The Milford Track, Queenstown & Mount Cook

So we were in Queenstown, which is like Boulder, or Chamonix, or any mountain town catering to adventure sport enthusiasts... so I liked it a lot. It was hard to just spend a few hours handling errands since around every corner there's an advertisement for a bouldering competition, or bungee jumping, or my new personal favorite (which I'm pushing to find the time to do) Heli-Mountain Biking... awesome. I left off when I was awaiting my bus to Te Anau Downs, where we boarded a boat that took us through Lake Te Anau for just over an hour into Fjordland Nat'l Park, where we disembarked onto the southern terminus of the Milford Track, dubbed the "Finest Walk in the World" - this was our destination and had been since I'd seen it on the Travel Channel a year prior, and Dera and I had booked it last fall.

A few things to note:

1) I remember why I left Pennsylvania, rain dampens things.

2) I know why California has been in a drought forever, see number one.

3) Although it does rain here it hasn't modified my mood, I've missed weather, and I'll be back in Cali soon enough ;)

4) I've always been prone to bug bites, usually mosquito's, in New Zealand the rain breeds "Sand Flies" & because of the tremendous amount of the wet stuff I guess there's quite a few of them.

5) Because of number four, I picked up a lotion called "Bushmaster" at the local pharmacy, it's 80% DDT and I was warned that it may eat my clothes, a layer of skin and/or give me cancer - whatever, I'm getting it one way or another.

So we began our trek, it was raining but I had prepared by waterproofing my jacket & boots while still in San Diego, it wasn't cold and the rain actually scares the sand flies away while it's coming down. Our first day was an easy one, a short three mile hike to the Clinton Hut.

Now I need to explain some things: there are no tents on the Milford Track, the Department of Conservation has built camps at various points along the way for the independent hikers (aka Dera & I) - There's only two ways to hike the finest walk in the world, Guided or Independently. Guided means you stay in different, better huts. They provide a nice bed, hot shower and meals prepared for you along the way - basically for old people, all these hikers are required to do is carry their clothes and cameras, everything else is handled by the guide. If your an Independent Hiker you have to carry your own food & cook set, you don't have a guide... but the DOC does provide mattresses in dorm style huts, there's a public building with running water, propane cookers for preparing your food & a wood stove to dry your clothes or heat up. (There's also a hut ranger to assist and explain whenever necessary, the caretakers of the huts.) So I think I've explained that sufficiently, in my mind the independent style was high class from what I'm used to, but this is how the NZ Gov't has diminished our impact on their nature. I'll take it, no complaints here, I enjoyed not having to carry a tent, stove, fuel, sleeping pad or water purifier. Anyway we made it to the Clinton Hut no problem, had some dinner and waited for it to get dark (sometime after 8:30pm) before crawling into bed and passing out to the sound of rain. We had a long day of travel exclusive of the hiking that day so I slept hard.

The next day we awoke to snow capping all of the nearby peaks, and clear skies, it was time to hike 10 1/4 miles to our next stop. It wasn't long before we realized that the previous days rain had created an incredible amount of waterfalls along the valley we were walking, and it was amazing. This was a real rain forest and the downpours had brought it alive, I didn't even notice the mild climbing or the uneven trail, just tried to keep from tripping over something since most of the time my eyes were focused on the peaks, valley walls or the surrounding jungle. On we tramped (my new word, I'm not sure if it's Eastern Europe or New Zealander natives that refer to hiking in that fashion but whatever, it's just another way to confuse non-English speakers who are learning the language ;) to our eventual lunch stop at Hidden Lake. Rockfall had damned up this waterfall before it joins with the river making a crystal clear reservoir reminiscent an Ansel Adams portrait. That was about half way, we continued on through the forest along the Clinton River and eventually made it to Mintaro Lake, the source of the river and the location of that nights accommodations, the Mintaro Hut.
I was the first to get there, which was good because that gave me choice of which bunks Dera & I would be in that evening. I went for the top floor, two beds that were not in the bunk style at the end of the room. This minimizes the amount of traffic back and forth near us during the night, and not having to climb a ladder for a middle of the night pee break is always advantageous. So we chilled for a bit and made some noodles, afterwards we went for a walk around the lake and part way up the next days grade to the pass which would be the high point of our hike, overall a very pleasant evening. We made Campers Meals, (Pad Thai) some tea for dinner and eventually crawled into our beds for another restful evening, it had been a big day since on top of the normal hike we had scouted the trail for the next day.

Dera woke me up since he was ready to go early, I told him to go on since I felt the 1500 feet of vertical to the gap was something I could catch up with him on. At that point I realized why he was so motivated, it was raining, great, so I packed my bag and made sure everything was in plastic bags just in case my waterproof bag leaked. I discovered later that all my precautions meant nothing, but I'll get to that in a bit. About 15 minutes after Dera departed I was on the trail, I overtook him within a half an hour and continued up the switchbacks. This jungle was thick, and the trail was mostly a creek, about an hour in I was above the treeline and looked back at a valley I hadn't seen yet to the most waterfalls I'll ever witness in one place. Although this picture is cloudy you can get the point, I counted 36 dropping into the Mintaro Lake Valley but I'm sure there was more, and even though it was raining I was blown away by how much water was coming down.

