The Great Dopamine Rush of 2025

Day 19 – The Great Silt Road

Today I woke up with a pinched nerve in my left shoulder. Yay for me, it seems murphy’s law has really got me on this trip. Many different little annoying things have happened. Alas its still a mile ahead of working in a Canadian winter. I delayed my morning trip to Angkor archaeological park and booked a massage.

Before my message I drove around the streets near my hotel looking for an shabby looking restaurant full of Khmer people. That is a sure fire way to get incredible local cuisine. I didn’t have to go far, I found what I would say looked like the front of a mechanic shop back home with a little sign in Khmer. This place was packed with locals. I ordered duck leg in clear soup with noodles. It was shockingly simple, just a few ingredients. It was absolutely delicious with tender duck meat, perfect noodles, and a surprise wonton. There is two main options for Khmer breakfast, fried meat and rice, or noodle soup. Both have been fantastic so far.

My masseuse was waiting for me when I arrived back at my hotel. I’ve never had a massage in my hotel room on the bed before, when the concierge said the masseuse would meet me in my room my first response was, Huh? Anyway the massage was just fine, it didn’t fix my shoulder but made me functional enough that I could indeed ride my scooter.

Armed with some information from James the friendly climbing guide, I rode out of town to go find some hidden temples. On the way I did a speed run of 4 temples I hadn’t seen the day before, Temples are incredible and the history is rich, but I have adhd. After a while they kind of all look the same to me. What really intrigued me is the hydraulic system that the angkorian’s designed to feed water to their cities, and protect them from droughts and floods. Funny enough because of the increased demand of tourism on Siem Reap’s water systems, The 1000 year old hydraulic system of reservoirs and canals also provides water to Siem Reap. After mass restorations of the system from 2004-2008 all of the reservoirs stay full all year round, and they protect the city and surrounding flatlands from flooding.

When I arrived at the pin provided from James of a secret buried temple all I found was farmland and extremely poor rural Khmer people. I did what every tourist does and confidently marched onto a random persons property speaking a language they absolutely didn’t understand asking for directions. Thankfully technology gave us translating apps and after a short google translate session. I now had a Khmer woman leading me through half a dozen fields towards a stand of trees I couldn’t see from the road. Now because I had just inconvenienced this woman, I gave her 8000 riel as a finders fee. Which I’m pretty sure made her day. Btw the road I drove the last kilometer to this temple on was fully silted, I’m talking like 4 inches of silt. It was like surfing on a scooter.

After finding the temple, and checking it out I hopped back on my bike and headed back into town. This temple was wicked cool. truly ancient and decrepit.

The hidden temple I rode down the silt road to find

From the temples I went and got some dinner at a local street vendor. I ordered a local Khmer dish that I could not pronounce, that I from this point forward will always call this dish “swamp soup”. My god this soup was green and full of unrecognizable vegetables stained green. This is to this day the single most un appetizing looking dish I have ever eaten. Now it was really good but it was also really weird, I liked it, but I have no idea what I ate other than the chicken on top and the noodles. It was a very earthy flavor and I somewhat suspect it was algae soup as the color very closely resembled the algae infested river I was sitting beside. I’m glad I tried it but I think ill pass next time.

From the dinner stall I drove about 300 meters to another stall serving Siem Reap giant coconuts and diced fruit. For 10000 riel ($2.50) I got a coconut and a huge bowl of delicious fruit. I had my book with me and sat for a few hours in the bustling streets and read, which I don’t think I have ever done before. I try very hard to participate in my environment, and to completely zone out reading as the world buzzed around me was a new feeling.

I met up with James the guide at 8pm so we could pick up a moto for me to take on tomorrows adventure. I’ve never driven a semi auto before, but its a step up from the put puts towards a real motorcycle. Did you see how I called it a Moto, its not a motorcycle, its not a scooter, its a moto. That’s what the locals call them too, I just find it funny.

I’m off to bed now, in the morning I’m going to Kulen province with James on a full day Moto excursion. Till tomorrow.

January 29, 2025

angkor-wat, asia, cambodia, siem-reap, travel
Day 18 – Jumping Raccoons

What a friggen day!, Today started early. Even for me, purposely getting up at 5am is a chore. If your dragged out of sleep for any other numerous reasons its not such a big deal, but doing it willingly. Bleggh. Anywho I quickly did my morning routine, as I was messaging my climbing guide James.

