New Years!

12/26-1/1/2016!

Lets talk about transportation in Thailand. 

So we made I to Ko Pha Ngan! I am not sure how transportation works in Thailand but it works.   We bought a ticket from a street vender in Thailand, showed up on a street corner where a man in a mini bus told us to get in. Instantly trusting him, we packed in with 10 other people. He dropped us off on the side of the highway where there was a bigger bus waiting for all of us. We landed and got our designated colored stickers that represented where we were going. Then we were dropped off at a remote pier where a giant ferry was waiting. Within an hour of waiting on the dock herds of people starting showing up, all wearing the appropriate sticker. We were packed onto the ship in color order. Some colors where headed to Ko Samui, some to Ko Pha Ngan with us, and lots to Ko Toa. The people who operate the transport here must of taken a lesson from sheep herders, Its hectic but effective. It takes some blind faith and a lot of trust but you get there eventually. 

Ko Pha Ngan Coffee Spot

Ko Pha Ngan was a wild place. A mecca for partiers and scuba divers. We found Greg cruising on his motor bike in the heart of town. He is out there interning with a scuba diving company working on getting his master diving cert. and Instructor cert. Last time we saw him was at Joshua Tree Music Festival and now on a island in the south east of Thailand. It’s wild how many people from High Trails you find in the smallest corners of the world. It was great to see a familiar smiling face and to spend 4 days being beach side. We motor biked around, visited some remote beaches, and spectated some drunken debacle. It was interesting to see how westerners have shaped the island. One of the main industries is partying and everything that goes along with it. The scuba diving is great there as well. Austin was able to go out with Greg for two dives at sail rock. My notorious ear infections held me back from diving. It was a cool break to check out a different section of southern Thailand. 

Leaving Ko Pha Ngan was another experience.  We opted for a night boat. It was a huge slow boat with mats on the floor. If you didn’t know your bunk buddy it would of been an interesting night. We were told that we would land at 6 am and someone will pick us up at 7 am to bring us to the airport. Sounded great. What happened was we landed at 3 am to a dark pier with one woman that couldn’t speak english very well but knew what was going on. After looking at our tickets she pointed everyone to where they needed to be. Everyone that got off the boat with us were smushed into a tuk-tuk but we were pointed to the bench. When we realized we were going to be left alone on this dark dock, we tried to have her explain what we were meant to do. After insisting we just sit and stay, we took a breath and had a seat. Everyone pulled out, leaving us by ourselves. Just as we were starting to get seriously worried, a fella came around the corner and asked us for a ticket. Our overly tired selves handed it over and followed him. He brought us to a nice minivan with ac and a company label. With a sigh of relief we got on and got ready to land at the airport. We drove past the airport and down a dirt road to a bus stations. It was 4 am and we were dropped there, again we were the only ones in sight besides the guy in the ticket booth. The van driver said 1 hour, just wait. So we did. One hour later, more busses dropped off more people and the place filled up. The same fella that dropped us off earlier showed back up yelling “airport, airport”. We were the only two who got back onto the van. But we figured this was it, we are going to the airport! We drove past the turn off for the airport again and were dropped on a random city street. So with some more blind faith, we sat on down and a fella waiting on the corner said 1 hour. And he was right, one hour later a huge bus with doilies on the seats showed up. 4 people got on and finally we were on our way to the airport, wow what a relief. We were so exhausted the rest of the journey seemed like we were dreaming. 

For New Years we stayed just outside of the airport in Bangkok so we could grab an early cab and catch our flight to Laos the very next day. Finding our hostel was quite an adventure. Our host was nice enough to write us directions in both English (broken of course) and Thai. Although we felt good about this is still seem to confuse our taxi driver but after a few minutes were able to get a ride to what we hope to be the right spot. Once out of the cab and on the busy streets we had to now decipher the broken english directions to our place. An hour of venturing in circles trying to decide if we were heading the right way we decided to find help. We found a 7 eleven where we were able to get them to call our hostel host and get better directions. Turned out we were so close the whole time. Our host came via his bike to find us in the market by the 7 eleven and walked us to his place. On our way he shared a brief history of the markets and canals we were passing. Once settled in we went down stairs and enjoyed a cold water and a nice warm meal for little to no bahts. 

