Food with a Side of Climbing

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When a waking life consists of only two major events, patterns form easily. Life is not complicated. My routine is solely constructed of eating and climbing. Everything else is merely a distraction. Both activities are bountiful, delightful and far more valuable than the cost. Days consist of 4 meals, 3 out of an open air kitchen at the back of a local ladies house. Lovingly called, Chicken Mama, a 5' tall Thai woman filled our empty bellies between climbs. Through nourishment and smiles, Chicken Mama became the mother of an eclectic group of strangers brought together only by a sense of adventure and a passion for scaling rocks. The dinning room consisted of two picnic tables and a small, tattered umbrella. She continually slow roasted barbecue chicken, sending comforting smells wafting across the beach. Food was cheap, portions were large, customers were happy.

Each night, we would break from our regular daily meal spot and pull 3 tables together at a curry shack and eat, drink and tell tails of the cliff. Our conversations would travel the world. From sunset till late after dark, we would dine, converse, learn, drink, argue and flirt. Table talks would always start with the biggest falls and tales from the day.

Early mornings and late nights were magic at Tonsai. The perfect weather boasts a light breeze starting at night sustaining through till early morning. This pushed most of the mosquitoes back into the jungle giving you just enough peace to drift to sleep. The mosquito net became the single most important material item, after my climbing gear. My first night in a beach bungalow was an experience of skin patterning. I went to sleep with a very perforated mesquito net. I woke the next morning to find my body covered in 100's mosquito bites. After that evening, Tiger Balm also ranked very high up on my most appreciated goods. This elaborate body art was only topped by the night I inadvertently shared my mattress with an ant colony. While I slept, they dined. I quickly conditioned myself to sleep through anything. Even with a speckled back comparable to a bad case of measles, the possibility of a bad day was far from achievable.

The following evening, it happened again. The ten hours of climbing each day was just not enough. This is how I found myself 4 pitches up a climb called Humanality, tapping my feet to the Bob Marley blaring from the bar 300 feet below. An LED light from my headlamp was barley noticeable from the moonlight being cast on the rock from a full moon. Finishing the last pitch and lowering off into the night from 360 feet above the ground, I was a happen climber. Only 24 hours had passed since my arrival in Tonsai. 24 hours in paradise.

Life As I Know It

After only 3 days, I am more used to seeing the top of the jungle canopy than I am at explore below. I am used to seeing sun-bathers as dark specs spoiling the white sandy beaches hundreds of feet below. I spend most of my time eye level with the birds, with a feeling of that I am closer to the clouds than to the sea. My hands know Thailand as the land of endless sandstone and my waist feels empty without a snug harness tightly secured.

Only hours after my arrival, I had settled into a beach-side bungalow, met two climbing partners and found myself hiking into one of the 16 large cliffs that scatter the Pra Nang Peninsula. The routes are perfect. The rock is littered with holes and tufas to make a magical blend of tiring technical routes that require balance, focus and innovative strategies. The routes rocket out from the coast towering 100 meters into the air. The orange-white rock acts as a colorful frame to the beach and jungle. A glimpse up at a cliff in the sun will reveal reflective sparks of light from the bolts used to protect the climbs. This makes all climbers on the ground drool with anticipation of their next send. Approaching the cliff humbles all climber as the excitement builds to step off the ground.

Pra Nang is made up of three beaches; Tonsai, Railay east and Railay West. The climbing is located throughout each of these areas but the climbers have taken refuge in the Tonsai. This is were everyone is in great shape. Everyone walks around with climbing shoes attached to the hip. Conversations are confusing except to the climbing literate. Here, climbers rule all. For a sport where its participants are used to being asked questions like, "So...do you use ropes?" and "I tried that in summer camp when I was ten." the outcasts are now the non-climbers. Tonsai is inhabited by the friendliest Thai people that predominately work to capitalize on the tourism industry and the climbing addicts that are in search of the next great climb. Grungy climbing clothes and bloody knuckles are much more common than clean polo’s and Hawaiian print bathing suits. Here, life is great if you are an enthusiastic climber. Here, life is great if you are a climber. Here, life is just great!