20 minutes after our arranged meeting time, James arrived with his assistant bouhd, and the other climber who joined us last minute. Her name was Mai she’s from Japan. Originally this was going to be a private guided tour, but only because no one else was with me. So having Mai join us just saved me $80 American which is great.

I hopped in James’s truck and off we sped about 1.5 hours north west of Siem Reap to a little town that I can not remember the name of. Breakfast and lunch were included in the tour which was awesome. We stopped at a locals restaurant and all us got a Cambodian staple of fried pork and rice served with clear soup and some pickled vegetables. It was delicious.

After fueling up we headed to the first crag which was up on top of one of the small Cambodian mountains (hills). It required a short hike through some nasty thorns and very slippery dry leaves. When we got there, the crag was much smaller than I expected especially after climbing in Thailand. One of the walls we climbed in Thailand had 28 routes on it, And I believe there is only 25 bolted routes in all of northern Cambodia. The limestone here is incredibly sharp and ruins your fingers, but the climbs were very unique to the area. Which is exactly what I’m looking for as I climb across Asia.

After 4 routes we headed to town for lunch. On the way to lunch James insisted on getting fresh coconuts to drink which I was all game for having not had one on this trip yet. We went back to the same restaurant as breakfast, I had Khmer fried noodles and an omelet with a grape Fanta to wash it down. It was also delicious.

After lunch we went to a crag that not even James the guide had climbed before, usually he only does half day trips to one crag. I had requested a full day as I didn’t want to drive 3 hours and climb 3 hours, to me that made no sense. This second crag was actually right in a Buddhist temple compound, and it required us to hike up through the temple grounds to a bluff that hung above the temple. It was pretty unreal. So cool thing about climbing in Cambodia, basically no one does. We were as James put it, probably the only climbers to climb this crag in the last decade.

We were joined by a rambunctious group of monkeys who desperately wanted the bushel of bananas we brought with us. Basically to me, monkeys are the raccoons of Asia. Opportunistic, smart as hell, and an absolute pest when you have their favorite food just sitting right there. To appease our friends we did give them some bananas. And it was adorable.

After a few more climbs we packed up and drove through the Cambodian countryside, to try and catch the sunset at a viewpoint that James had told me the name of but I’ve forgotten. We ran out of time to go there and as a second option we went to the Bakar reservoir, that the Angkorians built some 1000 years ago. It is truly baffling what this ancient society was able to accomplish with the technology of their time. The reservoir is absolutely massive, and its connected to Angkor Wat and all the surrounding area by an intricate web of canals. It was an awesome way to finish todays climbing tour.

James is actually a Canadian expat who’s lived in Cambodia for the past three years, so me and him talked all day long and it was nice hanging out with a fellow countryman for the day. It truly helped easy the little bit of homesick I’ve been feeling. We tried this Cambodian fried snack that came in a bag on the drive back, that looked like churros but was crunchy. That shit is dangerous, watch out. There is no nutrition labels and its a good thing, I could live on that stuff. We got these “sesame churro crunchy cheetos” I called them in a town that James calls “Chip Town”. Aptly named such as it seemed that every single stall on both sides of the road for more then a kilometer sold chips and fried snacks. Apparently its very common for artisans of a specific type to all be in one area here in Cambodia. There is also “Statue Town” which just sells statues of all shapes and sizes. Which also was over a kilometer of just statue stalls. Such a wild concept to me.

I could write a giant book about the Angkor society, and its marvels. But alas, I am tired and having even wrote about what I had for dinner yet. Like most Asian countries I’ve visited, street food is very popular here. Tonight I had fried pork on rice with an omelet and the biggest fucking coconut I’ve ever seen. This behemoth held over a liter of coconut water. and it weighed about 6lbs. For dessert I had mixed fruit, It was all scrumptious.

Just some bones we found.

Tomorrow is Temple day 2 and I am armed with a bit more information than day 1. I am hoping to find some temples that have not been restored or cleared for tourists. James sent me some locations on maps so I am pumped. Till tomorrow.

