One fine day not too long ago, a bunch of weekly boulderers decided that it would be a good idea to go climbing in Krabi, where the primary discipline is lead. A snappy purchase of air tickets kinda locked in the plan afterwards and with no turning back, we finally got ourselves lead verified (after procrastinating for an entire year). We've now even got some nice new rope to lead some more. Ah, the impetus of sunk cost.
For me, Krabi 2018 (17-21 Nov) came at the close of yet another crazy period and was hardly any rest, but in a way it was a great break. 'Twas lovely just to spend time with sun, sea, sand and stone. And friends too! Can't ask for much more with full strength attendance of Team Cockfosters, even if just for a few short days. [Gonna rip some photos from these same friends since I didn't use my own phone much.]
The views!
The last time I set foot on Krabi I hadn't turned 20, so suffice to say things have changed. Tonsai seems to have become much more concretised, complete with a graffiti-covered walkway where (at least in my memory) there used to be a simple dirt path. Also, none of my footwear got sucked to the depths this time, thanks to well-fitting Decathlon water shoes (a good buy!).
Over and above everything else, the rock was just as I remembered. But let's first address what made the trip as shag as it was. The main culprits were the 6.30am risers for 7am breakfast. Between this time and 9+am where we'd reach the day's designated wall, there would be lots of bashing through the undergrowth, scrambling across iffy terrain, guidebook-consulting moments and many other forms of faffing. Cobra Wall was particularly hard to get to by the inland route (imagine having to be consistently wary of toppling off the trail and straight into the sea). And then of course, there was the climbing.
Getting to Cobra Wall--would have been a lot easier to go by the coast if the water wasn't at waist-height.
I knew from as early as August that I was screwed for this trip,
climbing-wise, because climbing once a month is not the best way to prep
for the outdoors. True enough, I clipped no anchors this time. I can't
seem to muster enough "fight" while climbing these days, prob coz the
worst consequence is only my personal disappointment. But after doing my
best under prevailing conditions and having a decent amount of fun, it was good enough.
6a and 6c at Cobra Wall. I'm obviously not on the 6c.
Trying the starting moves of the 6c which was pretty much a boulder problem. Would not have dared to do this on lead.
We visited 3 areas over 3 days (Cobra Wall, 1-2-3 Wall and Tonsai Roof). I climbed a handful of 6as and 6bs (some on toprope) and had great mistrust in my ability to hold anything less than jugs. There were a great deal of ledges too, which either meant standing and admiring the view and not wanting to move on, or wasting a great deal of energy trying to get up and chickening out multiple times. Interestingly, whatever else I felt, outdoor lead seemed less scary/intimidating on this trip than all previous times I've done it. At least I experienced normal, fun climbing on two-thirds of most routes before self-doubt started to bare its teeth. Much left to be desired in terms of mental game, but compared to fearing for my life from the first or second clip, it seems like there's some sort of improvement.
Such pretty rock features!
Those few short days in Tonsai ended with frisbee by the beach/in the water/nearly beheading passing beach-goers, trying to be artistic with silhouette sunset shots and the daily tom yum (to avoid disappointment, always ask for "kung"). In the nights, mandatory codenames/bridge till incomprehensible.
Sunset shot from a point-and-shoot kind of person.
I found this shot pretty funny. Guys were all squashed in the first mario kart otw to our Ao Nang accoms because, as the drivers instructed, "this one men only, this one women only".
No rest for the weary as the adventure continued even after heading back to Ao Nang on the 2nd-last day. For the girls at least. There were two very different wefies taken that evening and let's just say the guys' set was taken in a rather more comfortable setting. We, on the other hand, were busy making our way to the top of Tiger Cave Temple. I dislike stairs but the climb was actually far easier than I thought it'd be (and water shoes + socks werks). After taking my sweet time (30 mins) I reached the top where there was no sunset to be seen. Sighs... I'd actually gotten to see decent sunsets from Tonsai Bay, but where it mattered most, the sky was all but overcast with only a vague smear of pink to remind that the sun was on its way home. Behind the clouds, somewhere. Yea looks like the curse is back.
1,237 steps later. Pro-tip: remember not to wear too-short shorts.
Far overrr the Misty Mountains coldddd~
[After-note: I happily relayed to my sister that we'd successfully
followed her example (of rushing up just in time for sunset and descending in the dark) and received the biggest eye-roll ever. Apparently
the idea was not to repeat her experience, which instead we took as
precedence. But her tale included mobs of gangland monkeys that would glare at you from the branches. Interestingly I saw none of those... I don't think I saw any monkeys there in fact.]
A pretty sight as the lights come on.
The road home (literally, as it leads to Krabi International Airport).
Fast forward to the journey to dinner afterwards (after a shower to get out of downright gross clothes by then well-seasoned with sand, salt and sweat). So we got the resort to prepare some transport for us and a party truck showed up, complete with flashing RGB lights and techno music. Probably no party truck ever ferried a deader bunch... but we revived a bit when the music player rudely signaled its retirement with a piercing blast. Afterwards there was beer --> some supermarket shenanigans --> more beer before we finally called it a night.
And next day, I was back home with limbfuls of battle scars and a wistful longing for a hypothetical next trip in Dec 2019. This trip was much too short (5 days with really only 3 days to do anything), but it was one of the best times I've had in recent memory.
Here's presenting the people who made this possible in our one and only (out of 20 or so gopro burst shots) full group photo of the trip:
Team Cockfosters at its finest.
And of course, one for the memories:
I daresay this won't be the last we hear of this song, given that this can hardly be our last climbing trip to Thailand :)
