arnie's jaunts: Rockclimbing and arriving in Phuket

Yesterday morning, I headed over to King Climbers, a rockclimbing company based in Rai Lay (recommended by the likes of Maxim and Lonely Planet), for a one day rockclimbing class I booked the day before. I figure I should take advantage of the rockclimbing in Rai Lay since it is one of the best rockclimbing sites in the world. When I arrived, I was paired up with Australian who worked in Vietnam, and Canadian who was from London, Ontario but worked in Taiwan. We spent the first hour aquainting ourselves with the equipment, and safety techiques. Then, we learned how to belay another climber, and tie a proper rockclimbing knot to keep ourselves from falling, and severely injuring ourselves. The rest of the day was spent climbing the scenic limestone that Rai Lay is blesed with. First, we started with a 15ft climb, and then we slowly worked ourselves up to a whopping 60ft climb. Each climb was different. Some were flat with no foot or hand holds, and others were more rigid and easier to climb. By 6pm, we had performed six different climbs, and I was tired. I quickly stumbled back to the hotel and jumped into the swimming pool.

The day before yesterday, Sunday, I explored Rai Lay on my own. Dan wanted time to sit on the beach. Harv was nursing his injuries from his snorkeling accident on Phi Phi. They wanted to time to rest in the sun, and I could understand. They are headed for a much colder Japan in less than a week. So, I decided to hike alone to a lagoon, and a viewpoint overlooking Rai Lay to get a better view of both of the beaches, Rai Lay West and Rai Lay East. The lagoon was guarded by two 5m cliffs which had to be dealt with to get to the lagoon itself. I almost bailed a few times climbing the cliffs, but got to the lagoon eventually. The lagoon was small only about 30ft wide and it was surrounded by limestone 120ft high. After I climbed back out of the lagoon, I proceeded to the viewpoint 75ft above sea level, and snapped some great pictures of Rai Lay.

Tonight, I am writing from Kata Beach on Phuket. Although I have only been here for a couple of hours, Phuket is busiest place I have visited so far. We are planning to head a few beaches north to visit Patong beach tomorrow night. Patong beach is world famous for its nightlife, and controversial sex industry. That said, I have no doubt that the ratio of fat white men to beautiful Thai women is significantly higher in Patong than any other city in the world. Walking around Patong should be an unusual, and eye opening experience for me.