January 28, 2025

adventure, climbing, hiking, rock-climbing, travel
Day 17 – Angkor What!

From getting to bed at 2am last night, my day started a little later and slower than most. I did my normal routine, then trodded off to find a money exchange and some breakfast.

I wound up at old market, which is about a km from my hotel. Notice how there is no quotations on the word hotel? because this actually is one. The exchange rate to American is an absolute pill, I found out. After I swallowed that, I picked up some Cambodian dried beef, bananas, and an avocado. To me that sounded like a great dirtbag breakfast, and it was.

Around noon I finally had all my poop in a group and got me self a scooter for the next 4 days. Well here I was making fun of the scooters in Thailand, well they may as well be brand new Mercedes in comparison to the busted up shit box I got here. The fuel gauge doesn’t work, the speedo doesn’t work, the battery dies if you don’t shut it off immediately after stopping. The suspension is shot. Also its way to small for me so if I need to turn sharply I have to drop a knee. Needless to say its comical. I laughed when it died after dinner. Thankfully this batboy has a kick start. Oh and its a Zoomer, that’s the make. It barely putz.

After that Zoomer and I put putted to Angkor Wat and walked around the temples for a few hours. Wow just wow. That place is incredible. To imagine that a million people lived there at the height of the empire in the 12th century, is baffling. And the sheer amount of detail in everything is astounding. Even the reservoirs are all shaped and lined with big chunks of sandstone and laricite clay.

I walked through the main temple of Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm temple , and Banteay Kdei. All of which were absolutely incredible. It was about 32c today and as much as I loved it, I was cooking out there. There is only so much temple you can do until it all looks the same, so after 3 temples and 5 hours i headed back to Siem Reap for dinner.

Having never eaten Cambodian cuisine before I went to a higher scale restaurant then I normally do called Pinakpou. Google said it was known for Cambodian specialties. It was something. My meal consisted of 5 of the biggest oysters you’ve ever seen with a bunch of local spices and herbs to start, and then a marinated flank steak with fried rice, fermented sweet fish sauce, and a sour lime mint sauce. It was a big strange, I will tell no lie. In saying that it was still very much delicious. There is definitely some flavors there I am was not used too, but I am a foodie and open to try anything. It cost me $26 American which is incredibly expensive for Cambodia, but I got steak and oysters. I didn’t care, and both the beef and the oysters were Cambodian so that was cool.

All in all it was a decent day, I am absolutely knackered and cant wait to go climbing so I’m off to sleep. Till tomorrow.

P.s Driving in Cambodia is not like Thailand, In Thailand other drivers will move around you. In Cambodia they will just run you the fuck over. Its good close doesn’t count.

P.s.s I almost died from an unripe mango falling 20 meters and smashing into my table a foot from my head during dinner. It sounded like a gunshot. It scared everyone in the restaurant. Including me.

January 27, 2025

angkor-wat, asia, cambodia, siem-reap, travel
Day 16 – Scams, Delays, And Pity Nuggets

I started my day in Railay beach, by doing my usual routine of walking to the beach, swimming, and then stretching. On my way out of town I stopped and got breakfast at the viewpoint resort buffet that was hands down the best deal for food anywhere on the peninsula. Seven dollars for an all you can eat breakfast buffet, that was actually really really good. Lets just say I ate there more then once.

After fueling up I sauntered over to the boats to begin my long day of travel from Railay, to Krabi, to Bangkok, and then finally to Siem Reap. I met another traveler on the pier and we split a boat, and a taxi to the airport. Everything was great, then I got got. By the most classic Thai scam there is, the I have no change scam. I tried to pay the eight-hundred baht taxi with a thousand baht note. It was all the cash I had left, the driver knew he had me by the balls as I had a plane to catch and no other viable way to break the note quickly. So I did the only classy thing I could, I called him an asshole to his face, admitted defeat and walked away. Thankfully the guy who I shared the taxi with, who had actually booked it, gave me the two-hundred baht difference so we shared the loss.

