Rock Climbing on the Karsts of Southern Thailand

Our first day in Krabi started with waking up at 6am for the beautiful morning sunrise. After some serene yoga by the beach, we took a short walk on the concrete that bordered the water; it was low tide so rather than neon blue water, we saw sand with mangrove branches and thousands of small crabs scurrying around rocks. The water’s edge was so far out they needed trucks to bring people out to the boats.

We stopped at a small rock climbing shop. The shop was only big enough to have a few people in it at a time. While people were getting fitted we played with the numerous small kittens outside. In most of Thailand stray dogs are very common, but in Railay Beach we only saw kittens. We were fitted for harnesses and shoes. Then we took short a walk through the back alleys of the shops to an area near the beach arriving at a tall karst surrounded by hard sand and rocks.

me and a kitten outside of the row of shops

The karst we climbed in the morning

This was my first time actually rock climbing. I had been to a rock climbing camp before but had only climbed in indoor facilities. We received a quick instructional talk from an enthusiastic Thai guy who laughed at us for not being able to tie the knots correctly.

Although he recommended starting with the easiest side of the karst, I didn't want to wait - I went straight to one of the harder sides. Since I was a baby, I've always climbed on everything. I assumed I could climb the easy side with no struggle.

Thailand is the land of smiles; I walked to the side I was climbing and was met with a longhaired local with the most carefree happy attitude. As I started the climb there wasn't much technical difficultly, although it was very strenuous.

me climbing on the karst

In some parts I had to unclip and reclip onto the wall, which was challenging. Near the top, there was one point where I had been stuck for at least ten minutes, unable to make the grab to get higher.

I looked down at the guide and asked him to go down, exhausted. He laughed and told me he wouldn't let me go down. I’m very thankful for all go those guides’ attitudes because I eventually made it to the top, completely out of breath.

As I climbed I hadn't really taken the time to look at the view because I was too focused on getting to the top without falling to my death. But as I looked around for the first time the view was incredible. I could see the whole town of Railay and the surrounding ocean and karsts.

A picture of the view, although not from the top

When I came down and saw lunch laid out, I didn't know I had taken that long. After a welcome meal we headed to the beach to climb in the caves above the neon blue water.

~Cat (to be continued)