Climbing on Tonsai

Ah, how I've missed posting to the blog! ;-)

Since Robin's last post, we have been in Laos spending time in both Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng and are now in the country's capital of Vientiane. As per Robin's previous post I was supposed to do a climbing update and only now have I gotten around to it...

Tonsai! To most climbers, the mere mention of it invokes images of people climbing on crazy roofs on the beach or hugging tufas [types of stalagtites] 100 meters off the deck. But Tonsai Beach is so much more...actually, no its not! Tonsai (and we'll group Railay and Phra Nang in with it as well) is truly a mecca for the climbing oriented. Take a beach surrounded by soaring limestone cliffs, toss about 500 super fit people in the area and add a bunch of bungalows and beach bars and VOILA, you get Tonsai. We met so many great people and also bumped into a couple of people from home (Yuval, Nat and Kevin) which just added to excitement! I did manage to post a couple of pics a couple of weeks ago but no picture can do this paradise any justice. Happily, we were able to enjoy the climbing for just about 2 weeks but I could have easily stayed for 2 months! There are so many different crags to climb at and an endless amount of "classic" routes. I think the climbing on Tonsai brings out the ADHD in everyone! On the first day we arrived, we were off climbing within an hour or so and the day we left, we climbed until an hour before our ferry left! Two weeks of climbing allows for you to enjoy quite a bit but we only scratched the surface of what's available!

The moment we got off the longtail from Ao-Nang I was drooling at the crags on the beach, Tonsai Roof and Dum's Kitchen. Tonsai Roof hosts what is essentially a gym climber's paradise. Crazy steep climbing on pockets, jugs and LOTS of stalagtites! Some of the routes even allow for some crazy no-hands rests on the stalagtites (bring your abs)! I managed to haul myself up a couple of the routes but found myself a couple of pull-ups short on some others! Classic routes such as "Babes in Thailand" (7a), "Tonsai Playboy" (7a+) and Tidal Wave (7b+) are super popular and often have a crowd of climbers waiting for their turn, but there are sooooo many other routes available. The grades for the roof climbs start around 6c and go all the way up to 8b (5.11b-5.13d grade conversion) and as their are 40 listed routes, there's something for almost everybody. [Although Robin notes that this assumes that "everybody" is crazy strong .....] Dum's Kitchen is a longer crag found on the right side of Tonsai beach and this is where the hardest routes are found (8c\8c+) as well as some of the uber-classics such as "Lion King" (6c+), "Reminiscence" (7a+) and "Jai Dum" (8b). I will add that Lion King kicked my ass a good couple of times as the the last move is a desperate toss for a jug which for me resulted in some great lobs off the top. It was awesome watching climbers on Jai Dum and some of the other ultra-hard routes there. Long and technical routes on crappy crimps apparently makes for a good time! ;-)

Another favourite crag of ours was Thaiwand Wall. This hunk of rock is the most prominent crag in the area and is the first one visible from the water. It is home to some of the best long moderate routes as well as some great multipitch! We didn't do any multipitch so I can't really comment on any from personal experience, but most people found that the while the climbing was pretty good, the views were what made the experience worth it! But some of the long single pitch routes on Thaiwand had spectacular views of their own. "Lord of the Thais" (6a+ first pitch) was an awesome route to climb and then anchor in at the top and snap some of the classic shots of Tonsai and Railay Beach West. My personal favourite was "Equatorial" (6c) which is a 32 meter arete with awesome exposure all the way up and then a great cave at the anchors to sit and take in the view!!!!! Thaiwand Wall is a great crag to spend the day during the high season as it is in the shade for the entire day and usually has a nice ocean breeze. Unless you're a solid 8a climber or greater, there's more than enough routes to keep you busy.

Other crags we visited were Fire Wall, Cobra Wall, Eagle Wall, and Wee's Present Wall. There are about 35 other crags on top of the ones mentioned here so as I mentioned earlier, more than enough to keep anyone busy. We also visited Muay Thai Wall and 1-2-3 Wall but these are primarily beginner walls which are normally full with all of the climbing schools. Fire Wall has some great moderate routes including the super-classic "Groove Tube" (6a) (which Robin and I call "The Pinball Machine", as we saw a woman fall near the top and she rattled a couple of time off the sides of the "tube"). Eagle Wall must be visited either during low-tide or via a longtail, otherwise its a very wet and awkward walk back through the water. Lots of moderate routes in the 6a-7b range but becomes very busy due to its limited accessibility. Cobra Wall has some nice routes but the belay area [a super thin ledge) is super dusty and it can get crowded so I wouldn't put this on my "must visit" list. Wee's Present Wall also has some nice moderates and is in the forest so it stays nice and cool.

Accomodation on Tonsai (and Railay) is quite varied in terms of luxury (or lack thereof) and price. Railay West is the resort portion of the peninsula and is super expensive and full of tourists rather than climbers. Railay East is a bit more affordable, but instead of a beach, it has a mangrove forest which is a bit of a mudpile at low tide and there is some serious construction underway. If you stay off the main track of Railay East, there are probably some decent accomodations. But for those who want to climb, Tonsai is the place to stay. There is budget accomodation available (200-600 baht) and that will usually get you a decent bungalow with a bed and mosquito net, a fan, a cold-water shower and a toilet. In the 700-1500 baht range you can find a bigger bungalow with a larger deck, chairs, decent beds, a fan or A/C and either a cold or hot-water shower (A/C and hot water usually only at the higher end of the range). For those who require a bit more luxury, there is also Tonsai Resort which is 2000+ baht/night although the restaurant is quite affordable.

Food on Tonsai can also vary wildly. For cheap eats there are the "chicken ladies" and while this sounds like a terrible description, its the term everyone uses so can't really describe it any other way. They are found up the right side "road" heading towards Wee's and they provide the staple Thai foods such as Phad Thai, Pad Khao Pak, Som Tam (best salad ever) and Mango Sticky Rice (great breakfast option). For other meals we ate at Tonsai Resort a couple of times, Dream Vally Resort (once) and Cruie Thai. But almost all of our dinners we ate where we stayed -- Country Side Resort. We stayed here for 7 nights (after our break in Ko Lanta) and ate there most dinners and always had a great cup of coffee in the morning before hitting the rock. The owners are a British couple who are super nice and make sure that you are comfortable. Their staff also were great but we heard that they may have had some problems since we left. The food is well priced compared to the rest of Tonsai and their portions were more than adequate for a couple of ravenous climbers. This is a mid-range accomodation so anyone who plans on visiting and has the budget, we would highly recommend this place.

Overall, Tonsai made me a very happy person! Even Robin, who didn't climb as much, enjoyed it because as she puts it, "It's not the worst place to be a belay-bitch". Climbing on the beach in the morning is an unbelievable experience as well as going for that sunset send of your project after relaxing during the scorching afternoons. I was a bit sad to leave but made a promise to myself that I would come back here again and hopefully for at least a month!!

We'll eventually post some more photos once we've had some time to pick out some good ones. I also have an update on climbing in Vang Vieng but I'll do that in a couple of days once my fingers recover from typing this update!

l8r

adam and robin