From krabi it was a short one hour flight to Bangkok which was made twice as long by a one hour delay, I had a four hour layover in DMK airport in Bangkok so no big deal. when I landed I was hit with a pang of hunger and a random instantaneous craving for shitty American food, as all the Asian cuisine was for some reason to me, completely inedible. So I went to Mc Ds, for some ungodly reason at the time it seemed like a great choice. I hadn’t eaten anything from Mc Donald’s in nearly four years, and I was quickly reminded why. Shortly after I had eaten I was covered in a cold sweat with a nice big ball of lead in my gut.

I with the new awesome feeling I had in my body, of it trying to work through that poison they call food. Went to wait for my flight, to my dismay it had been delayed an hour and twenty minutes. I pulled out my book and read the time away, when the time had nearly past I looked up at the gate screen. To my dismay again it had been delayed another forty minutes, again I read. After looking up a third time and seen yet another delay I had sunk pretty deep into that feeling when something keeps dragging out but you are completely dependent on that thing and equally as helpless to do anything about it, so you just accept it. And in my case just eat and read the time away.

Finally 2 and a half hours late they call boarding, I am in zone one. Bonus. I go to line up and I am met with an airline attendant, she was handing out meal vouchers. She instructed me to go to the Burger King fifty meters away in the waiting area, So being the good Canadian I am off I went (never say no to free food). What I received from Burger King was comical to say the least, the staff handed me a paper bag and a bottle of water, and off I went to rejoin the line. The bag contained a sole container of chicken nuggets and a dish of BBQ sauce, I am pretty sure I laughed out loud. Three hours of delay and they gave us 6 chicken nuggets each and a water. They gave us pity nuggets, It made me laugh so hard people stared at me. Its amazing how something as simple and pitiful as six chicken nuggets and a bottle of water is enough to pacify two hundred pissed off, tired travelers. Also to think on it, Great job Burger King for coming up with twelve hundred chicken nuggets with not much notice.

Finally after five hours in DMK we boarded the flight and flew to Siem Reap with no other shenanigans. When I landed i was third person off the plane and because I did my homework and filled out all the necessary documents ahead of time I was first through immigration. Then my bag was in the first twenty off the plane, so I was off the plane and into a taxi in less than twenty minutes. Which to me I think is a new record.

The drive to the hotel was smooth and my driver spoke near perfect English. We had a great conversation on the fifty minute drive. I’m at my hotel now and its one am. So off to bed, and tomorrow I’m going to see Angkor Wat. I’m pumped.

Another thing this hotel is amazing, they wrote my name in grass and flowers on the bed.

January 26, 2025

asia, bangkok, food, thailand, travel
Day 15 – A Much Needed Rest

Today Started like every day here in Railay Beach, with an absolutely unbelievable sunrise. I woke feeling very physically and mentally worn out, I pushed out 4 huge days of climbing and adventuring here on the peninsula. A rest day was definitely needed. On my way for my morning swim I ran into my friend Natalie, who on my recommendation got up early to watch the sunrise. I found her sitting on a log wide eyed staring at the sight.

Sunrise from Natalie’s log on the east beach

I convinced Natalie to join me for one last swim before she got the ferry to Krabi town to head to the airport. On the way there we ran into my fluffy friend, who just so happens to be an incredibly photogenic kitty cat.

After our swim I said goodbye to Natalie for the final time this trip. I think we said our final goodbyes like 4 times but kept bumping into each other before this morning. After completing my morning routine I got some laundry done, and got my book out and read for a few hours.

It was truly not a terrible backdrop to my book. Today I think I read for like 6 hours, I read on my balcony, I read in the cafe, I read in restaurants, I read in my room. It was a great day to do nothing.

As was my plan, at 2 pm I went to the Tattoo shop I had booked my stick and poke bamboo tattoo with. After a slight bit of adjustments the artist got to it, I’m pretty sure I fell asleep, because the artist had to nudge me to tell me he was finished. This dude was scary fast, i was expecting a 2-3 hour tattoo and he was finished in one.

Pad Ke Mao for lunch

The Seed Of Life is an ancient symbol with important cultural and religious significance, It is what is called sacred geometry. To me it signifies that everything is interconnected, humans to nature to universe. On this trip I have really sought out to find the connections between things in my universe, and after reading the Manual by Marcus Aurelius which this symbol was on the cover of it really spoke to me.

