Merry Christmas from Thailand

......where I am sitting in the internet cafe looking out over sparkling blue sea, shading from the midday heat. We hear it's a little cold and damp in the UK at the moment! Paradise has a cost of course and I have given up on trying to download any photos over the very slow connection after a few frustrating attempts. Also there are giant ants crawling all over the PC.

Thanks for the animal stories in the comments - am pleased to report that since the last update a rat on the bathroom wall is the worst it has been. We met a girl at the crag the other day who found a cobra in her bathroom so guess we have been quite lucky!

Have been back climbing today after a rest day yesterday. One day of rest doesn't really seem enough at the moment - at the end of the climbing day you feel like you've been wrestling a bear - in a sauna. The climbing is so physical it is really a whole body effort, in fact the legs seem to be taking a lot of the punishment! After a couple of weeks I felt brave enough for my first lead here - also my first 7a - most of the easier climbs are horribly polished and I find it easier to pull on steep jugs than trying to smear on glassy rock. I've now started work top-roping the next route - Babes in Thailand 7a - which seemed impossible at first, but which I am only falling off in one spot now. Think it would be really scary to lead though so not sure about this..... The climbing on the beach is all hard - the only route under 7a in the bit we have been in is a 6c where you have to climb up to a ledge and then facing outwards fall forwards to catch a stalagtite hanging two metres clear of the face.... Watched a korean guy up on the ledge for over half an hour trying to psyche himself up for it. Not rushing to get on that one!

Iain ticked Elephant - 8a - after a rest day allowed everything to come together and is now working on another 8a, Sexpower which seems significantly harder but I think he's getting there - maybe in time for Christmas! We are both noticing that we're becoming a bit "acclimatised" to the conditions in that we don't seem to be sweating quite so much on routes. I decided to redress the balance yesterday morning by going for a run before breakfast which was quite extreme!

Yesterday we went on an organised snorkelling trip around the local islands. We chose a bad day to do it - it was grey and windy and the sea was really a bit choppy for swimming - getting back in the boat and keeping your head above the waves when surfacing was really quite hard. Although the water was really warm after each swim we were getting increasingly cold, sitting in an open boat in your bikini in squally conditions is not too much fun. We were then dumped shivering on a beach on a deserted island with a load of strangers while the guys went back to the mainland to collect dinner - seafood curry on the beach after dark while enormous bats flew from the cliffs overhead. After dark the sea is full of phosphorence which is pretty cool. We saw some nice fish and corals and am quite keen to go back in better weather.

Update from Thailand

I've finally managed to get some more pictures on here to let you see some of the things we've been up to in the last week or so.

The big picture shows Tonsai from the Thaiwand, a limestone tower on the opposite side of the bay. We had a day's climbing on the Thaiwand managing a grand total of two single pitch routes. It's mainly a multi-pitch venue and the guide book writer foreseeing the general competency of a lot of the climbers here urges the reader to keep an eye out for people making mistakes. So anyway we tried to climb a 35 metre route with a 60 metre rope. Iain did just about make it down to the ground on rope stretch and with the help of several nearby climbers and a lot of discussion and faff I did manage to tie on to one end of the rope (as the route had to be cleaned). However as I started up the 6c moves my belay consisted of the other end of the rope tied to one corner of the rope bag and Iain perched on top of a ramp holding on very tight to the other corner..........

The good thing about the Thaiwand is that once you have had a nightmare climbing there you don't have to fight your way back through the jungle to escape. One of the routes ends in a cave from where you follow fxed ropes and creaky bamboo ladders through a tunnels and caverns in the base of the tower for about twenty minutes to emerge on the opposite side of the tower above the beach of Phra Nang at the end of the peninsula.

We have got into a bit of a routine - up early for breakfast on the beach then along to the beach cliffs for the morning before they get too hot or busy. A swim, a long lunch (on the beach) and then in the afternoon a jungle adventure to find a crag and do battle with mosquitos and / or monkeys. All followed by drinks and dinner (for preference on or very near the beach)..... Today however was a rest day and although our lie-in was thwarted by monkeys bouncing off our roof at 7am we had a very pleasant day - massage in the morning and then we hired a sea kayak for the afternoon which we paddled around local islands and sea stacks, stopping to swim and explore caves. Realised very soon into the trip that paddling is not an ideal rest-day activity for climbing and expect to feel it tomorrow!

After waking up this morning with a dicky tummy I was sitting on the end of the bed wandering if I was going to be able to leave the hut at all today when something appeared next to me, wriggling up the wall. Not having my glasses on at the time (and electricity only being available for lights from 6pm) my first thought was a small snake ..... Further investigations revealed a giant centipede, not really much better than a snake. The horrible creature has withstood a morning's siege of walking pole, fork, lighter and mosquito coils and is now firmly lodged in a crack a few inches from my pillow.

