Tonsai is so new and isolated that there are no power lines yet and everything is powered of generators which means we only had power between 10pm and 6am (just for the fan at night)
The heavy Downpour
Me and two guys who where climbing plus we picked up another bloke called John from Oz in the bar decided to head over to Railey to have a look around (you can get between the two areas when the tide is low). As we where wondering through the shops and bars we got caught in a heavy downpour and took shelter in a bar for a quick beer or two. However by the time the rain stopped, the tide had come back in and night had fallen :-/ Only one way back a trip across the spine of the cliffs, through the jungle... in the dark... along a route none of us knew!! All I can say is thank god for smart phones!! Torch and compass, the journey was an scramble along muddy tracks, up and down the side of the cliffs only illuminated by our phone torches, and to make matters worse Pete the English teach, flip flop snapped with in a few mins of the journey so he had to make the rest of the journey in barefoot :-/
The next morning the 4 of us got up early, hired some equipment and headed to the cliffs. Pete had been telling us all night before how his Dad was an incredible climber and how he had taught him how to climb. As the most experienced he did the first lead climb, however I think he may have exaggerated his experience and I don't think he had faith in his belayer as he got up relatively easy, but when it came to swap ropes so we could top rope he would not rest his weight on the harness which meant it took a considerable toll on his strength physical and mental.
We all then went up and had a go on this climb, and then John thought he would have a go at lead climbing, and he picked a 6a climb pretty tough climb to lead for a beginner. However in pretty quick order if not the prettiest climbing he got up to the penultimate clip in, and just couldn't quite get to it. And he did try, taking three falls with him crashing into the cliff wall before saying he couldn't grip anymore with his hands, truly great effort!
However we had the rope still up there someone had to top rope it before we could get it down, so next Stephan stepped up, not climbed before but done a lot of bouldering! Again he got as far as John, but the reason he had stuck to bouldering is he didn't like heights, so he came down as well. So next my turn, I scramble up... again like John not the prettiest or technical climbing, deciding to conserve my strength for the last bit. Doing a lead climb is quite different then top rope, if you make a mistake, you will fall 4-6 foot before the rope stops you, and you will crash into the wall. So I could see what you needed to do, however my elvis legs where creating quite the problem. Taking a deep breath I wedged my toe in a little toe hole, wedges my hand in a long crack a levered myself up slowly to the hook... I gingerly reached around and hooked myself in WOOHOO I was in.
All I had to do now was tie myself on, untie the rope that had held me on the way up and loop it through. Now I really got nervous, I had never done this before should have properly practiced more on the ground... If I got this wrong when I unlatched myself I would plummet to the ground 14 meters!!! Enough to hurt! I did the know, double checked it, and unhooked... Pheeew! I had done it right!
What a great day! For the evening we all headed to the Chillout bar (recommended by B from Lipi) , awesome reggae bar with live reggae band. Half the bar chilling stoned out of there brains, the other half drinking cold beers.
The next day time for a move again this time quick stop at Au Nang then onto Kohn Lanta...
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