Today is the end of our stay on Ton Sai. We've had a great time and we're sad to leave. We decided to not bring a rope and draws on our trip since we'll be doing a lot of traveling without climbing. We didn't realize that it would cost more than twice as much to rent gear for one day than it was costing us to live. Renting was not an option. But this was not a problem. We met "heaps" of great people who were happy to take us along with them. We climbed a lot with a group of Australians and Germans. Alex worked on some great projects with a really fun Russian couple and their friends (very good climbers). We will hopefully go visit them someday in Moskow. We also met a Swedish couple from Stockholm who climb and the gym we work at. They were great climbing buddies for Ash. They also have a dog, we look forward to hanging out with them in Stockholm. Even though we both made lots of progress since our first days there, we were just not getting into a good groove and wish we had more time.
We've had tons of fun adventures besides climbing during our stay. Thai massages were great, lots of trekking between Ton Sai and the neighboring beach Riley. Made friends with the local dog, Dum Dum (Black Black in Thai), and even got to hold a baby monkey. Yesterday we rented a kayak and snorkels with the intent to paddle to a "nearby" island to check out the reefs. An hour and a half of paddling each way left us scorched and in pain. But we at least got to see some fun aquatic life forms including some clownfish (Nemo fish) lots of sea cucumbers etc. We found friends to throw frisbee with and some very enthusiastic learners. Ash taught yoga on the beach to friends. And we ate plenty of great food.
Even though its sad to leave, we're excited for our next adventure. Today we'll board a bus for 14 hours to get to Bangkok where Geoff will meet us. Then a fun weekend of frisbee!!!!
