is it normal to be shaking?

As you can see, I am behind on my blogging, but I am doing my best to catch up!! So we're still in Railay on April 30th and we wake up early to head over to the hippie beach where everyone is meeting for the rock climbing excursion. This time we took the route out and around the rock because the tide was out so far. Lo and I made it to the other side in perfect condition, Kor shows up a few minutes behind us bleeding from like 5 places on his body. he's got blood running down his elbow and his hand is all cut up... what's new? ;) we get to the tree-house-type structure they call their office, and small world, one of Kor's college friends is there!! yeah, weird, I know. we're checking in and being told about where to get our climbing shoes when I hear Kor say "Dave?!" and this guy looks up confused for a second then realizes it is Koranin who he knows!... totally random, in the jungle, in the middle of nowhere Thailand, they had by chance signed up to go on the same rock climbing tour on the same day with the same group - wild! so Kor and Dave got to hang out for the day (something they had been trying to arrange when they were both living in SF but it never managed to work out), and Lo and I got to make instant new friends. Andy was Dave's friend/travel companion and then Jake was there and so was Emil (but not his brother because he was feeling sick - travelers beware, there are many ways to get sick in Thailand, and even more if you're staying in Tongsai), and then there was one more couple... just the right number of people to fit comfortably in the long boat - we would know, we've been crammed into a longboat with about 30 other people, that is definitely more than capacity.

We took the boat out to the first rock climbing location - a huge overhanging cliff where a few people were already climbing. It was intense at first because you have to climb a rope ladder to get on the rock, your hands and shoes are slippery from salt water, and the climbing is not easy - pretty much inherent in climbing outside of a gym. I worked my way along the rock, paying careful attention to the good hand holds designated by the chalk smeared on the rock from previous climbers. I would look for the whitest spots I could find and sure enough, there would always be a great hand hold for me to stabilize myself with. Lo and I struggled, being such inexperienced climbers with little strength and a small reach, so we would climb as high as we could manage then jump off into the ocean below. It was a blast!! And Dave gave us some helpful instruction that made climbing so much easier and enjoyable, and allowed us to climb higher and tire less quickly... it was great to have a coach along for the trip :)

Feeling shaky and thoroughly exhausted after a morning of climbing, we headed to a secret beach nearby to enjoy the snorkeling and get some lunch. The food was incredible but seriously the spiciest thing I have ever eaten (so I automatically loved it :), I think, had I eaten that lunch near an open flame, my breath literally would have caught on fire. We bouldered a little on the beach, and were awed by the ability of our tiny Thai guide to climb up anything. I swear he is spider man, his hands and feet just stick to the rock, I bet he could climb up a marble wall. It was jaw dropping to watch him scale the cliffs around the beach... his hand holds were maybe big enough for a single finger or toe, and as he moved swiftly up the wall (which was angled so that he hung almost below the rock where he held on), he would shift his entire body from side to side, laying almost horizontal at times in order to free up a hand or foot to move to the next hold. It was an incredible display of skill, especially considering I tried to merely hang on the same wall and couldn't manage... terrib! and terribly awesome that he spider-monkeyed his way up any and every rock we encountered.

After everyone was full and somewhat digested we headed to the next climbing spot. Lo and I pretty much sat this one out and enjoyed the show (we were with some impressively experienced climbers)... it wasn't that the climbing at this spot was particularly challenging, it was that the first part, going up the ladder and getting securely on the rock, was difficult, and we were tired from the morning of climbing. Once past the first part, the climbing was fairly easy, which posed a problem because the guys could climb so high and with such ease that they would get up to 20 meters high having hardly broken a sweat and then they were left with only one option - jump. The guides were no help in keeping our fellow travelers at a safe height, they kept encouraging our group members to "climb more higher",and with their knowledgeable instruction (the guides had all the good hand and foot holds memorized), Dave quickly found himself sitting 60 plus feet above the water, on a small ledge, trying to work up the courage to jump. After he survived the fall/jump/suicide attempt, Emil decided to give it a go, then Andy, then Jake, and then, much to our horror, Kor.

Once sitting on the tiny ledge kor yells down "is it normal to be shaking?!!" (I have this on video, don't worry), and we all try to encourage him. For a moment there I was convinced we were going to have to bring in a helicopter or something to get him down, but he finally got the courage (or lost the common sense) and jumped!! Such a long fall, with each jump I was shocked by the air time, but kor survived - it was a little alarming that when each of the guys jumped our guide would paddle the kayak out to them once they hit the water, like he was expecting them to float to the surface face down or something and he wanted to be ready to rescue them... There was more climbing after this, more daring feats by the boys, and I was surprised when we were all heading back to the beach with only minor injuries. By the end of the day we were all inevitably abused: bug bites, sun burns, jelly fish stings (so many stinking jelly fish by the rocks, i'd be swimming and sporadically yelp in pain when I'd get stung, it made me wish I could walk on water) and scrapes from the rocks. fortunately that was the worst of it, and they made for great battle wounds!! (though Lo could do with a few less bug bites).

Having bonded with our fellow rock climbers we made a plan to meet up for dinner. 6 of us showed and explored the east side of the island looking for a great place to dine, which we found. then it was cards and beers until everyone was ready for bed. Just another day in paradise :)