Once I crested the Mackinnon Pass (elevation, 3500 feet) the wind started, and this is when the photos just weren't happening for fear I might soak Dera's wonderful Nikon he'd allowed me to use. Gale forces blew the rain sideways into every part of me and my gear, the trail and ground surrounding it was a river so my shoes were soaked through, my socks were sopping and my boxers were stuck to me since they'd gotten wet through my supposed waterproof jacket & pants. Awesome, at least it wasn't too cold although I was looking at snow just a few hundred feet above me. I trekked on to the Pass Hut, another fancy feature of the DOC, giving us a place to take shelter and providing propane if we want to have some hot food. It was here I made a mistake, when on trips such as this I pride myself on making good decisions but since I had several miles of steep downhill in front of me and wet socks I decided to change into dry ones, usually wet socks mean blisters but in this case my socks were going to be wet regardless so now I've ended up with two pairs of wet socks, it's a good thing I had a third pair to change into when I eventually made it to that nights hut. OK, back to the Pass Hut, I was the first there (of 40 people on the trail with us each day) so I aired my wet gear out, listened to the wind and chatted with the occasional hiker while I waited for Dera. When he showed up (I guess he was in the other half of the hut with the guided hikers having cocoa or some shit) we made our way off the pass back onto the trail and into even more intense weather. Five minutes in we were getting pelted in the face by hail, 15 minutes in we were fording waterfalls crossing the trail, and 25 minutes in we were delirious enjoying every minute of this crazy intense obnoxious & stunning downpour. (The hail only lasted a few minutes) We made sure each other were making it through the hard parts and once off the exposed part of the mountain and into the valley I left Dera behind since I was cold at that point and needed to move faster to warm up.

I made it to the Public Shelter, a spot people drop their packs for a side trip to Sutherland Falls, the highest in New Zealand and 5th highest in the world. After about 20 minutes there the weather cleared, the sun came out and I decided to make my way up to the falls. They were incredible! The most intense falls I've ever stood next too, within 50 yards your getting soaked by the spray from all that water hitting the bottom and misting back out, your supposed to be able to walk behind them but about 10 yards out I was blinded by the amount of water hitting me and knew it would be just stupid to continue...

so back down I came, picked up my pack and an hour further down the trail I made it to the Dumpling Hut where Dera was waiting and had already gotten me a great spot to sleep.

Priority Numero Uno: Dry my shit, I had so much stuff hanging over the wood stove I made a list to keep track so I could rotate everything, and I wasn't the only one. Everyone had gotten thoroughly drenched that day, normally waterproof gear soaked through but I've never seen such weathered people so happy and chatty, it was almost surreal, the entire group was getting along so well after bonding for three nights together. We made a few friends, Jacek from Poland & a couple, Marco & Barbara from Slovenia, Eastern Europe was definitely present as were many Aussies and Kiwis. Dera made the comment that I was the only one without an accent, although a gentlemen from Auckland immediately thought I was from LA. (I corrected him of course, but two hours off wasn't too shabby, I guess my SoCal accent is apparent.) This picture is from the hut's deck looking across the valley once the weather cleared for sunset (of course) - that night was mostly spent working to dry my stuff and eating since I hadn't really gotten a chance all day, once in bed my nights sleep was not so good since a chainsaw was going off a few bunks over. (I'm not that light of a sleeper, but this guy's snoring was so loud I thought he might choke!)

The next morning we rose before the sun and it was not raining, this was the longest hiking day, eleven and a half miles but mostly flat. The previous days downpours made for a fantastic walk along the river and of course more waterfalls. It went fast and we made it to the end, 33 and a half miles total, Sandfly Point, an hour or so prior to our ferry's departure. This picture is of us next to the terminus sign where many hikers had left their broken boots. (I should have left mine) It was a fantastic experience that I wouldn't trade for anything, clear skies on the summit would have been nice but you feel a certain sense of accomplishment after making it through something like that. After a short ferry ride across the Milford Sound (pictured to the right) and a long bus ride we made it back to Queenstown, I would be 34 at midnight so even though I was tired I was craving a good meal and a cold beer, or five, it was a good night but I made it to bed at a decent hour since we had some traveling to do the next day.

The next morning we did a little laundry, picked up our rental car and took some pictures while strolling around Queenstown browsing for souvenirs before departing for Mount Cook, that nights destination. Dera had experience driving on the left side of the road so I had no problem leaving that up to him, although I could tell it takes a little getting used to. We spent the day driving through the New Zealand countryside, pulling over once and a while to take pictures or just take in the sights. The first stop was Lake Pukaki, which had a great view of Mount Cook,except it was covered over with clouds. It was a mineral filled lake and had a greenish hue. After that, since it was just a few kilometers away we went to Lake Tekapo, which had the same color and was surrounded by an evergreen forest, we just snapped a few shots and made our way back to Mount Cook. When going back past Pukaki the clouds had lifted so we took some great pics of the lake and the mountain, then continued onto our Hostel in the village of Mount Cook, a YHA.

We checked in and went directly to the Hermitage, the oldest hotel in that area, for some local wine and a nice dinner with a panoramic view of the Aoraki Valley. I had venison cutlets for an appetizer and lamb chops for the entree, it was great, and I was feeling fine. When we walked outside the sun was setting on the summit of Mount Cook creating a spectacular glow which can't be described, only shown. That night I made it out to a local bar, had a few beers and made it another early night since the next morning we had plans to hike deeper into the Valley.

That morning we made our way up the Hooker Valley trail to Hooker Lake, I had never been up close to a glacier so I left Dera and hiked what started out looking like a close walk. It wasn't, it ended up being the most treacherous hike I've done for a long time, the sun was out causing the glacial ice to break apart so every five seconds a booming sound would fill the valley followed by splashing from the ice and rock falling into the lake. I started to get freaked out when the scree field above me started sliding once and a while, but I made it to the glacier safe and sound and found another dude, Grant from the UK over there and in the same boat. He had walked up the valley and found no safer way out. Not quite sure how safe the walk back would be we both chilled for a bit, I took some close-ups of the inside of this glacier and then decided to walk back the way we had come. It was fine, we encounted a few mountaineer women who were familiar with this route which made it much more relaxing. Safely back on shore we made our way to the parking lot where I left Grant and met poor Dera who had been waiting for me, we went to the Old Mountaineer's Cafe, known for it's association with Sir Edmund Hillary, (the first person to ascend Everest, he & his party trained on Mount Cook prior to their Himalaya ascent) for some dinner and came back to the Hostel. He took off back to watch the sunset and I'm here writing this blog. Tomorrow we leave to explore the southern part of this island and hopefully see some Penguins!

