I’ll be sure to update you all with some interesting stories of my journey home, but I wanted to let you all know that I’m in very good spirits here in Thailand.  Despite what you may wonder about the situation here in Thailand, it’s incredibly calm.  I think Brian’s posting put it well… “one would hardly know the country is in the middle of a coup attempt were it not for reports on the Internet and some locals talking about the airport being closed.”  It’s very true, Thailand is still very nice, and they’re giving all those stranded by the airport closure travel stipends (so I’ll be seeing how I can collect my supposed 2,000 baht today).  Cheers!

After a full 6 days in Tonsai beach, climbing 6b’s and 6c’s to my heart’s content, I’ve left bungalow land and am now in my second day in Chiang Mai, the northern Thai province.  It’s quite relieving to be in a place with a MASSIVE street market, and cheap cheap eats.  Chiang Mai is more what Thailand seems to be about: monks, great food, good weather, and crazy town antics.  There are a lot more tourists here than in China, but this is an incredibly relaxed atmosphere.  The city is really known for it’s amazing cooking classes, and Thai massage classes.  I met a whole slough of folks last night through a climber here named Kate, all of whom are studying Thai massage, for months and months at a time, as well as Yoga.  I spent my time today at the Thai Baan cooking school, and am still just reeling from the food (as well as the pounds of chili peppers we chopped).  I’ll have to get together with Matt, Jason, and Dave who are taking their Thai cooking class in Bangkok tomorrow for a cookfest upon return to Seattle.

The suit shops here are amazing.  I’m getting both a tuxedo and a full blue/black suit for less than $600, and they’ll keep my measurements for 5 years.  I owe the idea to get the suit here to the two guys who helped me to get my rope across AirAsia to Bangkok (apparently ropes fit under the category of “dangerous items”, and you’re not allowed to carry them on.)  Say hi to Kylie for me fellas!  Also, many thanks to Brian for his great hospitality and extremely comfy couch in Bangkok, you have no idea how much that hot shower meant to me!

So, deep water soloing is a fun and kind of spooky sort of thing. The majority of holds in DWS are super slick, and once you start to get high up on your route, it takes some getting used to to be ready for that 30+ foot (or in the case of two guys in our group 100+ foot) fall into water, which can hurt if you fall awkwardly. Once you’ve gotten in the water once, there’s no getting around it, your hands are going to be wet for all future roots, and your shoes will be soaked. The experience in general with the sunset trip was spectacular, afterwards we drank a whole bunch of beer, had freshly caught live fish and squid, as well as watched an amazing fire show by Wee’s climbing. I’ll soon have some video to follow this when I return as well. Thanks so much for suggesting this Mikhaila!

Today was a much more relaxed day, an off day before I hit some hard and longer stuff for my last day here. So, as per Nate’s suggestion I took the one day scuba course here, which pretty much blew my mind. The instructor here, Peter Brouckner, was just phenomenal. I can hardly believe I have never tried this before, so getting PADI certified in the Puget Sound just got added to this year’s tick list.

And for tomorrow, Humanality, and Sunday, off to Tonsai. Cheers everyone!

Railay and Tonsai are simply amazing looking. The outlying islands look like floating pebbles covered in incredibly lush green tees. Most of them are narrowest right where they meet the ocean, so they have the appearance of being balanced inredibly precariously right on the water’s surface. The limestone formations are so wild that they look like someone’s 5 year old took a mound of clay and just slapped it onto these sandy shores. There are just enormous overhangs, huge stalactites and giant caves sticking into these rock faces. They are all colored in varying shades of ruddy orange and gray, so I can’t wait to get on the rock with my friend Roger from Colorado in just about an hour.

I have just gotten incredibly lucky with timing! Mikhaila suggested I do deepwater soloing with Wee’s climbing school, and as it turns out, once a month the tides are high enough to make a trip at sunset. That day this month happens to be November 20th, and yours truly grabbed a spot on his boat first thing! I hope for some amazing shots doing DWS on these amazing cliffs, ha ha! Talk to you all again soon.

I know you’re all waiting for the hundreds of juicy photos that I just put up on picasa, but first I’d like to thank the folks who really helped me out with and on this trip. First and foremost I’d really like to thank Lisa Dittmar and Ben Glenn, who gave me tons and tons of info about what I needed to do and what I should see. Secondly there’s Tina, who provided me with just great info and wonderful hospitality while I was in BA. The suit is awesome Tina, and I’m so sorry the camera doesn’t work! Next there’s Elise, who hauled my sick and sniffling self into the best hostel in Puerto Natales, I hope you’re enjoying yourself in BA! Finally there’s Jorj and Arthur, who pulled me out of a nasty rut I was in when my ATM card wasn’t working by inviting me out to the glaciar and then giving me cash for all those groceries we bought for the BBQ.

Okay, pictures!

Buenos Aires

Parque Nacional Los Glaciares

Torres Del Paine

Horseback in Chile

Tierra Del Fuego

Buenos Aires #2

Don’t forget these 3 awesome panoramics of Fitz Roy, Torres Del Paine, and Tierra Del Fuego!