Chilling the chill

July 16th, 10:52pm - Railay, Krabi, Thailand

Ok, an attempt to describe whats been going on... a bit stream-of-consciousness, as it were, because I've had a couple of the drinks...

I went climbing today with a really cool guy named Riit, a local Thai who runs part of a climbing shop here. The morning started at 9am with myself, Riit, and 2 Irish people. We got a tutorial on how to belay, rope knot tying, the works. After about 2 hours the two Irish people left, and it was just me and Riit, which meant I had plenty of coaching. I was dead tired though, and around 12 I ducked out and grabbed lunch. I was walking back to my hotel when the heavens opened up and dumped bucket of water on everything. Literally, one minute, beautiful, next minute, POURING. It was cool though, because it ended up with me and this English guy chilling at a restaurant and talking, and we went to the beach together when it stopped raining.

Oh, the beach. I've never loved a beach so much as here. Its serene, picturesque, quiet, with warm sea water and towering cliffs in every direction. Lonely planet said Railay was the most beautiful island/beach in Thailand, and damn they were right! After throwing a frisbee around for a while, my English friend headed out and I did what I now do when chilling on the beach: juggle. I stand there in my bathing suit, juggling and juggling to my hearts content. I chat with people, run around, dip in the sea, but mostly I juggle. And tan. Sublime. Zen. Fitting. Peaceful.

It was around 9pm at night that I realized I wish I grew up on a small farming community that doubled as a hippie commune. I was hanging out at a bar, having a drink, when who should show up but Riit, the guy I was climbing with this morning. The island of Railay is still small enough (though developing, dang it) that you'll pretty much see everyone you know once a day. So instead of drinking a fruit drink by myself, I ended up in a circle of Thai climbers with Riit drinking some kind of scotch/coke/water concoction and watching them grill lots of food and smoke various herbal medicines. It was awesome. I need to learn how to have a life of climbing during the day, drinking at night and grilling good food. Its pretty much Nirvana, and only costs 1/100th as much as the American kind. Everyone is so friendly, its amazing. I had some of the grilled food, lots of the alcohol, joked with Riit, talked to everyone around, and generally, slowly, began to relax. I'm not good at it and it will take a while, but its a start :).

Tomorrow I'm going to climb with Riit again, hopefully I'll skill up a bit! My hands are full of sores and such from hanging from rocky protuberances, but for some reason I want more. So, my schedule for tomorrow: wake up, figure out where I'm staying for the next couple of days, hit the beach and juggle/swim, go climbing, watch the sunset, dinner, relax. Beat that, USA.

I love you all,

Zach