A tale of two Khaos

After Railay and Koh Phi Phi it was time for me to say goodbye to the beach and head inland towards the jungle. My destination was Khao Sok, one of Thailand's many national parks and an area of pristine rainforest that has been thankfully largely untouched by humans. In the darkest depths of the forest lurk tigers, along with an immense variety of other animals and tropical plants.



I had only a couple of days in Khao Sok so I didn't have the time to go on a tour to the more remote regions. Instead I decided to do a couple of day-walks from Khao Sok village to some of the nearby waterfalls and natural cavernous swimming pools.

Being in the midst of the forest, surrounded by the din of the insects and birds, confronted by innumerable shades of green, and assaulted by the mingled aromas of life in the jungle, I was reminded heavily of my time in Los Cedros in Ecuador, and I smiled to think of how similar some parts of the world are, even when they are about as far away from each other as it's possible to be. My walks took me to various waterfalls, and at each available point I jumped in to the water (clothes and all) to cool off from the oppressive humidity of the forest.







After my first day-walk I treated myself to a traditional Thai massage. It was surprisingly brutal but also relaxing and invigorating, and at the end of it my limbs felt lighter and less strained, despite the lengthy walk I'd done earlier in the day.

After the second day of walking it was time to leave Khao Sok for Bangkok on a night bus. We were taken by minibus to the nearest large town, Surat Thani, from where everyone except me was told to get off and wait at a travel agent for the coach which would take them overnight to Bangkok. I was told that I needed to be taken to a different travel agent as I had booked my ticket through a different company. At first I was quite annoyed by this and I thought I was getting messed around. I'm very glad that I was moved, however, because I later bumped into an Austrian couple on the other bus who had had things stolen from their bags while they were asleep on the bus. My coach also had the advantage of having hardly anyone on it, and I successfully claimed all five back seats to lie down on for the trip.

Here in Bangkok I'm staying on the legendary Khao San road in the backpacker's mecca of Banglamphu. Khao San road is a heady mix of bars, street food vendors, internet shops, guest houses and the all-important counterfeit CDs, DVDs and t-shirts stalls. The atmosphere is unique here and I feel it's a great place for me to end my trip.



Today I walked into the historic royal quarter of Ratanakosin, a very different destination in Bangkok but one that's no less dizzying, decked out as it is with splendid royal palaces and ornate Buddhist temples. I visited Wat Phra Kaew, the incredibly ornate complex within the Grand Palace which houses the temple of the Emerald Buddha. I also visited Wat Pho, the home of the deservedly famous Temple of the Reclining Buddha. Here there is basically a very large (30m long more or less) gold statue of the Buddha reaching Nirvana. It's an impressive sight.

Today is my last full day in Bangkok, but before my flight tomorrow I'm going to brave the public transport system of Bangkok (which, incidentally, includes the world's largest bus network) to explore some more of the city. I'm also going to buy as many dodgy CDs as my overflowing rucksac will allow.

Kayaking & finding 'The Beach'

After the climbing I described in my last blog, I spent a few days chilling out on Railay, which included another half day of climbing. When I came back to the leading I felt much more confident and was able to lead some tougher routes, and I even managed to on-sight about half of an F7a on a top rope, which I was very pleased about. The day after that bit of climbing I took the boat back to Krabi town, where I spent the night before embarking on a day of sea kayaking around the nearby coast. We explored the mangroves that line this part of the shoreline, and ventured between towering karsts of rock.



We also ventured in to part of a cave, only accessible during certain periods of the day at low tide. We spotted an otter who came to play with us, splashing around the kayaks and swimming under us; whether he was really playing or telling us to get off his territory I'm not sure, but it was great to interact so intimately with the wildlife. As well as the otter we also sighted some monkeys, a long lizard, lots of salamanders and many brightly coloured crabs.







The following day I took a ferry to Koh Phi Phi, one of the most famous islands off the Andaman Coast. Many people here will tell you that Koh Phi Phi is one of the most beautiful islands in the world. They're probably right. In fact, Koh Phi Phi is actually comprised of two main islands, one of which, Koh Phi Phi Leh, is basically uninhabited. Today I took a snorkelling tour out to this island and explored the underwater realm of the coral reefs. The coral and the fish it played host to were very similar to what we saw in Lombok, but the surrounding landscape was very different. This is a truly beautiful place, where towering limestone plunges into turquoise water and sweeping stretches of pure sand lie beneath lush green palms. The beaches of Thailand are the most beautiful I've seen in the world.

Koh Phi Phi Leh was the choice of location for the famous film The Beach. The effect of this film on tourism to Koh Phi Phi was huge, and The Beach is treated with a similar reverence here to that of the Lord of the Rings films in New Zealand. After disembarking the boat at a rocky outcrop with the aid of ropes and lifejackets, we walked across the narrow island to come out on Maya Bay, the precise location for the film.



Another event that had substantial, but in this case negative, effects on southern Thailand was the December 2004 tsunami. Before I came to South East Asia I hadn't quite grasped the effect of this natural event on the people and communities of this region. Many of the buildings on Koh Phi Phi were destroyed, and many people lost their lives. In fact, speaking to a local man the other day, I found out that many people were too scared for months afterwards to go near the water. These people, many of whom rely on the seas for their jobs, completely lost their livelihoods. Many people have members of their family or friends who were never seen again. In a cruel twist of fate, I learnt that in the minutes before the tsunami struck, it caused a period of extreme-low tide which drew many puzzled people out on to the beach, wondering what was happening. These people would have been the first to perish.

Tomorrow I'm heading back to the mainland, where I'm going to spend a couple of nights with the gibbons in Khao Sok National Park. Then I'll head to Bangkok, where I'll do a crash course of the city in a couple of days before flying home.

Climbers' playground

After a quick couple of days in Singapore I arrived in to resort-strewn Phuket, Thailand. I wanted to make the most of my two and a half weeks here so I didn't hang around in Phuket long. I arrived in Krabi on Monday morning and from there caught a boat to the inaccessible and beautiful Laem Phra Nang headland. Laem Phra Nang, or Railay, is on the mainland, but the topography of the area permits no roads to approach it, so the only way to reach it is by boat. Approaching Railay by boat was a beautiful way to do it; gliding over the turquoise water, past the mangroves and towards the clean beach made the whole area feel beautiful and invigorating.





The main reason I came to this part of Thailand's coast is the climbing opportunities it offers. Limestone karst cliffs dominate the scene and local climbers have bolted up sport-climbing routes ranging from grade (French) 4 to 8c. I couldn't wait to give it a go, so I booked myself on to a one-day intermediate's climbing course for the day after I arrived. In the morning we got in to the swing of things with a bit of top roping, and I remembered how out of shape I am by not even managing a 6a+. We also climbed up the inside of a cave on pre-placed ladders and emerged on to a ledge from where we had a great view of the surrounding beaches, before abseiling down in to the forest.





In the afternoon I learnt how to lead climb, something I've been meaning to do for donkeys' years but have never got round to. I really enjoyed it, and as soon as I get home and have enough money (ie around about December 2047) I'm going to get myself a rope and some quickdraws.



I'm going to hang around here long enough to do a bit more climbing (hopefully), and perhaps some kayaking, on top of reading as many Nick Hornby books I can find and trying to get a tan (nice try Mike you pasty bastard). I may end up staying here until I have to go to Bangkok, around the 11th.

This is probably going to be one of my last posts. How weird does that feel?