Later on in the morning Iain pointed out a monkey on the roof opposite and we got excited and took some pictures....... next things we knew there were twenty of them. The huts opposite us are slightly cheaper as their bamboo walls don't reach the roof. The monkeys swept down the hill ransacking one hut after another, crashing noises from the insides and chocolate biscuits and peanut butter falling from the trees. They decided they wanted our bin and we held the veranda as long as we could with walking pole (multipurpose) and chair before barricading ourselves inside as they tried the windows and doors..... No doubt more experienced people will find this ridiculous however they are very intimidating and don't back down to anything!

Later on in the day (tummy recovered) whilst clinging to a stalactite twenty metres above the ground I looked up to see three of them between me and the top of the route......

Ton Sai (Phra Nang peninsula, Thailand)

We landed on Ton Sai beach at high tide and after gracefully disembarking the longtail boat waded ashore with our bags straight into one of the many bars that line the beach. Ton Sai is the first beach on the west side of the Phra Nang peninsula, about ten minutes away from the nearest road at Ao Nang by boat. It is flanked by cliffs at either end and behind it lies jungle, into which the village of wooden shacks and huts spreads back from the beach along dirt roads and tracks, where further bars, restaurants, massage parlours and climbing shops are found. Very different to the more developed and touristy resort of Railay futher along the peninsula this place feels a bit like a cross between a climbers' resort, shanty town and Glastonbury..... without the half a million people and mud!

Life here can be very good... you can eat a good meal in a decent restaurant for about a pound and get an hour of thai massage for three pounds. A lot of the climbing is on the beach right next to bars and restaurants and the sea is just metres away..... although there is a certain amount of jungle bashing to be done to get to some of the crags. Longtail boats are always on hand to ferry you between beaches, islands and climbing spots (even if they do sound like there are fifty motorbikes racing around the bay) and there's plenty of opportunity to kayak, snorkel or dive.

In fact there are plenty of reasons not to go climbing! However we had come with a purpose so we have been sampling the cliffs in the close vicinity. Suffice to say it is very hot, very sweaty and probably most challenging of all, very very polished. The climbing is quite good fun as it involves lots of knee bars and other contortions however I haven't yet even considered trying to lead anything, relying on Iain to put ropes up things for me. He has been working on a few harder routes on the beach in the mornings and is doing quite well given the handicaps!

Scotland

Life in Europe was harder on the pocket than we had anticipated so after heading to Edinburgh for Lyndsay's wedding we stayed in Glasgow with Iain's parents for the rest of November. The weather was absolutely terrible for the whole time we were there however I did manage a weekend's hillwalking around Fort William as well as a bit of running around Milngavie (and many trips to the wall!)

There was plenty of socialising, catching up with friends and family and visiting new babies.....

Thanks very much to John and Fiona for putting us up.

Making progress.....

There seemed no real reason to move on from Siurana so we didn't!

The climbing there is on the whole vertical and technical and so suits me quite well as I struggle much more on steeper stuff. I definitely feel like I have been making some progress even if it is not in strength... will need to get on the pull-up bar before we get to getting onto the steep walls in Thailand though!

Here I am looking pleased with myself after my first 6c redpoint, at Can Melafots.

We had a trip to La Mussara, which is a nearby climbing area that promised plenty of easier climbing. I had a fairly disasterous day there (think a rest day was overdue) but it was a fantastic spot with views down to the med - see the picture of the two of us.









The sun was back with a vengeance for the last couple of weeks in Siurana (although by the time we left the temperatures were down about 20 degrees from a month ago!) Pics below are Iain above the Siurana reservoir and me on a 6b at Espero Primavera crag.



















Life in the campsite continued to be very sociable - we had scottish neighbours as Malcolm Smith and Mike Tweedley arrived and we also climbed with more 'friends of friends' Pippa and Ed and their lovely little girl Becky....









We also managed a trip to the seaside resort of Salou...... wall to wall brits abroad..... but we did have good fun playing in the sea and of course the obligatory breakfast!

How many pairs of rock shoes is it sensible for two people to take on holiday?

Siurana still

The campsite this morning after a night listening to the rain hammering down..... Note the new rip in the tent, sadly this one not covered by the big silver sheet. Weather has been mixed but the climbing is going ok and we are settling into life in the campsite which is pretty sociable. Not able to download any more pictures at the moment - sorry there´s nothing more cheerful to look at!