Ton Sai

After a week in Bangkok, I headed south with some of the other Parkour Generations family members who were also interested in exploring southern Thailand a bit and taking advantage of having flown halfway around the world to someplace with far more agreeable winter weather than our respective homelands.

Our first destination was Ton Sai Beach, located in the Krabi province.  Although it is technically part of the mainland, it is cut off from any roads or paths by a series of impressive limestone cliffs and peaks which surround some amazingly picturesque beaches.  These cliffs also happen to make for good climbing and the area has become a mecca of sorts for climbers from around the world looking for good climbing, a chill lifestyle with like-minded people, and an active nightlife.

The cliffs of Railay and Ton Sai beaches.

We traveled From Bangkok to the beach with a combination of a very enjoyable all-night train ride, a series of much less-enjoyable bus rides that extorted us in every way possible, and a brief but beautiful long-boat cruise from the main town to the beaches on the other side of the cliffs.

The veiw that awaited us as we arrived via the longboat.  Photo courtesy of Annty Marais.

While the original plan for our stay in Ton Sai was to do a ton of climbing accompanied by our expert photographers (V and Kiell both happen to work as instructors at a climbing gym in London), we didn’t exactly follow the original game plan and spent much more time exploring the beaches and surrounding jungle.  And relaxing.

My "welcome" gift from the 16 mosquitoes that bit me within 10 minutes of arriving.   Photo courtesy of Annty Marais.

Our living quarters for the week.  Picturesque but not exactly ideal (and horrible at keeping mosquitoes out).   Photo courtesy of Annty Marais.

My primary method of training for much of the time in Ton Sai...  Photo courtesy of Annty Marais.

Our adventure to the Railay Lagoon was one of the highlights of our time in Ton Sai for me.  While the lagoon itself was not actually much more than a big puddle (even at high tide), the 45 minute climb through a mud-coated “lost world” was pretty awesome and offered plenty of opportunity to clamber, climb, and slide up and down a "path" that have all sorts of warning signs posted at the beginning if it were located in the USA.

"The Lost World"...? Photo courtesy of Annty Marais.

Bruno making his way down a particularly muddy descent.  Photo courtesy of Annty Marais.

The water was not nearly as inviting from up close...  Photo courtesy of Annty Marais.

Despite the beautiful beaches and sunsets, we decided after a few days that we had exhausted all that Ton Sai had to offer and it was time to change location...

Goodbye Ton Sai.  Photo courtesy of Annty Marais.