I'll let you know, it's been a great trip so far, definitely an adventure, who knows what'll happen next.

The Blue Mountains, Bondi Beach & Sydney

Hello again! I've got a little time to kill till before I leave for the Milford Track so I thought I'd catch up on this since I haven't posted in weeks. Basically since Catalina I was home... really home. I spent two weeks organizing pics, having dinner with my family, catching up on some TV I'd missed, and also with friends. In the meantime I was also attempting to heal my aching body from the exhaustion I'd brought upon myself in Asia. Long story short, about six days prior to my departure for Sydney & New Zealand I came down with what I think is bronchitis, or maybe just a serious chest cold. I grounded myself for those last few days rather than say goodbye to San Diego how I usually do, (booze, late nights, etc.) - It seems to have helped, Grapefruit Seed Extract pills work pretty well. Now after four days in Australia & a day in New Zealand I feel a lot better, still coughing up phlegm here and there but for the most part my lungs seem to be in better shape.

So I said goodbye to my lovely girlfriend, a much sadder departure this time since I wasn't home very long, and joined Dera for our trip "down under." San Diego to LAX was easy, but the six hour layover was not, Bradley (L.A's Int'l Terminal) is the most lame airport I've had to hang out in yet, and once we made it onto our plane it was even worse. QANTAS seems like a pleasant enough airline but anytime your flight is full and it's 15 hours long nothing short of first class is going to make it better. Of course I had some nice drowsy cold medication, that mixed with a little red wine and valium made it fly by (no pun intended) - so we landed in Sydney at 10am and caught a shuttle to our Hostel.

The first day we didn't do much, wandered around, saw the Harbor & the famous Opera House, walked through the Royal Botanical Gardens and eventually found our way to a part of town called Kensington for some authentic Indonesian food. That's where Dera is from, and since that culture has put some serious roots down in this area his wife had mailed him the addresses of multiple restaurants for us to sample. So we did, and Indonesian food is spicy! I liked it, kind of wish we had the time to try a few different spots but didn't have the time. We had an agenda so we hit the central train station to check the schedule out of town the next morning, caught a train back to our neck of the woods and made it an early night.

The next morning we woke early and caught a train to Katoomba, two hours east of Sydney. This place was awesome, the eucalyptus oil has evaporated over the years into the air, mixing with the water vapor and condensing back onto the rain forest giving this entire national park (Blue Mountain Nat'l Park) a Bluish haze. We bought a bus ticket that allows you to hop-on and hop-off whenever, our first stop was a glass-bottomed tram across a gorge with views of the Jamison Valley & Katoomba Falls, this brought us to a park where we rode the steepest train in the world down into the valley, under the canopy. From here we wandered around, took pictures & actually saw a wild peacock. After and hour or so we caught another cable car back to the top and jumped on our bus to the Leura Cascades. A trail down along the creek brought us to Bridalveil Falls, and even further down we saw Leura Falls. This was the "bush" as the Aussies refer to it, basically a thick forest or jungle similar to any other rain forest I've been in, except this place had cliffs everywhere! I hope someday to return in a climbing capacity since the rock seemed very similar to northern Arizona or Utah, except the trees were pine or fir, rather than desiduous, and several waterfalls. After our semi-strenuous hike (we actually passed a sign that said "Experienced Walkers Only" - I thought 33 years of walking was enough experience ;) we boarded our bus, made it back to town & had Thai food for lunch. After that we rode back down to Echo Point, the main overlook for the Three Sisters, that area's primary rock feature, and the view from the top of was breathtaking... a thousand meter drop from the top of the escarpment to the valley floor. Once done with that picture taking session we boarded our bus one last time, caught it to the train station and dozed for two hours back to Sydney. Once back at our hostel I passed out like a log for one of my best nights sleep ever.

The next day I woke up and found my way to Bondi Beach, Sydney's premier surf spot that apparently everyone knows about. It was gorgeous but being from San Diego I wasn't too impressed, the cliff's and tide pools were reminiscent of Ocean Beach so I chilled for a few hours in true OB fashion. After that I caught a bus to Watson's Bay, walked around a small Nat'l Park situated on Sydney's southeast point and caught a ferry back to "Circular Quay" - the central ferry terminal closest to the Harbor City Backpackers Hostel where we were staying & I was meeting Dera. The next day we were leaving for Queenstown so we wanted to do a little souvenir shopping and catch a ferry across the harbor for some night shots of the city. That we did, when we got to North Sydney we were blessed with a fireworks show, of course it was no Chinese New Year but it was impressive since Sydney was celebrating Mardi Gras this weekend. After that we caught our ferry back, packed our bags and since it was my last night in Sydney I was restless so I joined up with some Irish gents I'd met earlier in the week and headed out to King's Cross for a few drinks. We ended up at a club called "Candy's" - not my usual style but the DJ's were decent (for house music) and the prices were fair, Ollie & Donal were good guys and we ended up getting down for an hour or so before heading over to a Sport's Bar for a nightcap.

The next morning I was still a little drunk, which made the shuttle ride & airport that much more fun. We caught our plane to New Zealand and an hour 20 into a two and a half hour flight the cockpit windshield on our 737 cracked because of the extreme cold, (minus 55 Celsius) so they turned us around and back to Sydney we came. Thanks QANTAS for the $20 meal voucher, whatever, another two hours go by and we finally boarded a new plane arriving in Queenstown six hours late. The customs in New Zealand is more thorough than anywhere I've ever gone, to sum it up they actually scrubbed the bottom of my boots in case I brought in any tainted soil! A short cab ride to our hotel (The Melbourne Lodge, a Comfort Inn franchise) and it was time to prepare for our trek... so I hit the grocery store, some Internet and packed my bag for our early departure the next morning. Of course after a few hours sleep and our on-time arrival at the bus stop they had messed up our reservation so I have an extra hour to write, I'm now off to hike the Milford Track, which I'll be sure to write about when I get back.

