Thailand: Same old, Same old

After another long bus ride, I made it into Krabi at 6:00 am. I took a bus to Ao Nang, but unfortunately, due to the same storms that were blasting the Cambodian coast, the waves were too rough to get a longboat to Tonsai. Therefore, I went to the opposite side of Ao Nang, where I managed to board a longboat to East Railay. Unfortunately, I had to slip and slide through the "Jungle Path," a long, muddy, treacherous, and mosquito-infested hike with my heavy rucksack until I finally reached Tonsai.

I went straight to the Andaman resort, and after dropping off my bags at Erin's bungalow, had breakfast with her and another climber. After breakfast, Erin and I spent an hour or so "catching up" on the time we had been apart since our separation almost two months before. It was great seeing her, and I realized how much I had missed having her around. After we had had enough "girl talk," we gathered together our gear and went climbing in Railay.

Unfortunately, I could tell how bad I had been to my body the past month, as it was hard getting myself up relativley easy climbs. I quickly became frustrated, gladly ready to retire as the rain began to come down. That evening, we had dinner with a few other climbers before crashing into bed.

On Tuesday, Erin went climbing, and as I was feeling particularly lazy and not exactly wanting to climb ever again, I opted out. However, after Erin completed her last climb (in which she also managed to sprain her ankle on a wicked fall), I decided to give it a go on toprope. By the time I reached the anchor, I was in love with climbing again!

Yesterday morning, after breakfast, I said goodbye to Erin (who was forced to rest on her last day in Tonsai, thanks to that pesky ankle), and I went climbing with two guys I had met. We did a load of easy climbs, having a great day. That night, Chai, the owner of a popular coffee shop, prepared a "going away" dinner for Erin, as she was planning on leaving the next morning for Bali (she has been in Tonsai almost a month, and was a regular at Chai's cafe). After dinner, Erin bid farewell to all her newfound friends, and after several hours laughing and sharing stories in our bungalow, we fell asleep.

This morning Erin left very early, and after sleeping in, I headed to breakfast while wondering what to do with myself. My body was feeling a bit sore from the sudden exercise after such a long holiday from health, so I decided to take a rest day. I moved into a different bungalow and basically spent the entire day reading and relaxing in my hammock. This evening I had dinner with two climbers, making plans to climb tomorrow.

Now this is where my ho-hum day took a drastic turn. After dinner, I went to the internet cafe to check email. There was a message from my friend Tom, inviting me to come visit him in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) in the Middle East, where he is a science teacher at an interntational school. I thought about it for about five minutes, and now as I write this, I have tickets for tomorrow's overnight bus to Bangkok, as well as a flight booked for Saturday morning out of Bangkok to Abu Dhabi, UAE. I must be crazy. The fact of the matter is, I am so very tired of Southeast Asia. I have been here for five months now, with no real traveling in the last two months. I am tired of the rain, tired of the food, and quite frankly, tired of the beach (never thought I would say that one!). I really just need a change of scenery, and what better place than the middle of the desert in Muslim country? This humidity must be getting to my head...cannot wait to tell my parents this one.