Our Hostels Window View

New years eve was awesome. We had a trip planned into the city center to meet up with Peter, a friend of Robyn's from high school. We took a taxi to the sky train where we were able to easily buy a ticket into the city. After a neat ride over neighborhoods, fields, and buildings and one connection at a station we were at the stop in which we were meant to meet up with Peter. A short walk down some stairs and there he was waiting for our arrival. After a quick catch up chat and a brief introduction we were off into the city. We went to a neat bar which was apparently closing for good that night so the beer was on happy hour prices all night. We were excited to see beer on tap with choices. Austin was even able to get an IPA, something that is greatly missed. Later on, the night food trucks showed up outside so ordering food was on the to do list. There was a taco truck, another thing we had not seen since leaving southern California. We all ordered really tasty burritos. Ten o’ clock came and it was time to get back to our hostel before the evening got to wild in Bangkok and, more importantly, the sky train stopped running. Once back to our hostel we sat on the balcony and enjoyed the views of locals celebrating New Years with loud music, fireworks, and plenty of laughter. 

Austin got adventurous as midnight approached. He heard some locals down on the dock by our hostel celebrating New Years with beer and loud Thai music. He headed down to see what all the commotion was about. He was welcomed with a beer and plenty of food. Now the next bit is from his perspective as I was on the balcony still watching the city skyline fill with fireworks:

 I was given a beer and offered food as we danced around the table and exchanged many hand gestures as they did not know a lick of English. After a few bites of mystery soups I was offered a chicken foot which I could not deny out of respect. I bit in to it and was surprised to find it tasty. A few more laughs and lot more dancing I brought in the New Year with my now good friends. They managed to eventually tell me “I Love You” which i figured meant they enjoyed my company. After midnight and the firework show, one of the gentlemen left with a bag of soup and showed back up a few minutes later with it warmed up. He placed in front of me. After several hand gestures that I managed to figure out meant try some, I did. It was black and filled with parts of chicken I did not recognized nor did I care to know. The weirdest part was the jello like clumps in the soup that you could not avoid as you took a scoop. Yet again, it was pretty good. After another beer and a few more laughs it was time for bed. 

The next morning, we woke up and got ready to head to Laos. As we headed out our host wished us luck with our travels. Oh and yes as for the black soup with jello clumps….it was chicken blood soup…yep! Thanks to our host for informing us on this as we left. According to him though it meant good luck and was an honor to be offered such a meal! 

Smell ya Later Tonsai

12/26(ish)

After a few days rest with some ac and and hot water we decided to head back to the rock and get back after it! After we arrived to Tonsai a place that felt like home we were in search for our next bungalow. A few times back and forth down the short street lead us to a place called Jungle hut, a nice set of bamboo huts tucked underneath a famous wall know as The Nest. To our surprise this place not only had a porch with out mosquitoes but a bed that was decently comfortable. We spent the next several days waving to friends who were still in the area, climbing, eating familiar food and climbing harder than we had in our first visit. We  decided to seek out new walls and famous climbs over the next few days. Of coarse ending our day with a nice over price beer at Freedom Bar watching sunset.

Christmas eve we ventured over to Pranang Beach where Austin Climbed the hardest climb of the trip a 6 c+ (5.11a) called “Best Route in Minnesota.” Afterwards, we traveled through a cave which took us through the rock tower to the other side. We repelled down to a beautiful view point over looking all of Tonsai and Railey east-side. Christmas morning came and we decided to go big: get “real” coffee and do a multi pitch. The climb was the world renowned Big Wave a 5 pitch climb that reached the top of a 400 foot tower over looking all on Tonsai and the Andaman Sea. A over hung challenging start led to interesting climbing through vegetation for the first pitch. The following four pitches went up brilliant rock with tufas and stalactites all around. The start of the climb was busy with multiple parties of mixed experienced. Some continued as some bailed being above there heads. Before Robyn could continue up the second pitch she had to dodge inexperienced climbers as they repelled back to the bottom of the route. Once clear of the second pitch it was smooth sailing to the top. Four hours later we returned to the ground with big smiles and the feeling of accomplishment. Never had either one of us spent Christmas day like this before. That night we treated our selves to a big meal including grilled fish, fried chicken and an assortment of noodles and vegetables. After stuffing our faces until or stomachs could not handle it any more we ventured down to the Thai massage place. We bought one another the best Christmas gift for any climber, back massages. An hour later, feeling like butter, we headed back to our bungalow where we crashed hard.