Return, Catalina Valentine & Recuperation

I made it.
I think that was my best international flight ever, less than 50% full makes every difference. I wish when your buying a ticket you could search under "On average, how full is this flight?"
Via SFO I landed in San Diego with no problems. Dorothy, whom I missed like crazy, met me at baggage claim and took my bulging backpack and I home. It was a great evening, she had warned anybody who might want to stop by that we were otherwise occupied, which wasn't far from the truth. She had meatballs & ravioli waiting, a personal favorite, and it was perfect. I was home and once unpacked, full and comfortable, I passed out. Then I woke up at like 3am, obviously my hours are all fucked up at this point.
This has been going on for a week, settling into early wake ups and early bedtimes, no sleep lasting more than six hours and naps whenever, literally in the blink of an eye. I could be catching up, but I think it's anticipation for New Zealand, too many things I want to get done before I leave the country for another month.
A little over a day after returning Dorothy & I boarded a ferry in Long Beach bound for Avalon, on Catalina, one of the Channel Islands 22 miles off the California coast. Neither of us had ever been and since February 14th (that day) was Dotty's Birthday AND Valentine's Day, that's where we went. The ferry was an hour and smooth, when we landed our hotel shuttle picked us up, we checked in, chilled, and walked around acquainting ourselves with this quiet village by the sea. I describe it as quiet since the locals refer to this time of year as the "off-season," but it seemed like this Hallmark holiday brings a few people back for the long weekend. There's a history to Catalina, but I didn't really bother with that sort of thing this time. I was tired of taking pictures, tired of learning about new places. This weekend was all about my girl and making her see that even though I'm unemployed and take off for lenghty amounts of time, she's my one, my only, and she is appreciated.
After spending some more time in possibly the most thin-walled Victorian hotel I've been in, we wandered out for our Valentine's/her 29th Birthday dinner. She was of the same mentality as me, having come off a long work week, and had no desire to get "crazy," since we had done that the night before with some friends in OB. We found a nice place on the harbor and had a nice dinner with an entertaining server who gave us some ideas for the next day. It was supposed to rain but we knew if we were going to get any time alone in nature that would be our window of opportunity. After dinner and I think two bottles of wine we strolled the promenade entertained by the brisk ocean air, frigid waves crashing on the stone beach and the obscene amount of golf carts wandering the area late at night.
The next morning we woke up, had a nice breakfast and figured out how we were going to catch a ride up the hill (Catalina tops out at 2097 feet) - our plan was to get close to the center of the island and walk back down to Avalon. The Catalina Island Conservancy manages a shuttle to the "Airport in the Sky" which will let you off wherever along the way, we were dropped off about ten miles from Avalon expecting to hitch a ride for the latter part of our journey if the weather turned or it got dark. So we strolled, not up or through anything too crazy, just simple hiking. The weather held although at times it did threaten, but when your seeing Buffalo & the temperatures perfect if you stay moving, crazy clouds just add to the ambiance of being away from civilization. We passed by Mount Black Jack, the 2nd highest on the island, eventually avoiding the mile long trail up to Mount Orizaba (1st highest) and wandering into a small valley full of many varieties of trees which I'll never know if were native, or planted a hundred years ago. The few people I did ask said this island is full of mysteries like that, things that seem natural were imported, and vice verse. At some point, this being the USA/melting pot, do we just give up wondering because if it's here, and thriving, what difference does it make anyway? I digress, we continued in and explored a campground, discussed the possibility of coming back here someday soon to hike the Trans-Catalina Trail and actually found it crossing through where we were. Of course we followed it, I kinda had a map, (it was a handout from the Visitor's Center) my trusty boy scout compass and it seemed to be going in the right direction so along it we went, avoiding "bison paddies" whenever necessary. Along the way we noticed we had followers, two ravens that kept pace with us, even scouting ahead to see what might be over the next rise. They became our only associates in this crowded wilderness, which was abundant with rabbits, fox, squirrels & mice. There were also hawk, glossy brown & fat, I just smiled knowing any bird that ventures away from the LA metropolis is truly Living the Dream out here on this hunterless mecca. Everywhere we went seemed alive, the plants were blowing up due to the recent rain, and the hillsides were criss-crossed with trails from the various game on the run from their aerial predators. Our trail meandered around a hillside to a vista that showed we needed to start going down and then up towards the road, and eventually Avalon.
Once back on the road where the trail, due to the fire almost two years prior, parallels for the most part, we were rewarded with spectacular views in every direction. These Channel Islands are incredibly similar to the mainland with one distinct and brilliant difference, every backdrop is the Pacific Ocean. Our gift, like a cherry on top, was that to the Northeast. The recent storms had capped the San Gabriel's with a thick layer of white, and it glowed through the smog at least 60 miles to our vantage. Right on, it's one of the only reasons I wish I had a good camera, cause our Canon won't do it justice. We continued on occasionally getting passed by some locals in cars but mostly buses full of tourists fearful of the impending storm. We came to the "edge" so to speak, a decision needed to be made, will we just walk the road or find the path to the back of town? The weather had turned out fine by this point but the only marked trail I had found involved uphill, something neither of us were in the mood to tackle. I found a side trail, it looked old but seemed to go where we were. I was skeptical after 20 yards, I saw another trail with a newer look. Turned out to be a road for some newer drainage that had been installed since the fire, I was positive. We walked down a steep grade, some flat, and came to a precipice. Shit, it was where "they"' had decided to take all the top water quickly off the plateau so as not to erode the topsoil due to the recent fires killing all the ground cover... a football field long pipe descending down a very steep ridge.
I was game, my Donia was not. She's a very brave girl, and after a minor amount of coaxing, me taking the backpack, camera, etc, she started down with me promising that if anything starts to "slip" the pipe will be right there to grab onto. About 30 minutes later we were in the ravine on an old dirt road, amongst the fire damage, a scene that as San Diegans is not unfamiliar.
That was the exciting part of our hike, I know that mellow is the more romantic option, especially during the big "V" weekend, but I couldn't resist. Down the gully into the Avalon "ghetto" (the houses weren't quite ready for the Chamber of Commerce pamphlet) and eventually back to our hotel. They upgraded us to a suite for this evening and it was, we had a nice dinner that evening, grabbed a few beers at a local bar and called it a reasonably early night.

