Tom Grundy's Asia 2010 Travels Page

In January 2010 Julie and I went to Asia for a mostly climbing trip. I am just starting to work it up for the web page, so I will be adding more content and sub-pages to this in the future, but for now, this is a start.

The trip really started a bit earlier for me as I drove across most of the country from Boston to Flagstaff and then a few days later took a night train to LA. We tried to stay up late the next night to get ready for Asian time, and I managed to stay awake for the entire 15 hour flight (aided by watching 5 movies). It was sort of cool to have a sunset going on out the window for about 7 hours straight. We were pretty confused when we got to Thailand around 1 am after a stop in Taipei 2 days later (things get weird when you cross the date line). The next morning we got up at a reasonable hour and were relatively ok, although a bit tired.

Julie is lucky to be able to sleep more easily than I can

it can be quite annoying

I met a friend in Taipei

and rode a weird pseudo horse

Julie was intrigued by the water dispenser (into paper bags)

We spent a few days in Bangkok going to the Chattuchak weekend market and picking up train tickets before heading to Krabi by train and bus. There we stocked up on some food and supplies and headed to Tonsai. the first night we were in a fairly unpleasant and small bungalow but the next day we moved into a nice room at the "Garden View Estate". It had a private bathroom, 24 hour electricity, concrete walls and tile floor (critter proof) which was very appreciated. It even came with a few geckos to keep any insect incursions to a minimum.

Railay west beach and nice cloud

a long tail boat and Happy Island, Phra Nang Beach

panorama of the peninsula from an overlook on Railay East

Railay west beach and the Tonsai wall

Here are some so far unfinished links, but they already have a bit of text and some pics, so might be worth visiting if you are bored

The main way to get to and from the peninsula was by long-tailed boat. These are normally wooden boats with tall prows and an auto engine mounted on a gimbal in the back. The elongated propeller shaft is attached directly to the engine and the entire drive system is swivelled and lifted as needed to manouver the boat.

a long tailed boat heads home at sunset

When we weren't climbing, eating, trying to cool off (many cold showers every day), or sleeping, we had a number of activities including snorkeling (I didn't have a snorkel, so it was just swimming with a mask, which was much more tiring) trips to Ao Nam Mao or Ao Nang, and excursions on the mainland. We also often strolled down to the beach to watch the usually excellent sunsets and climbing sports action. Sometimes even had sunset picnic dinners on the beach.

a Tonsai sunset from the far south end of the beach (a somewhat skewed stitch)

I take a lot of sunset pics (Julie pic)

somewhat distorted panorama of Tonsai from high on the Cat Wall

Another long tail boat pic

I think there are enough headlights on this bus

Malaysia

We decided to go to Malaysia to Kuala Lumpur to climb at Batu Caves. Of course this trip didn't go as planned. More details can be seen here:
Malaysia 2010 Travels page

Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur

We returned to Bangkok via a slick sleeper train (which was still a few hours late). In Bangkok we stayed at Jenny's wonderful house and did some Bangkok touristing and shopping (such as another trip to the Chattuchak weekend market extravaganza and to a giant electronics mall). We took a water taxi on a nearby Khlong (canal) in a rather aggro boat that had a hinged canopy for passing under low bridges. The operators even wore helmets as they trotted up and down the sides of the boat. They also featured splash curtains to keep the spray out. They barely stopped at the piers for people to jump in and out.

water taxi

the water taxis really motored along

Wat Pho roof (with photoshopped blue sky)

wide angle of a Wat Pho temple front

Wat Pho doorway

Wat Pho door detail

Wat Pho statue

Wat Pho golden Buddha statues

When it was time to go we packed up and took a taxi to the airport for another marathon flight back to LA for a few days and finally another train to Flagstaff for me.

Spot Tracks

The spot tracks I link to below aren't always that great, but you can switch to aerial photos and zoom in or out to get a better idea of where we were and where we went. Some of them have pictures and text, others are pretty bare-bones. Thanks to Anne for making the tracks while I was without easy, fast, and cheap internet.

Giant Buddha Statue at Wat Tham Seua

handstands on a beach are a bit harder

the view from the Thaiwand Wall of Tonsai and Railay beaches

another sunset from Tonsai

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