5 prochaines semaines. Et oui, on ne bouge plus pour un p'tit bout! Malheureusement, pas mal tout etait complet, et on a pas eu de chance avec notre premier bungalow. La douche ne fonctionnait pas, la 'salle de bain' (disons plutot un trou un ciment qu'on a surnomme le 'dongeon') ne se drainait pas et sa commencait deja a sentir la moisissure (de quoi me rappeler l'appart sur St-Kevin avec mes cousins!)

Par chance Josh tombe sur un ami de San Diego qui quitte dans 2 jours. Il nous montre tous les bons endroits (il a deja passe un mois ici) et on prend son bungalow! Enfin une douche, que de luxe!! On installe notre moustiquaire au-dessus du matelas... et voila notre lit de princesses :) Sans parler de notre balai de sorciere, Oceane va aimer les photos! Donc pour 500 Bahts par nuit, soit environ16$, j'crois bien qu'on va rester ici...

1-9-08 Ko Lanta

After arriving at Ko Lanta, we had the bus drop us off at the recommended Lanta Divers. They were very helpful and we soon had a bungaloo on the best beach on the island (longbeach) and a free ride there for a mere $23/night. Upon arriving, we grabbed dinner at a local restaurant and promptly passed out. It had only been one day, so the time change still had us in it's grasp. In fact, it was a few days before we stopped waking up at 5am and passing out as soon as it was dark.

One crazy thing about Ko Lanta are the bugs. They screech like crazy right at sunset and sunrise. Nath was terrified, I laughed and told her they weren't mosquitoes, they were probably more like grasshoppers. I was right.

We woke up in the morning and went diving, me at Ko Ha and Nath in a swimming pool. I was diving in an island paradise two hours off the coast with Deep Water Soloing potential, while Nath was studying her books and learning to dive. Ko Ha was awesome, but they wouldn't let me climb the rocks for "insurance reasons". Next day, I wandered the town while Nath took her class and I tried to figure out what I wanted to do on the 12th. There was a trip supposedly going to the "best diving around" but the depth started rather deep, mostly 18m (60ft). It's just not fun to dive there if you aren't Advanced certified. I decided to be efficient, and start working on my Advanced cert and dive there at the same time! I just had to pay 800 baht more (~$24) and I had my own dive master/instructor to dive with, and we were headed to a depth of 30m (100ft) at the best diving at Ko Lanta!

I boarded the boat for the 4hr ride out into the ocean, Nath was finally headed for Ko Ha, the place where I did my first dives and was out of the pool. As we approaced Hin Dang/Hin Muang we geared up. My instructor had given me a series of tests that I was supposed to take at 30m to see the effects nitrogen on my system. Nitrogen causes "nitrogen narcosis" and bad things can happen to some people as they experience side effects similar to drinking. We jumped in and promptly descended 30m to take the tests. Once we found a sandy spot (so as not to disturb the coral) I deflated my BCD to be negatively boyant and stood on the ground while I took the tests. I quickly realized that while I felt fine, I could forget details very quickly and the tests took, on average, 50% longer than on the surface! After that, we proceeded to slowly work toward the surface for the next 30-40 minutes. Once we reached a height of 5m for the "safety stop" of 3 minutes to let the nitrogen out of the system the currents were so strong that we grabbed on to a lifeless piece of rock with two fingers and the most amazing thing happened. Right in front of us a 10+' manta ray came gliding past, and started hovering about 2 meters from where we were! It sat there for the entire 3 minutes before finally moving on. It was amazing!

We hopped on the boat after the dive, ate and relaxed, but quickly someone pointed out there were mantas just under the surface at the new dive site! One of the workers grabbed his snorkeling gear and jumped in, and I quickly followed. I dislike snorkels, so since I couldn't breath efficiently anyways, I just started skin diving. The mantas were EVERYWHERE! I would hold my breath and swim down 7-10m and they were RIGHT THERE! If it weren't bad to disturb the wildlife, I could have easily grabbed on for a ride!