Awoken by the rain, torrential downpours at 6am, we decided at that point that getting on the first ferry off this island might be our only option since the weather report wasn't getting any better till later in the week. Awesome, so we caught a great breakfast where I had the Monte Cristo Sandwich, and I'm gonna write about it! Three slices of french toast, apple smoked ham & thick roasted turkey topped with Swiss. I dipped that bad boy in Dot's hollandaise sauce and loved it so much I couldn't eat the entire thing at once, I needed to savor it for a 2nd sitting. 

OK, back on track, switched our tickets and spent the next six hours wondering which ferry was gonna consider itself profitable enough to leave LB Harbor. I'm a cynic and a realist, the seas were big but those hydrofoils are great, my money's on the Catalina Express people waiting till they had a full return boat on the docks before they sent one of their captains through it. Who cares right, we're on island time now!

We got back to Downtown LB after a somewhat rocky ride, but nothing too jarring from my seat. On our way home I had another nap attack and Donia once again picked up the ball and got me to my Dad's where I was picking up my truck. That was Monday night, it's Saturday and I've had an incredibly relaxing week. I've gotten a bunch done, caught up with my family & friends, some correspondence & my pictures. Next week I'm doing more of the same, heading to Joshua Tree for the weekend to get in some quality climbing with Andy before I meet him in Kathmandu, and on Tuesday I'm off to the Southern Hemisphere for Sydney & New Zealand. Till then, Nazdrowie!

Khao Sok Nat'l Park, Ko Samui, & Pickin' Up My Pieces

I left off when leaving Phuket-town, feeling better from what I consider exhaustion mixed with a little sun-poisoning, it was time for another bus ride.  This morning it dawned on me that I only had four more full days left in Thailand and had not spent much time just chillin'... so in this next post it's all about takin' it easy.

