MIKE AND JESS' TRAVEL DIARY
Thailand and Cambodia Trip
Day 9 - December 9 2014
Mike and I had booked an excursion for deep water soloing near Railay beach. Deep water soloing is the sport of rock climbing over water, making ropes, harnesses, and crash pads unnecessary. The full boat picked us up on the beach in the morning. There were ten of us plus the two guides on a small longtail boat with a kayak thrown in. It was a bit tight. They drove us to our first climbing spot. There were about 7 routes on this wall. The main one traversed most of the rock, then worked its way up to a few shelves you could jump off of. Unlike what I was expecting, the group consisted of very good climbers. We were among the less experienced, having been recreational climbers for a few years.
One of the guides paddled each person on the kayak to the start of the routes. You had to climb a rope and wood ladder hanging from the rock where chalk was poured into a large hole in the rock so you could dry and chalk up your hands and shoes. The water below was deep enough to jump or to fall from and not worry. The wall to the right of this one was the second we could climb. This wall was mostly covered with stalactites to climb on. This was our first time deep water solo climbing and it was exhausting! Each go, we would climb until we were tired on the wall, then would have to swim against the current to the boat and climb in. Just to get one climb in!
After a few hours here, we went to a nearby beach and had lunch that was provided by the tour. Unfortunately, Mike and I got a bit bored and wandered into a stalactite cave barefoot (the sand on the beaches are like powder, so sandals are completely unnecessary). Apparently, shoes are necessary for this cave, though, because as Mike turned around to head out, he stubbed his big toe on a rock that happened to be very sharp. It sliced his toe and it started bleeding and, of course, I panicked. He hopped back to the beach where, thankfully, we brought bandages. We tried to clean it out the best we could and told the guide what happened. We decided to wait on the boat and the guide came in with a first aid kit and cleaned it up for him with iodine and such.
The day was not done for everyone else, but was for Mike. They took us to the last climbing spot. The tide was a bit lower and the wall was a bit higher, so that gave me even more reason to stay on the boat with Mike aside from one last quick climb.
Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel and hit the pharmacy to stock up on first aid items.
Our day ended a few beers during sunset and an incredible dinner.