I also really just like circles, Last year when I came to Thailand I got two koi fish swimming as yin and yang on my opposite shoulder. At this point in my life I think that this will be my final tattoo. I have a Tattoo on every limb at this point and I think that’s enough for me. Every tattoo I have speaks about who I was or am at a particular point in my life, and i love them for that, but I don’t want to be a guy absolutely covered in tattoos.

I finished my day with Dinner at Local Thai food, which consisted of my new favorite Thai dish drunken noodles, and I also had another new dish to me this trip. Fried egg salad, which is so damn delicious. To finish dinner and my stay in Thailand I had a banana mango smoothie. I’ve developed a raging smoothie addiction in Thailand and I’m glad to get out of here away from them.

Today was probably the darkest mind state day I’ve had in the last two weeks, i think id attribute it to me being just exhausted. On my walk back to my “hotel” i realized I hadn’t printed my Cambodian visa which I would need to get into the country tomorrow. Thankfully I remembered that the tattoo shop I got my Tattoo at had a printer and they were gracious enough to print my visa for me. Phew dodged a bullet there. I passed by the “reception desk” for my “hotel” that was still a travel kiosk, and asked them about check out information. Well I guess the manager was who I talked to at the desk, and I guess she recognized my head from the shot I posted to my review of this place. Because she apologized for the height of the doors and then told me straight faced that I should’ve booked a deluxe room because they have taller doors. My god… is all I will say. I am quite happy I am leaving Railay beach, as beautiful as it is, the ungodly touristic state of this place is, in my mind quite repulsive after a few days. There is only so much tourist ghetto time this mans can do. Especially with my accommodations and the vast amount of encounters with tourists out of their minds on drugs and booze in the middle of the day just being absolute belligerent twats. Ive had it.

I am so excited for the next chapter of my trip as from here on out its all unexplored waters. In Cambodia, then Bali, and Japan.

Till tomorrow.

January 25, 2025

art, life, tattoo, tattoos, travel
Day 14 – Cragmatic

Adjective, Climbing sensibly And realistically, In a practical manner.

Today was a very good day, I started my day with my normal routine here in Railay, of hiking down the steps and going on a 2 km walk to the beach for a swim, calling home to my friends and family, and doing a nice 30 minute stretch.

The fuzz ball that greets me every morning on my walk.

When all that was complete I went and got some breaky at the breakfast buffet, just a few “hotels” over. I met up with Natalie shortly after breakfast and we headed over to west Railay to catch a longtail boat to Ao Nang to climb the North Wall. I really don’t care for the town of Ao Nang in the slightest, it is incredibly busy and ultra touristy and the boat mafia are just annoying trying to scam you into paying more to cross on the boats every damn time.

That being said the North wall was something out of a story book. After a brisk 35 minute walk through town we got to the crag and we were all in awe. What an insanely cool piece of limestone cliff, without a doubt in my mind it is the coolest crag I have ever climbed

This route was arguably the best route I’ve ever climbed outdoor.

Me climbing Natalie (6b)

The North Wall consists of 4 separate crags, we focused on an incredible section called Life of Leif. I don’t think I can stress enough just how rad of a spot this was. The creme de la creme of climbing walls, In the shade all day, super unique Tufas and giant rock curtains. Just epic.

Furry crag rocks

Natalie after completing her first 6b route, funny enough this route is named Natalie.

After climbing for several hours, all of us got in a few routes. we packed up and headed into town for some lunch, as we reached the edge of town the heavens decided to open up and just started raining the fattest rain drops I have ever seen, I’m talking toonie sized raindrops. Thankfully we were only steps away from a restaurant called Papaya, little did we know that mother nature just made an excellent choice for us, as we ducked under the cover of the tin of their tin roof to escape the fury she just unleashed on the world.

Papaya is an Indian/Thai fusion restaurant and it was absolutely deadly, I ordered a chicken panang curry and a side of cheese stuffed naan bread. Maybe there is a pattern forming here as I had curry and roti last night, Anywho it was the best panang curry I’ve ever had. The combination of cheesy naan and spicy creamy panang is just delectable.