(The picture to the left is of the bay between Phuket Island & Mainland Thailand, if you look closely you can see the towers at the inlet used for tsunami detection & warning, they were everywhere along that coast.)
As I mentioned before I had met a gentlemen named Chris who was from Leeds, England. He decided after spending some time reading my LP that he was going to go to Khao Sok as well, and since he seemed like a nice enough guy, and I'm down to save money, we decided to share a room therefore splitting the cost. A few hours up the coast, which for having been devastated by a Tsunami four years prior, looked spectacular. Once to Khao Lak, an area known to be the most epic diving in Thailand, the bus turned east and went another hour inland. We got dropped off at an intersection with a sign, it was the driveway for Khao Sok Nat'l Park.
Unlike anywhere else I had gotten off public transportation in Thailand there was NOT some form of taxi waiting to take us to their accommodations of choice. It was refreshing, we had backpacks so why the hell shouldn't we walk once and a while? (The guidebook said we'd only have to go three or four kilometers.) It was nice to get out of the city, nice to not have to deal with hawkers, & nice to walk in nature alone for the most part. The area is known for it's floating-river & tree-house dwellings, at a very fair price. We researched a few and found that since it was the high season, the price was not as fair as the place we did find, a fairly large bungalow with mosquito netting, hot water & a fan. $12 for the both of us, just outside of the village, I was good. (and the mosquito's were no worse than anywhere else I had been.) Once checked in we found some local grub and went for a hike. The rain forest here is apparently the oldest in the world, and I saw some interesting things characteristic to the Hawaiian, Peruvian or Costa Rican jungles, but with definite differences.  The trees seemed taller and the leaves on the ground seemed to get larger the higher up we went.  There was more of a variety of them as well; fruit trees, pines, rubbers, firs & deciduous, all next to each other and different types of each.  Currently it being the dry season none of the waterfalls were running very hard but there was an abundance of water, this was the major watershed for southern Thailand and other than the leaches I was warned not to ignore it looked as clear as any creek I've seen.  Local guides run night-tours deeper in where they see wild elephants fairly often, and sometimes larger pythons, tigers & bears. I didn't see any of that, I did see some exotic  birds, fire ants, a large variety of spiders & a ton of flora that wasn't familiar - I was OK with that - wasn't quite sure what I would have done had I seen a tiger, where do you go in a situation like that? I mean, they climb trees pretty well right, can run fast, so I guess I'm happy to just have been in the land of the tiger. I'm not quite sure what sort of organic material ended up getting stuck on this barbed wire but these ants seemed to be enjoying the heck out of it.
We stayed within the canopy till after sunset and I eventually wandered out to find some water & a shower. There was a place, an Italian restaurant, advertising pizza. For some reason after having a few bad ones this place intrigued me, and it did not disappoint. Best I've had by far, and the restaurant itself was very friendly, I decided to make that my hangout. That evening I took it easy, spent some time reading my book and I was in bed by midnight.
The next day was more of the same, took a walk into another part of the jungle, this time we went where the canopy was much more dense, and the vegetation below was used to getting a very low amount of sunlight. I was having a very nice time strolling along just studying the different changes this area goes through. The government had made attempts to make concrete paths through the jungle but they were mostly overgrown by this point. (How long ago I don't think we'll ever know.) Just like how the U.S. Nat'l Park system learned it's much easier to maintain natural trails rather than concrete or pavement.)  Good thing this bridge survived.  I saw quite a few frogs this time, they like the dank places, bright orange & bright green, but they never held still for a photo. I also saw a fairly large kimodo dragon on my way out, it was just chillin' on a log obviously enjoying himself on this partly cloudy day. His "laziness" inspired me to take a nap. Woke up and went back to that Italian joint for some pasta. Afterwards I spent some time on the Internet, read my book some more, wandered around in the cool night air and eventually landed in bed after a fairly pleasant yet uneventful day.
So two days in that jungle oasis to recharge my energy, and motivation to have a strong finish to my tour of Thailand. I woke up early and threw my thumb out to catch a ride back to the main road, a nice local girl offered to put me on the back of her scooter and I got there in minutes. Caught a mini-bus to a town called Surat Thani, the transportation hub for Thailand's eastern seaboard, and from there I caught another mini-bus to Don Sak. This is where the ferries launch to the various eastern islands, and I was thinking of going to Ko Tau, but feared traveling to this farthest island may take too much time when I didn't have much left. Ko Samui was on the way so I caught a ferry there and spent an hour reading my Lonely Planet to familiarize myself with this larger & more populated island hoping I could find the beaches and accommodation I was looking for there, rather than continue on another ferry to an island without an airport. Basically Ko Tau had come highly recommended, but it was far, I was short on time and tired of traveling overland. I knew flights were reasonable, and had the idea in the back of my mind for a few days now that rather than ride a bus or train back to Bangkok, I'd just catch a plane. So according to the LP Ko Samui would be fine, it had a variety of beaches, cheap bungalows and a great airport. When I arrived I found a computer & bought a plane ticket back to Bangkok for 6pm the following day.  This flight is turning an entire day of traveling into an hour, giving me a proper amount of time to see Ko Samui.
Now I caught a cab to Bo Phut Beach, where I found an $8 bungalow 30 feet from the shore with plenty of shade and trees for hammock dwelling... and that's what I did, till well after nightfall. Once motivated I had some "Spicy Noodle," my favorite Thai dish, and walked a mile or so up the beach to see the village and pick up some souvenirs. Another relaxing evening of reading and listening to the ocean led to a very peaceful sleep. The next morning, my last day in this paradise, I woke early & checked out, walked up to another beach and had some lunch. From there I took a taxi to Chaweng Beach, where the water & reefs make it Ko Samui's most popular, and when I got there it did not disappoint. This beach was the perfect spot to call my last, I stashed my bag, rented some snorkel gear and headed out to the reef to get away from the people. Yes the beach was packed and from what I was looking at I understood why, plus the snorkeling at the reef was intense, so much to explore I only touched the surface so to speak. When I finished I caught some final rays, had a snack and caught another scooter ride to the airport. This was the nicest airport I've ever been to, open air, not chaotic at all and they provide you with food, pineapple juice and free Internet. An hour there and it was off to Bangkok.
Back at Refill NOW! I had a drink and relaxed some more, tomorrow was an early travel day so I had no desire to leave that neighborhood all evening. Raoul, the manager, retrieved my stash of belongings I had left there, I packed my ever growing bag and had an early night. The following morning I said goodbye to the helpful staff of the best hostel in Thailand and caught my plane to Seoul. A hiccup in my plans, I got sidetracked during my layover in Hong Kong talking with an Australian picking up info on his homeland since I'll be going there in March, and missed my flight. I was upset at first but Cathay Pacific, the airline I was flying with, easily slipped me onto the next flight seven hours later with no additional charge, and I spent the evening in a bar actually speaking rather extensively with an Irishman about New Zealand, the other place I'm going in March, he was returning from an extended stay there and gave me all sorts of great info for my trip. 

Eventually I made it to Jono's place in Seoul, where I am now, and caught a few hours sleep before we headed out for my final night of this trip. I met up with that old college buddy Matt Leach and introduced those two, we had a great night of barhopping around Matt's neighborhood and eventually I had to say goodbye. Jono & I made it back to his crib for some food, and then we got into a drinking game, a very loud Billy Joel & Elton John DVD accompanied by my last bottle of soju in Korea.

That's it, my hangover is intense as I'm writing this & I'm packed for Cali. Once home I'm spending two nights in my house and it's off to Catalina Island for Dorothy's Birthday/Valentines Day, which I may end up writing about as well... who knows, for now, if you've been keeping up with this, thanks for reading it's been fun keeping this record, and stay tuned for more in the coming months.

TONSAI BEACH, Ko Phi Phi & Phuket

The Top Ten Things One Should Know About Thailand:
1) One U.S. Dollar = 33 Baht, So I usually spend between $6 - $14 per night for a bed.
2) Transportation is also very cheap, that supposed 15 hour train ride cost me $15, your average tuk-tuk ride (let's say 20 minutes) is about $2, short boat/ferry rides were 50 cents to a buck.
3) Meals are usually $2, $3 if I get an appetizer
4) Chang is the beer of choice, it's 5.8% and usually less than $2 for a tall bottle
5) Eastern style (squat/pit) toilets are the norm, and they usually don't have plumbing. Once done with your business there's a bucket full of water that you poor into therefore rinsing "it" through. I've started carrying my own toilet paper.
6) It's HOT, and A/C is only at the nice places. Sleeping can be tough but most places have a fan which makes it much easier. Chang has helped as well.
7) There's mosquito's, but I guess they're not as bad now as in the "wet" season.
8) Many people travel solo, and most people have a basic understanding of English. I've picked up the basic Thai pleasantries but for the most part broken English & gesturing get me through.
9) Your expected to remove your shoes/sandals before entering most places.
10) One should not eat Thai food for every meal, add some bread or pastries in. We've had a variety of different pizzas: #1 had ketchup for sauce, #2 used a flour tortilla for crust, last night #3 was awesome, I think this guy went to Cali and trained at CPK.