I boarded the boat, geared up, and we dove again down to 30m and slowing worked our way back up. This time the mantas would drift by regularly out of the dark depths, and at one point one turned toward me and I ducked instinctively and I could have touched its stomach as it glided past. It the best diving I've ever done! The location lived up to its reputation and Lanta Divers lived up to Lisa's recommendation. They were AWESOME.

The next day Nath and I both went to Ko Ha again. Her for her last day of class, and me for more "fun dives" as they call them. It was another day in a natural aquarium with beautiful corals, fish, and this time snakes! I saw 4 banded sea snakes, apparently very deadly but they can't get their mouth open enough to actually inject their venom in a person.

Our last day on Lanta we rented a motor scooter for $5 and found a cave that was on our map. Our funny guide lead us up through the jungle to the cave into huge rooms, small crawl-throughs, and a room full of bats. It was a good way to spend a few hours. Then we rushed back, packed, and caught the 1:30 express boat to Ton Sai! Off to the climbing mecca of Thailand!

Le 9 janvier 2008: Nager dans un aquarium a Koh Lanta

Apres une autre nuit reveilles a 4h du matin, incappable de dormir a cause du decallage horaire (sans parler de la chaleur et de l'humidite qui me rappellent l'ete a Montreal) on retourne a l'aeroport. Un jour plus tard et ca parait deja comme une semaine... l'annee va eter longue :)

Vol en retard de deux heures, on manque le bateau pour l'ile de Koh Lanta. On doit donc s'y rendre en mini-van: 4h assis tasses, pas d'air climatise et 2 traversiers a prendre. Encore ici la qualite de l'air est epouvantable, non seulement le gaz du bateau, mais ils laissent tous fonctionner leur moteur de voiture :( Partis a 5h du matin, on arrive a Koh Lanta a 17h30.

Enfin, les efforts commencent a recompenser. Notre bungalow de bois, la plage, les iles, tout est paradisiaque. Encore une fois, vous pourrez en jugez vous meme par les photos! A notre grande surprise, les moustiques se font plutot rares. Mais a l'aube et au coucher du soleil, oh la la, c'est la cacophonie, je me cache a l'interieur. Pour environ 20 minutes, tous les insectes sortent pour se nourrir, sans blague, le bruit si intense se compare a celui d'une tondeuse!

La bouffe thailandaise est delicieuse et evidemment cheap. Pour l'instant, je ne me tanne pas. Riz, riz frit ou nouille, avec poulet ou boeuf, c'est pas mal ca. Mais les portions sont minuscules, surtout comparees aux portions americaines!!!

Koh Lanta est une ile petite mais interessante. Il y a beaucoup de scandinaves ici. J'ai passe 4 jours a faire ma certification PADI, et Josh a faire de la plongee sur un autre bateau. On ne se voit pas beaucoup! On se leve vers 6h30 du matin (juste apres la cacophonie des moustiques!), un 'taxi' (c'est-a-dire la boite arriere d'un pick-up!) vient nous chercher et nous amene au bateau. Lors de mes cours, la theorie s'est tres bien passee, mais je n'ai pas tellement apprecie ma premiere plongee dans la piscine. J'avais l'impression de respirer dans une paille avec le nez pince!! Mais un fois dans l'ocean, WOW, c'etait comme nager dans une aquarium: autout des coraux; avec des etoiles de mers blanches ou bleues; et des poissons tropicaux de toutes les couleurs. J'en ai vite pris gout et oublie ma 'tank' d'air. J'ai hate d'aller plonger avec Josh eventuellement...

Le 8 janvier 2008: Arrives a Bangkok

Enfin, ca y est! Apres avoir perdu notre premiere negociation de prix pour le taxi, on arrive a notre chambre a 2h30 du matin, apres avoir apercu notre premier elephant dans la rue. Les taxis chargent le double du prix et ne veulent vraiment plus negocier, apparemment ils ont le pouvoir...

