We spent one night in Railay and then trekked to the isolated beach of Ton Sai. The next morning. Below is Andrew's post about our stay in Ton SaI (see his Tumblr for more pics):
Ton Sai is an isolated beach community of rock climbers, hippies, and locals located on a peninsula near Krabi. Time moves slow, partly b/c there is only electricity from the hrs of 7pm to 7am, and the lingering saying amongst locals and long-time inhabitants is ‘Why Not.’ Go for a swim? Why not? Go for a climb? Why not? Have another beer? Why not?
Jess and I, along with two new friends (an Israeli girl named Veronika, and a guy from Brazil named Rafi) reached the community via a 30 minute trek up and down a small mountain in the jungle. The journey proved most difficult for Rafi, who had a large suitcase which he balanced on his head while hiking. The vast majority of accommodation in Ton Sai is in the form of basic bungalow, with varying degrees of basic and location, either nestled into the mountain or closer to the beach. Jess and I found a half-decent bamboo bungalow near the beach for 300 baht per night, or about $5 pp
The surrounding limestone cliffs make Ton Sai the premier rock climbing destination in Thailand. I was told firsthand by Dan R that I had to go. Besides bolted climbs, which there are hundreds of, when the weather is right climbing shops also run deep water soloing trips, which consists of climbing without a rope over deep water, which you inevitably jump or fall into. Jess and I did one of these trips with 7 others and a local guide. To start most climbs you would swim over to a hanging ladder, which you would climb up to the rock face. The outcome of the day was me wishing that I was a better rock climber, but I still was able to push myself on some pretty good climbs and had some great drops into the water. I should also note that Jess, who had never rock climbed before, also put forth a notable effort.
What more of the experienced rock climbers could do
The vibe in Ton Sai is intoxicatingly chill. Essentially all of the bars have slack lines, hammocks, and seat cushions to lounge on, and most travelers are friendly and welcoming. On the afternoon of our first day we met a group playing polish horseshoes on the beach. A Canadian couple (that had a comically strong Canadian accent) had made a set of poles out of bamboo sticks, and Jess and I joined them for a few matches.
The locals were equally friendly and we met several of them. One guy, named Maxy, could have been a professional on the slack line, and some of the pictures below capture his better moves. Jimmy looked like he was right out of cheech and chong - he was a skinny Thai guy with a humungous afro. He wore many hats at the chill out bar, bartender, head chef of the nightly chicken BBQ, maker of happy shakes, and maestro of chill. The bartender at the sunset bar, whose every 3rd word was the phrase ‘why not’ was also the lead singer in a cover band that played our first night. Hilarious is to soft of a word to describe their performance. Their rendition of ‘hey jude’ sounded a bit like the viral video of the Asian child singing the song spliced with hard rock chords. What the locals did best was chilling - with beers, with the bamboo bong, with acoustic guitars - and making sure that foreigners were just as chill in their universe.
While I would of loved to stay a week, with the Thai section of our trip winding down we were only able to chill for 2 days and 2 nights. That said, I would strongly recommend this little community for anyone traveling in the region who wants to climb or forget about the outside world.
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