I last left off with our arrival on Tonsai Beach, where we joined up with a guy we had met at Refill Now in Bangkok. Ronald was leaving as I was checking in and our idle banter led to the fact that he was aiming for the same general area I was. (Krabi vicinity, Limestone cliffs, teal water and white sandy beaches) So I tossed him my email and he "guided" us to this wonderful, awesome and fantastic climber's beach paradise.

As you might have guessed by the amount of adjectives I used, this was my favorite place so far. He had found some of the best accommodations in that small area, the Krabi Mountain View Resort. Since I was traveling with Leon we shared a double and got a very nice room. I didn't realize it at the time but after using the bars & restaurants toilets, and also visiting with others I had met, we might as well have been at the Marriott. From there we just chilled on the beach for a bit, I did some bouldering and once the tide got low enough we were able to hike one beach over (Railey West) to withdraw some cash, since our beach was not wired to the mainland. Interesting side note that didn't bother me one bit, Tonsai Beach runs completely on generators, as do many of the islands, which means that at 5:30pm the entire "town" would light up, fans would start blowing, emails would start sending & camera batteries would start charging, etc, etc. Anyway, we got to see the neighboring beach where massages went for 300 baht, while our beach gave them for 200, it was reputed as the pricier area, the La Jolla of Railey if you will ;) - But the sunset was gorgeous and everyone seemed a bit cleaner, since we were staying where the climbers stay things are a bit more relaxed, for lack of a better word. Another interesting side note, we can only go between the two beaches by foot when the tide is low, and the tide completely changes every week. So on Sunday at noon it was low, and the following Sunday at noon it was high; the point is your travel can be hindered if the tide is too low and the long tail boats can not get to you, or get free from their beached status.

We walked back and watched some other climbers leading sport overhangs rated at least 5.12, that's my guess since they use the French grading system over here. Limestone is crazy abundant in Asia and Wee, the "Father of Climbing" in Thailand, and other rock jocks have bolted the shit out of it. Our vantage was what seemed like the norm for all of the local bars: A raised platform that you had to flip your sandals off if you wanted to get on; cushions focused on a lying or leaning position; a small table in the middle for whatever - at that point we were situated under a 1000 foot cliff. I saw some signs advertising Deep Water Soloing so I did a little research and signed up for a trip leaving at 11am the next morning, the water was so amazing I was just looking for different reasons to get in it. I got cleaned up, joined these friends for dinner, and then proceeded to the Swadee Bar, another spot Ronald had scoped out which provided entertainment by slack liners all night (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slacklining) while we chilled on yet another raised platform with comfy cushions.
The next morning I got up, had breakfast and met up with my group to go out to some islands. They had us help load the two long tails with some water, food & a kayak. After cruising about 20 minutes out we came to some sheer cliffs rising straight out of the sea, which was our destination. Deep Water Soloing for those of you who might not know... Soloing is defined as rock climbing without a rope. So if your doing it over deep water your supposedly safer, therefore deep water soloing has gained in popularity since more and more professional climbers are going this route to get their rush/impress their sponsors/have an excuse to go to the most beautiful places in the world. I was down without a doubt, I had brought my climbing shoes to Thailand expecting to just Boulder, (Bouldering: Climbing on rocks without a rope but never getting far enough off the ground that your fall would cause serious injury) but when I saw that this six hour excursion would only cost 700 baht (Yeah, that's right $21!!!) I was all over it. So the guides set up ladders to get to some of the easier climbs, ferried us over two by two on the kayak and gave us our chance. IT WAS AWESOME! Can't really describe the feeling, I wasn't scared but was shaking due to the fact that it was such a different way to climb, I was excited to do what I had only seen in magazines and movies. I got about 60 feet up and jumped on purpose the 1st time. After that I just stuck to the lower areas where the falls were cleaner and shorter. About 2 hours went by and they took us to a deserted beach for lunch, and some bouldering. I also did some snorkeling since the fish were quite brilliant once we started cleaning our dishes in the little lagoon we had landed in. Fucking heaven, it was amazing, maybe the most beautiful beach I'd seen to date. Two hours there and we were off to a different spot for another DWS session. This one was way harder, only about half of us actually went up the ladder, which was the most difficult part. This time I got about 75 feet up and jumped again, I was definitely freaked by the height and can see why they leave this to the professionals. I was done, my arms were pumped out since I was out of shape to begin with, and my adrenaline which had gotten me that far, was depleted. I spent the rest of the time utilizing my ten years of production experience to take pictures of everyone else. Back in the long tail we made our way home, where Eder had just arrived and happened to be walking by our arriving boat. (I had him snap a pic of our group, and then welcomed him to Tonsai... Eder had chosen a different path, Thai Airways to Krabi, so rather than the 24 hour mission from hell that Leon & I went through, he traveled for about three total from Bangkok that morning. Bastard.)

That evening while we were settling into our nightly ritual of happy hour under the cliffs, I cut it short for my first Thai massage, which was very good. This older women worked the hell out of my muscles which hadn't really seen any serious action till that afternoon in a while, and it was necessary. The best $6 I'd ever spent. I joined up with the other three at the Swadee Bar for more Chang, slack line appreciation and relaxation...it had been a good day.

The next day we decided to rent kayaks, rowed all around the peninsula & climbed a little since now it felt that the guide would be a waste of money. When you go with a group they end up making all of the routes slippery, but in reality both have their advantages since the guides have researched the hell out of that area and know what they're doing. Still good times, just different, we finished our kayak session with a visit to Railey for some lunch and back to our beach we went. Happy hour under the cliffs, and eventually met back at the Swadee bar for the nightly ritual.

This evening we actually moved on to another bar closer to our "resort" - we had seen different locals "playing with fire," (I.E. Spinning flaming balls on the ends of chains, or spinning and throwing a stick with both ends lit on fire) but Steven & Eleanor, two people I had met while climbing claimed that this guy was different, and they were correct! He was awesome, I only regret getting there too late because apparently he actually spins fire while roaming around on a slack line.