Le lendemain matin, malgre la fatique, on va visiter un premier temple "Wat Pho". C'est magnifique (vous en jugerez par les photos), un enorme bouda couche en or d'environ 50 metres, et les toitures, etc. Le tout suivi d'une heure de massage thailandais pour 320 Baths, soit environ 11$ et d'un succulent curry pour souper pour environ 1.25$... mise a part la pollution atmospherique, c'est un vrai paradis!

Le 7 janvier 2008: L'aeroport de Tokyo

Le premier vol s'est bien passe. 11h30, lecture, film, mon premier Suduko (j'ai fini avec ca, c'est stupide a la fin, faut juste faire toutes les possibilites sur une autre feuille et trouver celle qui ne fonctionne pas, j'suis donc pas adepte!) et encore des preparatifs! Notre transit a Tokyo nous donne un avant gout: tout est ecrit en japonais! Les toilettes valent la peine d'etre visitees: totallement futuristes avec leur telecommande et fonctions electroniques telles que "bidet", je n'ose pas essayer!! Je regrette seulement de ne pas avoir ma camera avec moi. Apres une marche a travers l'aeroport, pour se degourdir un peu les jambes, on repart pour un autre vol de 8h. Celui-la on a passe vite, on a dormi, il etais deja tard a l'heure de San Diego...

1-8-08 A Day in Bangkok

We woke up extremely early due to jet lag and didn't have much to do but get an early start on the day. We threw on our money belts, grabbed the long pants and shirts so we could enter temples and headed out. It was funny, at first we were so scared to eat anywhere for fear that we might get sick that we were only looking in the Lonely Planet guidebook to Thailand for places to eat. The one we tried opened late, so we pretty much didn't eat until lunch and we went all the way back to the same place! We even ate their twice that day since we didn't want to risk it anywhere else. It was ridiculous how paranoid we were!

We wandered the streets of Bangkok looking for the recommended temples to see, typical tourist stuff, and the locals could tell... They all descended on us telling us this lie or that lie, or maybe bending the truth to convince us that the temples we wanted to see were closed and their friend could take us to some other temples that were "just as good!" Yeah.... right.... Well, Nath had read "Read This First - South East Asia" and was ready for it. We knew the scam and kept walking.

Eventually we figured out that the King's sister really did die, and that some of the temples were closed at least part of the day, but the ones we wanted to see weren't ALL closed ALL day like all the scam artists were trying to tell us. We managed to find the temple of the reclining Budda, containing a 150' golden budda lying down. We did the mandatory walk through and snapped a few shots, but outside of the temples were equally beautiful and I'm sure we ended up taking way too many pictures of the place. While we were there, we indulged in our first thai massage since in the back of the temple the local massage school has set up a place for the students to practice their art. We had a 1 hour massage for about $11 a piece. Spectacular! We didn't do too much else that day, except wander a little, and we slept early due to jet lag and the fact that we had to wake up at 4am or so to make our plane in the Bangkok Internation Airport to Krabi

We woke up, caught another overpriced cab, and were soon waiting for our plane to take off. It was late, but not too late, and we were in Krabi before we knew it. After a few bus rides, we were on the paradise island of Ko Lanta (Ko means island in Thai). While on the bus, a local shared with us that you don't have to barter for cabs, you just get it and order them to use the meter and they are required by law to use it! You live you learn. We'll put that trick to use when we pass through Bangkok in the future.

