TON SAI

18th - 29th June 2015

Ton Sai is a beach in Krabi province that is well known in the climbing world as one of THE places to go. Armed with this knowledge and not much else, we headed down to Krabi on the 11am flight. From here we caught a shuttle bus to Au Nang, and then a Longtail boat to Ton Sai, as it can only be accessed by boat, or a scramble from Railay beach.

Andamam bungalow where we stayed:

Ton Sai is basically one horse shoe shaped path starting at one end of the beach, curving back in land, then curving back to meet the other end of the beach. When we arrived we found a wall that looked like it had been built pretty recently, that sectioned off the middle of the village. We found out that it had only been built earlier in the year, and that a developer had bought the bit of land in the middle and was planning to build a resort there. This meant that at one point there had been beach bars all along the front on the beach, but they had all had to move their businesses behind to the jungle path to make way for this resort. As such, the people of Ton Sai were obviously pretty miffed, but people had taken to painting beautiful murals on the wall. Some of which you can see here...

Here is short film on the impact the wall has already had on Ton Sai:

 http://m.epictv.com/media/podcast/fading-paradise---a-tonsai-climbing-documentary-%7c-epictv-climbing-daily-ep-535/602672

We walked around the one road in Ton Sai looking for a place to stay but also looking for food and for a climbing place where we could rent gear. I had met a guy called Massimo whilst climbing in Manali in India and he had given me a few pointers on where to come in Ton Sai. We headed to The Rock Shop which he had recommended to hire gear from, had a chat with the guy there, then headed to Freedom Bar on the beach, and in the distance I spotted the shaved head of Massimo!!! He had said he may well be back in Ton Sai but I hadn't expected that he'd actually be there. We got chatting with people in the group he was with and everyone was staying in rustic bamboo bungalows in Andaman, so we checked in there for £4 a night and went for dinner at Boatman. This is a little shack run by the family of Maxi, Ton Sai's best loved climbing instructor. We finished the night with a few beers over the path at Sabai Sabai. Little did we know this would become a regular occurrence pretty much every night. It's a quiet bar with a pool table and *newsflash* whilst I was in Ton Sai they also gained a sofa. The general routine in Ton Sai in the evening is most people start at Freedom Bar on the beach, watching the last climbers as the light slowly fades. So you have a couple of beers laying back on the wooden platforms there, chatting to everyone and seeing who the boat brought in that day. Then people go for dinner at their favourite place (there's a lot of loyalty in Ton Sai) and then you go out to either Viking Bar, Sabai Sabai or Sunset, all of which are in a line. Sunset is definitely the busiest, but our crewe always ended up at Sabai Sabai.

Freedom Bar:

Sunset Bar:

The next morning we met everyone for breakfast between 8-10 at The Backyard Cafe (which was the only place I went for breakfast the whole time I was at Ton Sai - see what I mean about loyalty). It is set back from the jungle path surrounded by lush greenery. The floor is strewn with cushions and low tables creating a very laid back start to the day. 

People were going to Gibbons Roof, a completely overhanging climbing area, which had a lot of pretty hard routes and not any easy ones. It was amazing to watch the guys tackle this rock with complete ease and grace when we couldn't even do the first move! We decided to go to a bouldering cave instead to give some easier routes a go. Due to the humid climate we had to start fires everywhere we climbed or light citronella coils to keep the mosquitos at bay. In the afternoon we headed to Eagle Wall just round the headland. The tide was low enough to walk round and we hoped there were some similar level climbers about we could join, although having no harness (The Rock Shop had no small ones left!) it was unlikely we would get a proper climb in. The pathway there and back from the beach was through dense slippery jungle and I annoyingly stubbed my toe pretty badly whilst climbing down a steep muddy slope on the way to the beach. Not good as that toe is going to have to be squeezed into a tiny climbing shoe this week!

In the end we met Massimo and Ken (a lovely guy from LA) on the beach and they put up a 6a route for us called Palm Tree which we both had a go at. I hadn't anticipated just how hot it was and how hot you got whilst climbing in Thailand. I was dripping with sweat within minutes. I made it three quarters of the way up, having used up a shit load of chalk in a vain attempt to keep my hands dry. Climbing in Thailand was going to tricky... Still it was awesome to be on the rock and I was excited for the rest of the week.

The next day Will didn't want to climb, so I went in search of a crewe to climb with and found Sophia from Russia and Scott from Australia. Together we rented the whole kit (ropes, quick draws, harness, shoes etc) and went over to Wee's Present Wall on Railay. Sophia had some experience leading and we started on a 5 route which was the easiest route on that wall, her lead climbing and me belaying. Unfortunately, about 2 thirds of the way up, as she was clipping, she slipped off the rock and took a big fall, resulting in her foot smashing into the wall. We lowered her down and there just so happened to be a nurse practitioner around, who examined the foot as best she could and came to the conclusion it was probably a sprain not a break. Scott managed to get her onto a boat back to Ton Sai so she wouldn't have to hobble over the cliff top path. I stayed to climb the route, however I was pretty shaken up. I thought if I didn't do it then I'd probably spend the next few days too freaked out to climb. I got up the route and back on the horse (it weren't pretty though) and then met up with Will for food.