(By the way, on my best try I've only made it about six steps before falling off.) That evening was probably my latest night, mainly because that bar had a bunch of hammocks we could lie around in and I think I actually dozed off for a bit.


The next morning I was supposed to meet with Steven & Eleanor for some sport climbing, but instead I ended up getting my head shaved and learning how to climb a palm tree. I figure I've done plenty of "normal" climbing, why not attempt something different, attempt being the key word. I got up a bit but mainly learned the technique involved with this ancient native necessity. That took up most of the morning and since it was my last full day on Tonsai I decided to just kick it on the beach for the entire afternoon. It was also our last night with Eder, we were moving on to Ko Phi Phi and he had to get near some wireless Internet for business purposes, a direction the rest of us had no concern with whatsoever. So that day we sat in the ocean enjoying Changs, and then happy hour under the cliffs with Changs, and eventually the Swadee Bar with, you guessed it, CHANGS! I'm pretty over this beer by this point but since we were saying goodbye to a good guy I figured what the hell. That night ended at an OK time so when I got back to the room I packed for our 9am departure the next day. On to Ko Phi Phi!

Pronounced koe-p-p, this place was wiped out by the tsunami in December of 2004, and rebuilt over the past four years. We boarded a long tail from Tonsai which ferried us to the Au Nang Princess 3, a larger ferry which was raging! People all over the decks already drinking at 9:30am, crazies, I found a comfy spot below deck for some iPod & napping. An hour and a half later we arrived to the location of the movie "The Beach" - and I will admit, it was probably the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen, but as Lonely Planet puts it, everyone knows it. The place was just plain obnoxious, from the merchants trying to get our money up front for as many nights as they can squeeze out of us for a room, the long tail boat captains barking "taxi" to any other part of the island they'd like to drop us off on, to the SMELL. Yeah, the smell was horrible, a combination of feces mixed with rotting fish, and it would waft wherever we would land on that part of the island. I knew there was other, more expensive beaches we could have gone to but the attitude I received from the locals turned me off so much that I only signed up for one night and planned on going somewhere, anywhere, as soon as I possibly could.

I made the best of that afternoon, thinking maybe it just came across badly at first. We found some accommodations that were decent, I rented some snorkel gear and made my way to the beach. Seems many women like to sunbathe European style here, which surprised me because of the amount of teenagers running around. I met Ronald & Leon in the water and proceeded out about a half mile where I had seen a reef. The snorkeling was brilliant, the water was almost too warm and never got too deep. I counted three different types of coral and probably 20 species of fish, actually saw a tiger striped angel fish that was as big as my head! It was nice, and I ended up quite tired from the swim and the amount of sun, so I decided on another Thai massage. This one was better than the first, the girl found all of my cuts & bruises from my previous days of climbing and rather than get grossed out made a sad face and applied some sort of herbal remedy to each and every one. My dad calls them raspberries, when you get a bruise that turns purple similar to a racquetball hitting you in the ass or thigh, and they normally last weeks on me. The color was gone in a day after her treatment, and the pain faded after two, I was amazed. After an hour I got myself a fresh smoothie and retired to some shade for some chill time before Ronald & I hiked to the summit of the island to watch the sunset, which was beautiful.

Now things turn a little ugly, as they should since the past three weeks have been nearly perfect, Murphy (Murphy's Law) & I are tight and this is how he did it: Dinner I felt my throat starting to get sore, I know that feeling, either strep throat, the flu or bronchitis - shit. I pounded orange juice by the half gallon, probably the most expensive drink one can buy out here. Also, after seven days of Thai food my stomach was finally pissed, so I had some soup and satay for dinner, & I decided not to drink for a while. When roaming around that night I realized that I'd spent too much time walking in wet trunks, therefore chaffing my inner thighs... awesome. In conclusion I was also getting an ear infection, a normal occurrence when I spend an extended amount of time in the ocean. I barely slept that night and the next day I felt like I'd been hit by a train. I had extreme sunburn on my upper back and arms; my throat was closed; I was so fucking sore from that massage, my chaffing & ear hadn't improved AND because I had barely slept I could barely move. I blamed it all on Phi Phi, threw myself into our resorts pool to get some energy back and figured out how I was going to leave. I was originally aiming for Ko Tau, a trip that entailed 45 minutes in a boat, three hours on a bus across the Thai Peninsula, and an overnight ferry seven hours to that little island. That seemed like too much, so I consulted my Lonely Planet (LP) for something different since islands were now pissing me off. I found a National Park called Khao Sok, a wildlife refuge and supposedly the oldest rain forest in the world. It seemed perfect, so rather than head east to Krabi I went north to Phuket. An hour by ferry put me in Phuket's harbor and another 20 minutes by mini-bus took me to the bus station.

Phuket is an entire province and is the largest island in Thailand containing many good points, mostly on the west coast where the gorgeous beaches are. Phuket-town is not one of them, unless your looking for fat men bidding on ugly hookers. The bus station was a mess and I quickly realized I'd missed all the buses to Khao Sok that day, I'd need to wait for tomorrow. Fine, I felt horrible and knew my LP would guide me towards a reasonable place to stay, I found the Phuket Resotel, $27 for a suite with hot water and A/C, I needed rest and relaxation with no interruptions. Ahhhhhhhhh Yeahhhh, after a few hours I woke up and got some fries, more OJ and went back to sleep. The next morning I felt way better, not 100% but good enough to eat some breakfast and catch a bus to the National Park. I checked out and got onto my bus, when I found my seat some dude behind me asked me where I'm going... He had gotten the same feeling from Phi Phi and decided it was time to make his way to the Full Moon Party on Ko Pha-Ngan, where everyone will be the night of the 9th. His name was Chris Nason & since he had some time to kill decided to join me for some R & R in the jungle.

That's where I am now, and it's perfect, I'll get into this place and my final days before returning home in my next post. Cheers for now.