Le 6 janvier 2008: Depart de Los Angeles

Et c'est parti!! J'ai peine a y croire, les preparatifs qui n'en finissent plus s'etirent jusqu'au matin de notre depart. Il est 6h, on imprime les derniers documents, sacs a main et sac a dos, on s'en sort avec 95lbs total (dont au moins 1/3 est l'equipement d'escalade!). En chemin vers l'aeroport, on fait nos derniers appels, etc. Apres avoir manque notre vol en revenant de Montreal la semaine derniere et passe une nuit a l'aeroport Newark (voir les photos!) je croyais qu'on avait appris notre lecon.
On part donc 3h d'avance, mais ce n'est apparemment pas assez. Non seulement l'aeroport de LA est immense, mais c'est bonde de monde. S'il y a un vol qu'on ne veut pas manquer, c'est bien celui pour Bangkok! Evidemment tout ce qui peut arriver arrive. J'oublie mon tout nouveau canif suisse dans mon bagage a main, confisque :( ; je suis choisie aleatoirement pour fouille (inscription SSSS sur ma carte d'embarquement), y'a pas de femme disponible, je dois attendre... Par chance, tout est bien qui finit bien, on embarque de justesse, pas meme le temps de remplir nos gourdes d'eau.

1-6-08 On the way to Thailand

Thinking it was enough, we showed up to LAX two hours in advance of our flight to Bangkok. Let's just say that isn't a good idea, and we spent the next hour and fourty five minutes stressed about whether or not we'd make the plane. It takes over two hours to check into your airline! Luckily, after Nathalie was randomly stopped by security for searching, we did, in fact, make the plane and we were off. Amazingly enough, the 12 hour flight over wasn't too bad. I read some, watched some bad immemorable movies, and Nath and I played some Sudoku from the airline magazine.

We had a layover in Tokyo, which was definitely unique. Almost everything was different, from what was sold in the airline shops, to apparently the toilets (Nath said I missed out on seeing the crazy electronic gadets). What was the same? Starbucks of course!

We stayed there for about 3 hours and we were off to Bangkok. We slept a lot on this 7-8 hour leg of the flight and showed up feeling OK even though it was almost 1am local time when we arrived. We bartered the taxi down to half price (still paying to much we found out later) and soon we were asleep in our hostel.

The Itinerary!

Well, here's the current plan for the year off. It may change. In fact, it will probably change based on the number of revisions that we've made already, but here goes!

We flew to Bangkok on Jan 6th, arriving on Jan 8th. We'll be in Thailand for 6 weeks in the south east Krabi region scuba diving on Ko Lanta and climbing at Railay and Ton Sai beaches. We are very close to the area where they filmed "The Beach" and it is truly beautiful here.

Feb 19th we fly to New Zealand, mostly the south island, where we'll spend a month hiking, climbing and exploring.
March 18th we're off to Australia for climbing and to see Josh's brother Peter and his wife Annette. We'll be "down under" for about two months, including a trip to Tazmania where Josh hopes to climb The Totem Pole.

May 13th is a detour to Fiji for two weeks of relaxation and more scuba diving.

May 27th we head back to NE Australia to explor Darwin and scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef for a couple of weeks.

June 10th we head to Singapore to sample the local cuisine which we heard is spectacular. Nath may take a cooking class there.

June 17th we're off to Malaysia where our passtimes are still TBD. Maybe we'll repeat Scotty's route on the Dragon's Horn if we can work it in!

July 5th we head to Cambodia to see the world famous Ankor Wat, the beautiful temples overgrown in the jungle.

July 15th back to Thailand. We may meet up with Charles at this time. We'll be climbing and taking cooking classes in the Chaing Mai area in the north. It'll rain a lot, but oh well... it will be fun!

Aug 5th will see us heading to Vietnam for some deep water soloing in Ha Long Bay and other explorations. We currently plan on staying primarily in the north of the country due to recommendations.

Sept 2nd we're off to China where we'll take a month to trek across the south of the country from east to west starting in Hong Kong and ending in Dali with a stop in Yangshuo a beautiful climbing destination.

Sept 30th will find us in the Himalayas of Nepal trekking. Maybe we'll go to Everest Base Camp, or the base of Annapurna. We haven't decided yet.

Oct 28th we'll fly to India. We're currently undecided about what we want to do in India, but we'll be there for a month!

Nov 25th we'll head back to Thailand for a final 3 weeks of climbing in Scuba, probably again in Krabi region.

Dec 16th will find us headed back to LA with too many pictures and stories to tell. When we get back we plan to spend Christmas in Montreal with Nath's family and about a week in AZ with Josh's parents.