Life here on the Phra Nang Peninsula moves a bit slower than life in New York City. The last couple of weeks have been glorious and action packed.
We have mostly been staying on the peninsula (Phra Nang Beach, Railay West/East and Tonsai) but we did take a short trip to Koh Phi Phi last week (the main beach from the movie “The Beach” is on Koh Phi Phi – FYI, the book by Alex Garland is better than the movie…). Phi Phi town is buzzing with international tourists, souvenir shops and restaurants, but we managed to escape the madness and found some bamboo bungalows at the base of one of the main climbing areas – the accommodations were very rustic and we shared a bathroom with the other nine bungalows, but they were tranquil and located about 100 feet from the ocean.
The climbing on Phi Phi was excellent. We climbed two days at the cliff located above our bungalows, and on our last day we hired a long-tail boat to bring us to the “Oyster Blade,” a rock formation that can only be accessed by boat. We did a three pitch, three hundred foot climb called “the Hand of the Buddha” which is a Phi Phi classic.
Life on the peninsula is quite interesting…we climb nearly everyday, and when we are not climbing we are kayaking, snorkeling, reading, and thinking and talking about climbing. Aside from the Thai food (which is wonderful and very inexpensive) and the warm and friendly Thai people who work here, it doesn’t seem very Thai. Instead, it is an international climbing community located on a few beautiful (and limestone rich) beaches – at any given time we’ll hear five different languages being spoken.
Other than that, not too much to report. We’ll be here for at least a couple more weeks before we head to Nepal – Camille is working on compressing our photos so that we can post a few of them and share how amazing this place is.
Much love from Thailand!!!
