I'm a professional rock climber....

...not really, but kind of. So Michole and I tried out rock climbing the other day on Railay Beach, and of all the things I ever thought I'd be good at, rock climbing was definitely not one of them. I proved myself wrong though, surprisingly. Neither of us had ever climbed before, unless you count fake rock climbing at the gym, but this was the real deal. Ridiculously high vertical cliffs right on the beach. We signed up at "Tex Rock Climbing"...(figured the name was a good sign) and headed out with our guide in the morning. There were lots of other groups out there through the same company, so we all moved around to different climbs within the area. Our first climb, with our guide Singha, looked horrifying. We got there and just stared straight up to where we were supposed to climb to and then both looked at each other like, "this is the beginner's course??" It was. Singha tought us all the basics...tying the right knot so as to not fall and die, etc. Then he scampered up the wall to hook the rope in at the top. And then it was time to climb. I stepped up and went first. This first climb wasn't too awesome considering we were just figuring out the right steps to take, what to look for to hold onto the wall, etc. Singha basically just told me exactly what to use, so I made it up to the top after much talking back and forth about where to move next. Then Michole went and made it up to the top as well. I think Singha liked us so he was trying to help us out as much as possible. The second climb was a lot harder. It was less obvious where we were supposed to hold on and climb up, not to mention it was completely vertical, but I made it straight up. The guide on this climb, Bo---a reggaeish dreadlocked Thai man, hardly told me anything. I just went straight up to the top. No problems. Third climb, same thing. Except no one was really telling me anything. Just monkeyed my way up there really fast. There happened to be a large group of English guys our age climbing with us. It was their first time as well...and Michole and I ended up being roughly eight million times better than them. The fourth climb was one of the hardest ones, and also the tallest one that we did. You start out on the same path as the second climb, but you keep going higher. You even get to a point where it's just slick rock. There are no holes to grab onto or good ridges to put your feet. You're just spidering your way up the wall. The first English guy to try it barely made it to the top. He had to stop lots of times and even let go of the wall completely so Bo had to pull the rope to suspend him in the air. After multiple breaks, he made it to the top. Then it was my turn. I made it up there in one shot. And fast. Bo didn't even have to help me out. It was ridiculous! I was so proud of myself. Michole made it all the way as well. And the next English guy to go didn't even make it to the top. We were proud. And then the last climb. Only two of us in our group attempted it-English guy who took lots of breaks up the fourth climb....and me. English guy couldn't even make it onto the wall. (You have to pull yourself up over an overhang first to even get onto the cliff.) I made it up...again with no problems. Which made me the only one to successfully complete the fifth climb. Awesome!

So pretty much I would love to continue rock climbing. Hopefully there are places to do this in LA. And hopefully this hobby doesn't meet the same fate as the guitar and the bicycle. But really...who woulda thought I'd be good at that of all things?! Crazy. Oh and we have TONS of pictures of us climbing. I just made the executive decision that since I'll be home in two days, I don't feel like taking the extra time to upload all those pictures. It takes forever. Internet is not exactly fast over here. I promise I'll email them to everyone when I get home.

We left Railay Beach on the 18th and it was quite the miserable journey back to Ao Nang on the long tail boat. For starters, it was raining. The long tail boats have a small covered portion, so everyone on the boat huddled under there. And it had been storming really bad on the 17th, so the waves were ridiculously high, and we were in this small wooden boat cutting right over them. Needless to say, I'm glad that we're done with long tail boats. The worst part was that he dropped us off REALLY far away from where we were supposed to get picked up to go to the Krabi airport. We paid for transporation to the airport at the pier (which is where we left Ao Nang for Railay via long tail boat) and on our way back in, the waves were too strong to stop the long tail at that spot, so he had to go up the coast to calmer waters. When we got out (in the rain, of course) we had to walk with our huge backpacks all the way back to the pier. In the rain. Did I mention it was raining? Because it was raining. Hard. This made us late to be picked up to the airport, and the poor guy had been waiting for us for thirty minutes, but he was still there (there's some good news) and took us to the airport in his fancy minibus that was equipped with a huge flat screen TV playing a concert tribute to Bob Marley. Nothing like some good reggae tunes in a minibus to Krabi driven by a terrible Thai driver. Good times. We made it, though, and were also smart enough to put a change of clothes in the top of our bags so that we wouldn't be soaking wet on the plane to Bangkok.