The next day Will was heading off to Phuket to go surfing, and I was staying here to carry on climbing. My stubbed toe had gotten worse and so I decided not to climb that day and to hang out with Will on his last day instead. We headed to Railay and chilled out on the gorgeous beach there. Will walked / climbed to the lagoon for an hour (see next post). His boat left at 3pm and it was pretty heart wrenching watching him sail away after 3 and a half months of being together 24/7. Still we figured we'd both have fun doing what we wanted to do, and would see each other in a week.

I bumped into Scott on the way back who said he'd take me out climbing the next day - awesome :) People were climbing some awesome routes on the beach when we got back to Ton Sai.

The day started pretty slowly, so slowly in fact that we had breakfast AND lunch before heading out to climb. Went to The Nest where Jen, Alex, Massimo, Ken and Maxi were. He first set up a 6B which was too hard for me to finish, but I went on to complete the 6A next to it. We then headed back to the beach and I climbed Palm Tree again but got to the top this time and threaded the anchor for only the 3rd time in my life. My toe was still sore but getting there. To mix things up from Boatman we ate at Mama Chicken tonight for a change, however we still retreated to Sabi Sabi afterwards. Wouldn't want things to change too much.

REST DAY! A lot of people headed to Au Nang and Krabi but I just really wanted a chill day so went to the beach in the morning and had a swim. It was really nice having the beach to myself! In the afternoon I met up with Ken and Maxi at Boatman over their legendary chicken burgers. We chilled out there for a while then headed down to the beach to Freedom Bar to watch people climb and basically hang out. It was a really fun day of doing nothing.

Sophia and Scott headed to Au Nang to get her foot checked out. They arrived back to Ton Sai a few days later, having stayed in the hospital whilst her foot was mended - it turned out it was a broken bone after all. It was incredible that she still had a smile on her face after all she'd been through.

Connect 4 became our go to game. Me, Tamara (Canadian girly, Jen's sister) and Garrett (From LA cap) would have tournaments most evenings and Garrett would always win. One time I actually beat him and blurted out "HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES" which everyone found hilarious that this was my go-to phrase. They called it a PG rated insult.

Did some more climbing the next day, attempted the 6B on the beach by Freedom Bar, you have to climb up a ladder to reach the start of the climb, which in itself is kinda scary!! The climb was tough, it went up a tufa, and going to the left was easier to get up but then you had to traverse over to the right to continue the route which I couldn't do... Instead you should go up the tufa and carry on, but I just couldn't hold on to the damn thing. That night we changed things up a bit and went to Sunset Bar and sat in the rope platform suspended above the bar which was certainly a new view. Played some more Connect 4, bringing a British guy turned New Zealander named Steve into the mix, then went to see Jen's amazing mural on the Wall. Me and Tamara noticed Garrett was missing and both shouted out "LETS GO FIND GARRETT" who we found at (surprise suprise) Sabai Sabai. We stayed there a while for some extreme Jenga and a photo shoot and then biked down to the beach for a bonfire and a 3am climbing session (only Maxi was crazy enough to actually do it) the night ended back on my bungalow porch listening to The Shins. What a night. 

Obviously super hungover the next day - it was a total write off. Everyone got up late and had breakfast then headed down to Freedom. As it was Kens last day we headed to Backyard to request if they would make us the French toast that Massimo has been chatting about the entire time but they had taken off the menu. They agreed to make it for us as it was such a monumentous occasion, and it was amazing! Went back to Freedom for some last minute climbs for Ken, then with his famous last words "yeah I'm from LA" he walked off into the distance (to Railay)

A bunch of us went to Escher Wall to climb the next day. Jen, Tamara, Alex, and some new American girls Vivienne and Audrey. There were amazing views from the top and some brilliant routes that I could get to the top of. Result! Had a really great day climbing with those guys, hanging out at the crag, then we chilled at the beach for a bit, and a huge tour group arrived so we had some of their BBQ for free! Then they put on a fire show on the beach. We hiked back in the dark. Then played some pool as usual at Sabai Sabai.

On my last day climbing I went with some new folks to Escher Wall and had another great day of climbing with them. Did some of the same climbs as last time plus a few new ones. Just as we had packed up and started to walk back the heavens opened so we hid for nearly an hour under 2 massive boulders, eating banana bread! When we got back to Ton Sai, Freedom Bar was deserted, everyone must have fled when the rain hit. We sat and had a few beers and I finally managed to get the ring on the hook. This was a ring on a string game that you had to perfectly swing at a hook on the pillar opposite so that it caught. Exceedingly frustrating but bloody awesome when you finally get it! Then it was time for my final night at Sabai Sabai... More pool and hanging out with Massimo and Garrett. Jen, Tamara and Alex had left the night before, so it was a pretty quiet one but a lovely ending to my time in Ton Sai.

In the morning I got up and packed then headed over to Backyard Cafe for one last beans and egg on toast. I told the guys I'd be there at 8 as I had a boat to catch and didn't expect anyone to be there so early. But as I turned the corner, there they all were for my last brekkie. I don't think I said it at the time but I was touched they'd all got up early to say goodbye. They'd become my Ton Sai family, showing me the ropes, beating me at pool and Connect 4, and generally being awesome guys to hang out with. I've loved it here, but it was time to meet up with Will and carry on our travels.