The next morning was a bit sad and surreal feeling. It was time to depart this beautiful place we had made home for the last 18 days. We had bought a ticket across the peninsula to visit a friend back from High Trails, Greg. Although excited to see a familiar face and hang out with a friend we found it hard to leave the crags and our daily routine of climbing. But as they say all good things must come to an end and so we headed down to the beach with all of our bags packed and waited for the long tail boat captain to give us the thumbs up once enough people had arrived. As we waited we reminisced about all the good times and wonderful people we had experienced in our time in Tonsai. We continued to gaze up at the walls that still surrounded us everywhere and day dreamed that we were still ascending them. Our day dreaming finally cut short as it was finally time to go. Only seven people out of the required eight needed to leave were there but several eager families decided to pay a little extra so that we could go ahead and get on the long tail headed back to main land. As we climbed into the boat reality hit that the chapter of Tonsai was coming to an end. We through our bags down in the front, found a seat, and smiled at one another knowing that we had made the most of our time there. The motor cranked up and deafened everyone as we cruised out of the bay. The rock walls started getting smaller and smaller and eventually fell out of our sights officially starting the next chapter of our Thailand adventure.  

But wait! There's more!

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Rappin' in Thailand

DJ Sesame Bunn presents:

“Krabi Style”

We packed up our bags and headed to Krabi,

Just for a while to wash our dirty bodies. 

Headed through Railey with all the rich hotties!

Stopped at the boat and asked for a deal

100 bahts, wow what a great steal.

Arrived at the dock, oh shit! where are we?

I didnt realize there were two Krabi’s!

400 baht for a taxis to fix 

No thank you sir, Im not gettin tricked.

Snagged a share ride to Krabi Town,

Now no need to have any frowns.

Arrived finally in the middle of the city,

Wow! it was really really busy

Taxi Taxi, where you going?

Calling at our wallets like were high rollin…

Cruze down the avenues, found a spot!

Now we got showers with water thats hot.

Climate controlled, its really hard to beat.

With a bit of AC and clean white sheets!

Night time came, we spent it at the market

The food out there was right on target!

Coconut pancakes and fruit galore,

Have you coming back for more, more, more!

We got on a moped the very next day,

Stopped at Au nong just to say hey.

Headed to a waterfall, wow so tall!

The National Park was a great call…

Heading back, we found a bit of rain.

It was really hot so I did not complain.

Hung out underneath a bamboo shack,

Just chilled out and had a little snack.

Sun came out so we had to roll.

The rain made it just a little cold.

When we got back we had a cold Beer.

Washed and cleaned all the climbing gear!

Went to sleep, it was really nice. 

Felt like heaven, just a little slice!

Tonsai

Dear Fans,

I know you have been anxiously biting your fingernails waiting for our next post and wondering what in the world we have been up to  for the past few weeks. We both apologize for we have been chilling where the wifi’s does not. Apparently, Tonsai Bay uses the term “world wide web” a bit loosely. SO here is the quick and dirty with a few highlights of our trip so far.

Making our way down town..

After hoping onto a long boat to Railey, we walked through the resort life to the backpackers life over at Tonsai. Tonsai beach was quieter then we expected. Of course there were crazy strong climbers ascending 5.14s on the shore. But the beach itself only had one bar and restaurant left. A wall had been constructed a long a rugged dirt road. As you walked up you could peer over the wall and see really elegant looking bungalows and mowed grass being watered. Finally you make a left onto the strip of what remains of old Tonsai. The bars and restaurants that used to be along the beach had been pushed back and were still fixing themselves up. The wall that separated this backpackers haven was decorated with powerful statements about capitalism and the  meaning behind the wall. It was also coupled with some really beautiful paintings both psychedelic and realistic. We soon figured out a resort had bought out the beach front, pushing the locals and backpackers back to put up a yuppy heaven.  Tonsai’s locals still have a strong hold there. The backpacker and climber community is still present and plentiful. You know SAME SAME but DIFFERENT….

As we walked down the road in search of a bungalow to stay in we stumbled across a place called “Chill Out”. After further investigation we found that they had bungalows available so we decided to make home here for the first two nights. Once we payed the really sassy hostel manager our dues we hiked up the hill two find our home sweet home. Now a bungalow is a simple bamboo structure with a bed and mosquito net, a fan, and some what of a bathroom attached. After two nights here we decided to change spots to say a few dollars each day. What a decision this turned out to be. The bed wasn't nearly as comfortable with a lumpy mattress and mediocre bug net.  In the morning as we were headed out to climb Austin stepped out on the the porch and fell through some of the weaker boards. “No worries” is what we heard from one of the bungalow’s staff as Austin crawled out of the new hole in the porch. We were quickly given a new place to stay. This bungalow was more stable and had a nicer bug net but man of man was the bed in questionable shape. In any event, we decided that it was good enough for us and our four night stay quickly extended into a nine night stay. 

Deep water soloing with Hope!