We flew from Krabi to Bangkok, then waited in the airport for roughly five hours before boarded a plane to Chiang Mai. There were earlier flights, but we went with the cheapest option. Hence waiting around in the airport. But we made it to Chiang Mai! Although we thought our baggage didn't. Isn't that the best feeling...when you're waiting at the baggage claim and eeeeeeveryone else has their bags except you? Yeah that's how we felt. They found them, though. How miserable would it have been to lose our bags right at the end of the trip? That wasn't our fate, thank goodness. So we've been in Chiang Mai since the 18th. We're staying at the same hotel Michole stayed in last time she was here, and it's really nice. It's in a great location, and we've really liked it. The main attraction of Chiang Mai is the night market. Every night, hundreds of vendors set up shop down some of the streets and even take over and entire square selling their merchandise. I think Chiang Mai now has more of my money than any other place on this trip. But it's worth it...I've bought some really amazing things. So we've gone to the night markets every night and shopped around. It's been really fun.

On the 19th, we went to Doi Suthep...a huge temple up on top of a mounain. That's was really cool. (Lots of pictures...no worries.) I also went to a lady that Michole went to last time and am getting two suits made and one pair of nice pants. I went back for a fitting the other day, and she was making really good progress. Final fitting today in about an hour. Hopefully the turn out well!! Oh and yesterday, we went trekking. We went on a group tour and started out at some hilltribe villages seeing how they live and the things they make. Then, we hiked to yet another waterfall. It wasn't as big as the one in Bali, nor did we have as hard of a hike as the one in Koh Samui, but it was really pretty. After that, we went and rode elephants!!!!! It was so fun...I was giddy the whole time. There was a baby elephant following us around and I don't think the smile ever left my face. I have lots of photos of them, too. Apparently, they start training them when the elephants are only a year old. They train them with one of the hilltribe languages, so it's weird to hear them control the elephants. They can speak really softly and the elephants know exactly what they're saying. It was crazy...they were really smart and obedient. Except ours kept stopping and putting his trunk back towards us asking for bananas...(you could buy bunches of bananas to hand out to them, and we ended up buying about six bunches...hungry elephants.) So our elephant got in trouble a few times for stopping and asking for food. It was kind of adorable. Oh and the baby one would stick his trunk up on our legs and beg for bananas, too. He was so little that we really had to strain to get him bananas. Precious. After the elephant riding, we did bamboo rafting....which I would advise you wear a bathing suit for. Or maybe bring a towel or some clean clothes for afterwards. Lucky for Michole and I, not only did we fail to wear a bathing suit, but we only had the clothes on our backs. Awesome. You get soaking wet. Not just "oooh man it looks like I peed my pants from where I sat on the raft." No...completely soaking wet. As in, I may as well have jumped in the river with my clothes on. The guides think it's funny so they keep splashing you to make you wetter saying "NOT ENOUGH! NOT ENOUGH!" when you're only half soaking wet. So after we stumbled off the raft, we bought new outfits from some lady with a little booth set up. I actually ended up with a really cute dress and Michole with a cool pair of shorts, so it wasn't so bad. Good way for her to make money...sell clothes to the idiots who didn't bring their own. Definitely smart.

Today, we're just kind of taking it easy. I'm going to buy a new bag for all by new purchases. And probably also pick up a few more things. Tomorrow, we leave Chiang Mai on a train bound for Bangkok at 8:30 in the morning. It's a 12 hour train ride, but I'm looking forward to it. It'll be cool to see the country all the way down to Bangkok. We have a hotel booked there for tomorrow night really close to the airport so that around 5 am on the 23rd, we can head over there! Our flight leaves Bangkok at 8:20 bound for Hong Kong. From there, we fly to LA and enjoy an 8 hour layover. We get back to Austin at 11:55 pm on the 23rd! I'm definitely looking forward to seeing everyone, and am ready to be home. This trip has been absolutely incredible and has been the trip of a lifetime. I'm so grateful that I was able to go, and I know Michole and I will remember it forever. I can't wait to show everyone all the pictures! See you all soon!