After lunch we said goodbye to Andrew and Cal as they were heading to their respective hostels and me and Natalie walked back to the beach to catch a boat. well funny enough as soon as we sat down at the dock under a big flat leafed tree, mother nature decided to try and piss all over our parade again but that tree was water proof and we stayed dry. After what felt like ages we got on the boat and headed back.

On the boat ride back one of the passengers would not shut up, singing and shouting and acting belligerent as heck, its one of the things that turns me off about this whole area. If I didn’t come here to climb I wouldn’t come, tourists suck. Especially ones that are tripping balls on mushrooms and day drunk out of their minds. After 15 aggravating minutes of convincing myself not to throw this guy off the boat we landed back at Railay.

After a big day of climbing and an unexpected rain storm I was so sticky and gross and the ocean was definitely calling to me. We quickly ditched our gear on the beach and jumped in. Now Natalie, I’m finding out is an absolute fitness addict. Apparently we had different ideas about what going for a swim meant, as soon as Natalie hit the water she took off like a rocket swimming out to the boundary buoys. Now I have an irrational fear of swimming in water where I cant see the bottom, so to me a “swim” is just fucking around in the ocean in a depth that I can see the bottom. But in a situation where you agreed to go swimming with someone lines of what’s acceptable may need to be moved, so I swam out with her. Fuck that shit scares the hell out of me. Anyways we swam the 150 meters out to the boundary and then headed back, swimming is hard. It was a pretty great experience as I haven’t swam that far in I don’t know how long and it felt great.

After our swim we said our goodbyes as she wanted to sit on the beach and watch the sunset, and I headed back to my “hotel” to drop my gear and get ready for dinner. I went to dinner at The Corner restaurant, I’ve walked past this place so many times and they always have the most delicious rotisserie chicken cooking near the street. To be honest it was not that notable and my most expensive meal to date on this trip, however I did get the protein fix I’ve been craving the last few days of intensive exercise

When I ordered cashew salad I didn’t think it would be all cashews

Today was the last day the four of us were climbing together as tomorrow Andrew is flying back to London, Natalie is flying to Hanoi Vietnam, and Cal is flying to Chiang Mai. What an incredible experience this past 4 days has been with this group of strangers I am now honored to call my friends.

This banana Oreo shake was amazing

This chicken was super tender but very under seasoned.

All in all it was a very big awesome day and I’m exhausted, tomorrow is a rest day and I am going to get a tattoo done by a local artist. I cant wait. I don’t think my feet could do another climbing day, as I am also climbing in Siem Reap in two days.

January 24, 2025

adventure, climbing, rock-climbing, thailand, travel
Day 13 – Eat Climb Love

Today is day 3 of my 5 day stay here in Railay beach. There is a definite reason I came back here. The climbing and climbing community here is just incredible. I truly do love it here, with all the tourists and shitty accommodations aside. This place is fucking paradise.

I started my day with a wander down the stairs to west beach, which is a beautiful quiet 1.75 km walk early in the morning. I nice dip in the ocean really does fix a lot of ailments. After my morning routine I met up with my climbing crew, and we trekked over to Tonsai beach to sample some delights from the other side.

I have found this cat each morning on my walk to the beach lounging in some epic position, Todays was something only a cat could love. Pure contentment right there folks.

Someway somehow I have become the “leader” of this rag tag ensemble, which is not something I planned nor wanted, but I guess because i am the guy with the equipment and the climbing book the decisions of where to climb and when have fallen on me. Today like every other day this trip, I flipped through my guide and picked a random crag wall on the map.

Iguana park was the name of this particular crag, which sadly we did not see any iguanas. But it was definitely something, let me tell you the book does not accurately state exactly the approaches to these climbing walls (how to get there). Iguana park was situated up a sketchy 3m bamboo ladder, then about a 50 meter scramble up into the jungle off the beach. I cant emphasize enough how sketchy the approach was. I guess it pays to be adventurous sometimes because we were the only ones there, and it looked like nobody had been there for a while.

It was secluded away from the crowds, out of the sun all day. And it had some really unique climbs from what we have already climbed here. we climbed for several hours there and were able to tackle four routes each, which is a really good number when you have 4 climbers to one rope. As an added bit of entertainment, if you took a fall you would swing into the trees . Which had us all giggling like children. It was an awesome little wall.