Our crew of wilderness friends was replaced by our High Trails Friend, Hope! We fit in a deep water solo adventure between our own climbing excursions. Now let me tell you about this rock! WE have been climbing on dry cave formations. The majority of which are overhung all the way to the top. It’s been a bit of a learning curve going to from crack climbing to juggy power move climbs (especially for Robyn). We got used to the french style grading which, after translating, leads me to believe we have been climbing in some of the most sandbagged areas in the states. You have to chase the shade here. We made that mistake once. Walls here all walking distance, it’s spoiling. So spoiling we have been having a hard time finding a reason to leave. 

Oh just a 5.14, no biggy

Some of the climb sites can be pretty interesting as you are sharing this space with the local monkey population and they really want your stuff. One day, while Austin was on lead, we found ourselves in the middle of a monkey war. There are two species of monkeys in the area and they are constantly fighting for territories. As Austin clipped a bolt and started heading to the next about 4 dozen or more monkeys started falling from trees and the near by rock face, as they chased one another through the jungle. After, the bigger species had won the battle they then started taking interest in us and our belongings. They got closer and closer to both of us and even one got brave enough to take a grab at our bags. Austin had to clip in directly to a bolt and hang out while Robyn chased off the monkey, organized the gear and secured it to a tree. This was the first of several encounters. 

Over the eleven day span we were there we became familiar faces. We could not go far with out a nod or a wave from a familiar face. We learned where to spend our dollars but are still very confused about the value of a dollar. A beer is more expensive then a dinner for two. A night stay  is cheaper then a book. And non-instant coffee… well lets just say we stopped drinking most beverages aside from smoothies. 

We recently took a brake from the beach life to stay in Krabi for a few nights. Stay tuned for that exciting tale! 

Check us out on youTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2tyPP4ApwY

Here is more on the climbing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGNxqybU_3s

The Beginning 12/3-4/2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beM6kcu4hys

12/3

Well, we have learned a lot about what not to do so far. Before we came to Thailand, we read up on how to travel safely, how to not get ripped off, and where to get the best food for your baht. We asked countless friends about their experiences here, any tricks and tips to get around. I felt pretty prepared for how to get around. But then Bangkok. What a city! Traffic every hour of the day. Tuk Tuks making kissing noises, like you are calling your cat, to get you to take a ride. Motor bikes cutting off cars, weaving in and out of traffic on the highways…and sidewalk! After we threw our bags down at a nice spot in city center, We (being Austin and I plus our friends from Wilderness Courtney, Michelle and Joe) walked our jet lagged selves onto the streets to find some authentic Thai food. Michelle had a place in mind, about 3 miles away. We figured we could walk but, after a wrong turn that lead us to a dead end a Tuk-tuk was in order. Now, i’m not sure how it happened but 5 very delirious people, with no firm plan, trying to explain to a driver where they wanted to go ended with us agreeing to go to a place our driver highly recommended. This is an example of what people told us not to do. So after a roller coaster ride through traffic and a few less baht in our pockets, we ended up about a block over from where we started, down some alley, at a fish market. After a quick look at  our options we decided to walk back to where we had started. Before our driver was done peeing in the bushes beside the “restaurant”, we were back on the streets walking and dodging cars and motor bikes. For the next hour, we tried to find the perfect place to eat. We walked past shacks, food vendors, Hooters, Irish Pubs and finally found ourselves in the “Adult Playground” area which was like a modest Vegas. Young escorts with older men were seen in every bar front and even walking about in the streets. Long story short we finally found some awesome food that was only a block or so from where we began the whole journey. We experienced what Thai hot meant and enjoyed a few beers to wash the pain away. After a walk in the rain we ended up back at our place where we enjoyed one last view of the city sky line and fell asleep at 7 pm. 

12/4

The next day, Austin and I hopped on a plane to Krabi but not before grabbing some street food and coffee. Now street food… it’s darn good. Coffee is more expensive than some meals off the street, which makes it a challenge to understand the relative value of a baht. Once in Krabi, we dove into the street markets. The most interesting thing I saw today was a plate of perfectly cooked qual eggs. The best thing I tried was coconut pancakes. Two more buddies of ours, Cayleigh and Kevin, joined the mix. Oh and may I say the rock spires are something to write home about.

Nice to meet you, see you later

This is us! Just a couple of young jokers that like to get after it. Come December 2, 2015 we will be getting on a flight to Bangkok and not coming back for 6 months. We have a rope, quickdraws, and a very loose plan.

Now that's organized 

We have been talking about this trip for over a year and it is finally happening! You can follow us here. Our technology repealing selves are going to do our best to keep you all in the loop.