I Almost Forgot!

Over the past 2 weeks I have been in a special place called "Tonsai" in south west Thailand. I had forgotten about emails, blogs, facebook and telephones.

Ellen and I survived the mahem at the Full Moon Party in Ko Pha Nang. We boarded a speedboat to get to the Island and danced until 3 in the morning before our ride back to Ko Samui. The party was off the hook! 8 to 10 DJs played out the beats all along the quarter mile stretch of beach all night long. The party can attract over 20thousand people - and everyone is there to party!

We left Ko Samui the next morning and made our way to Tonsai via van and longboat taxi. It feels like an island but in fact its a small peninsula guarded by 200m clifts and thick jungle. The boat taxi in was incredible as the sceney quickly changed and we saw huge towering rock formations coming out of the sea, white sandy beaches, and huge cliff faces with gargoyle-like rock stalactites of different shapes and sizes.

Talks of amazing rock climbing had brought us(well me) to this area. The overhanging limestone routes with unique climbeable features made the climbing very fun and challenging. We met tonnes of people in Tonsai, including my friends Mark Taylor and Gerhard. I climbed some ultra classics like Humanality, Ao Nang Tower, and Babes in Thailand. Very physical climbing made me sweat like that morning in Mui Thai class.

The food was incredible and cheap - yeah Chicken Lady!! Ellen and I also took a cooking class where we learned to make spring rolls, Pad Thai, Curry, and Bananas in coconut milk. The best part was eating it all of course.

We also enjoyed some of the many caves, lookout points, lagoons, and wild monkey feedings.

We are now in Phuket and life here is much different. Very overcrowded and way too many tourists for me. You have to pay for a spot on the beach in Panong! We did get nice massages and are staying in a nice hotel for much less than hostel accomodation in Canada.

Tomorrow we are leaving for Surat Thani train station to board the overnight sleeper train to Bangkok. Only a week left before flying back to Calgary where I hear the temps have been in the -30c range! Ellen and I are hoping to take in a Mui Thai fight night and the chaos of Bangkok before heading home.

The Best of Everything is in Thailand....

Well, except for skiing. But you can get anything you want, day or night. You can be riding a rented Harley Davidson, while drinking a freshly squeezed banana and vodka smoothie and getting a back massage while cruising around the Island at 3 in the morning. And everything is CHEAP!

Yesterday Ellen and I rented a scooter for the day - scooters rule! - and toured around the island taking in the attractions. We road a huge elephant through the jungle before hiking to a waterfall. We stopped for a delicious Pad Thai lunch at "fishermans village" on the waterfront and continued touring the island. We stopped to check out natural granite formations of a giant penis and vagina (pictures coming soon) coincidentally within 100m of eachother. The climber in me had to climb the giant penis with Ellen standing by as photographer. It was only 5.5! For dinner we jumped on the scooter and got lost on a maze of roads many times before finding the most delicious Indian restaurant(I know I'm in Thailand but like I said the best of everything is here). On the way we got a flat tire and had to push the bike a whole 80m to the closest mechanic. They are everywhere and you dont have to go far for anything. After a 5minute tire change and a $5 bill we were on our way!

The people here are truly wonderful. Thais are quick to cater to our every request (I try to keep them to a minimum), and offer the most sincere greetings and goodbyes. They are kind in every way and are making our journey here unforgettable.

This morning I enrolled in a 2hour Mui Thai kickboxing lesson. For $9 I learned a lot from a kick-your-ass Mui Thai artist. Laem taught me the basics of MuiThai fighting before getting the gloves on for some action in the ring. I was sweating like I never have before. The training was so much fun and challenging - UFC here I come!!

Tonight we are catching a boat to the Full Moon Party....should be interesting.

"Not expty from pocket"

Just had breakfast of freshly squeezed pineapple juice, mangos, papayas, mini bananas and a decent cup of cappucino on the beach here in Chaweng, Ko Samui. Going to hit the beach for a 7dollar, 1 hour Thai massage and will ponder the rest of my strenous day. Today is a "rest day", after yesterday's excursion. Ellen and I took a speedboat ride out to Ang Thong National Park to view some really interesting Islands and rock formations jutting out from the sea. Stopped and did some snorkelling in the am before a delicious lunch on a small island town on the beach. After lunch we boated over to another island for some sea kayaking, swimming and snorkelling before a long and bumpy ride back to Ko Samui.

Ellen is finding hard keeping me relaxed at our "Relax Resort Bungalows and Restaurant" accomodation. All I want to do, is keep doing. I will burn off some calories at the coming Full Moon party on Ka Phagang. Lots of non-stop dancing and swimming action that can attract a crowd of nearly 10 thousand!

I will up load some photos once i figure out how.

Khwat Khlun

Koh Samui

Holy shit! What a crazy place Thailand is. Flight over was long but everything went smoothly and our bags amazingly met us at the airport in Bangkok after a 23 hour journey. We had an escort waiting to take us to our airport hotel from some much needed Zs. The next day we got back on another short flight down to a dirty town named Surat Thani where we caught a ferry ride over to the Island of Ko Samui. That was another full day of travelling but everything went smooth yet again. We just spent the day cruising around the Island on a scooter (rented for 6bucks for 24hours). Gas was sold by the glass bottle. Driving is close to chaos and pretty dangerous if you dont keep your head up. Definately a 2 person job if you are rookies like Ellen and I. Food is sooo tasty. Never thought a fresh mango could taste so good - and i never used to like them!! Grilled corn and fish skewers on the beach, mistery meat skewers from the market, fresh seafood, rice, coconut milk everywhere!!! Everything is so delicious I can't wait for my next meal. We also went to a zoo today. Saw some amazing aquatic creatures, monkeys, elephant, leopards, and got my pic taken with bengal tiger!!! Trying to stay up late for the next few nights to get ready for crazy full-moon party next week. Gotta go!!!

Gym Jive

Why do some people make so much noise while lifting weights? I can see the occasional yelp or "adse!" during a moment of shear intensity, but a 'Sharma' like scream at every bicep curl? Let's get real. It always seems to be the fella thats kinda big, but not big enough that you don't have the balls to tell him to cool it. Frankly, it's disstracting and annoying. I know MMiller feels the same way and he's lifting more than anyone I know personally! Maybe I'm just jealous as I cower in the corner of the gym trying to lift my puney weights - not sure. Maybe I can lift more if I scream with every rep? Good beats on the MP3 and a can of red bull seems to be working for now.

ACC Blizzard

Check out the latest Alpine Club of Canada E-Bizzard. A quarterly publication put together by ACC volunteers and articles written by ACC members. It's now in E form so we're saving trees from being cut down! Yeah!

ACC Blizzard August 2009

On the Outskirts of Banff

There are more trails on the outskirts of Banff than you realize. I have been living in Banff for the past 6 years climbing, skiing, running, biking and exploring and I am still discovering new trails in my own backyard that extend far into the backcountry. BBell and I set out from the doorstep of his home this afternoon for a wonderful trail run on a blanket of fresh snow. The temps were perfect and and the sky was clear. I followed BBell on a maze of trails throughout the forests never far from the townsite. He showed me new terrain and a different angle on some of the surrounding peaks. We ran for about 15kms on mostly snow covered trail around sundance area and back again. The last run I did was a month and a half ago and my legs were feeling it in the end. Deffinately beats running on a treadmill while trying to read the closed caption script on a nearby tv.
Im looking forward to the next one.