This 6b route on Iquana Park was very tricky and so friggin sharp on my fingies.

At about 3pm we were all spent and hungry so we went down to Tonsai beach to the sea view club for some food, The food was great. I had a Drunken holy basil fried noodle with chicken, which has been my favorite dish of this trip. I think I’ve had it about a dozen times. From lunch I said goodbye to my friends and hiked the 3km back to my “hotel”. I’m gonna be a fair bit fitter after this portion of my trip, Hiking, climbing, and these fucking stairs are already having an effect on my body.

After a brief reprieve in my room with the ac blasting, I went to mangrove restaurant for some BBQ chicken and a curry. Sadly they were out of chicken, but the green curry paired with fried roti was absolutely to die for. I’ve never had roti of any kind before, and this was an excellent first try. Although my food was super inexpensive, and super tasty, the portion was really small. So I left kind of hungry. Off a tip from a fellow climber I did something I swore to never do in Asia, I went and got a burger.

A WESTERN BURGER, I pride myself in trying to immerse myself in the cuisine of the country I am traveling In. But sometimes exceptions have to be made, especially when you’ve already sat in a restaurant for an hour and just want something quick. The lady making the burgers was out on the path in front of her mini mart with a double burner and two frying pans. Lets just say I didn’t expect much from my beef burger with American cheese and a fried egg, which I paid 4 dollars for. Well shiver my fucking timbers, I’m sure it tasted good, because I inhaled that damn thing and almost went back for another. I am usually very skeptical of tips from other travelers as some people have absolute shit taste in food (especially Americans, no offense but its true), but this was a damn good simple as could be burger. AND she had mayo, which was impressive as its not a usual condiment here in Thailand. Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm it was a great way to polish of the night.

All in all it was a great day. Tomorrow I am catching a boat to Ao nang to climb the north wall which looks absolutely insane in the guide book. It will be the last day the four of us climb together as Andrew is leaving back to London on Saturday. I am very happy to have met him as I think we are going to plan a climbing trip to Madagascar next year together, and It has just been truly effortless to hang out with him. I am going to read a bit now and go to bed. To all my my four readers I wish you a great day, as I’m pretty sure the suns about to come up in a few hours back home.

P.s The name of this post came from me starting to read “Eat Pray Love” today. Which has been great so far, you should read it.

January 23, 2025

adventure, climbing, hiking, rock-climbing, travel
Day 12 – “Up Up Up The Stairs, Quickly Hobbits.”

Today was absolutely Awesome, I started the day with a trip down the winding stairs and the 1 km over to west beach for a morning swim. After my swim I hiked back up the 122 steps to my room for the first time of the day. I Had a nice stretch then headed down for breakfast and to meet the gang. This Spot I ate breakfast at is very expensive for even Canadian standards, but smoothie bowls just seem to hit.

At 930 I met up with Natalie, Andrew and, Cal and we went off through the jungle for 25 minutes to Thaiwand wall where we would be climbing for the day, what an incredible day of climbing. There was falls, there was sunburns, rope burns, bloody knees, teaching, comradery and so many sore muscles by the end.

I am gonna stop writing now as I cant keep my eyes open and just let the pictures do the talking. This place is incredible. And I barely took pictures today. I was too focused on climbing. Btw I did the stairs 6 times, 2 of those times with 35lbs of gear and water. Ugggh. Goodnight.

January 22, 2025
Day 11 – Its a Good Thing I Didn’t Plan To Be In My Room

Today I woke up realizing I may have been just a little heated to be writing my blog last night. Alas the past is past. By the way my room still sucks, but I digress. I came to Railay beach for one singular purpose, and that was to climb until my arms fell off or I died of heat stroke. And today I completed day 1 in a fabulous kind of way.

In other news, Thai tea is soooo good.

Back in Vancouver 11 days ago I met a stranger walking through the international departures waiting area with a pair of climbing shoes hanging off his bag. My spidey sense tingled a bit as I imagined the only place he’d be going to would be Thailand so as I had some hours to kill I went up and started a conversation with him. Ends up I was right on the nose. His name was Kal and he was from Toronto, flying to Thailand with no idea if there was climbing or where it was. We hit it off immediately and ended up chatting for about 40 minutes as we waited for our respective flights. I shared to him all the limited knowledge I had of the Thai climbing scene and we exchanged whatsapp info in the off chance our paths might cross in the future. Well sure as shit he happened to book a room in Krabi on my recommendation that it was the place to be for climbing here. Just a short ferry from me, in the same timeframe that I’m in Railay. he reached out the other night and we ended up connecting today and climbing a half day together. It was such a cool traveling happenstance and just another reminder that a stranger truly is just a friend you haven’t met yet.

Just stretching my legs starting the 6b+ at The Diamond Cave wall.

As I am traveling solo through SEA, I put out a bunch of feelers on multiple area specific Facebook groups when I was leaving Canada. That tree bore some fruit as a super cool gent from Poland Named Andrew sent me a DM and we also connected today. The 3 of us climbed together, which was totally epic. Andrew just happens to be in the Krabi area the exact same days as me so we are gonna climb together every day. Also he is almost the same weight as me which makes belaying much easier and safer for the both of us (its rare if I ever meet any climbers close to or the same size as me).

Andrew belaying Me.

Me and my new friend Andrew after a couple post climb Mango fruit shakes.

Speaking of happenstance. I was walking to get some dinner from Family Thai restaurant tonight, and I literally bumped into Natalie. A super dope climber who I climbed with in Chiang Mai last week who is from the UK. We chatted for a bit and ended up grabbing dinner together. I seem to be collecting climbers as tomorrow is now a foursome. She is quite a bit below the level of climber the rest of us are, but that is the beauty of climbing and the climbing community. It does not matter your level its the joy of the sport that brings people together. Especially in places like Thailand where most people are who come to climb are solo travelling.

Me getting close on that 6b+ 30m route.

I ended up climbing for like 7 hours, It was a fantastic day. I made new friends, ate some pretty great food (that I took no photos of) and almost forgot how much of a rotten fish dumpster fire my room is. One thing I got to say, which was unexpected. The 122 stairs to my “hotel” are a great warm up to a day of climbing. My ass looks great. I climbed that 122 steps like 5 times today.

A monkey, He is laughing at how much of a joke my hotel is.

P.s Fuck this hotel, my room is totally infested with ants. I am going to have to cleanse all my gear and bags as I leave here and Travel to Cambodia.

A frog I decided to run after and catch like an absolute child. Whatever ok, don’t judge me. It was fun.

“when in doubt read the reviews and don’t get caught up in a shitty tourist trap, like a fucking dumbass” – Me

January 21, 2025

adventure, climbing, hiking, rock-climbing, travel
Day 10 – Bikes, Planes, Taxis And Awful Hotels

This Morning I said goodbye to Bannamhoo Bungalows and the town of Pai. I truly loved it there. The 138km ride through the mountains to Chiang Mai was much more fun with the proper gear and a bit later in the day.

Back in Chiang Mai I stopped in at Lookbua restaurant for some lunch which was very tasty. Then I returned my bike and re jigged all my bags from bike mode to plane mode.

From Chiang Mai, I Flew 2 hours to Krabi where I then caught a 45 min taxi to the Ao Nam Mao pier where I boarded a long tail boat and traveled 25min to Railay beach.

I then followed google maps 20 mins through the jungle in the wrong fucking direction, trying to find my hotel. Thankfully a staff member from a different resort took pity on me and led me all the way back from where I came, to a tour agent kiosk. You heard me right. I was very confused and proceeded to cough up the remainder of the Thai baht I had with me, which was weird because I booked with a credit card. I was told I could pay with my credit card but it would cost me a $20 surcharge. Then came the stairs, there is is 122 steps to get up to the hotel. Then you follow a dark path covered in broken glass into the jungle till you meet a giant white wall that says Railay Hilltop Resort. my room is on the bottom floor and has absolutely no ventilation and the door to the room barely locks, also the bedding was torn and the door to the bathroom is only about 5’9 and I’m 6’4. Do the math.

Obviously by the tone of how I am writing todays post I’m tired and not particularly pleased with the most expensive place ill stay during this trip being the shittiest. No quote tonight. Tomorrow will be better

January 20, 2025

asia, backpacking, chiang-mai, thailand, travel