5.2.2008 von Ines.

Well the titel says what I would like to be doing. Yes I am in in the rock climbing paradise of Thailand: Krabi. I am staying with my boyfriend in a hut in the jungle on Tonsai Bay.

All our 36 Chinese friends with families from Beijing are all staying in upclass resorts on the beautiful beaches of Railay Bay. But that is only a 30 minute hike or a 15 minute longtail boatride away. There are wonderful limestone cliffs everywhere.

So on the first day I should not have jumped off the cliff like all the others. I did noty enter teh water with mt ass first like most of teh other people. I did come into the water really nice - that means I really went deep - … and there was some rock. So now my heel is healing.

I was asking my Chinese friends if anybody brought some old climbing shoes that they could give me. But they did not. Yesterday morning I met the nice American from New Jersey who lives in Taiwan and he said he has an old bashed pair and I could have the left shoe. So now:

I can finally climb again! For rock climbing you only need to use the front of your foot, mainly the tips of your toes.

So yesterday I climbed some easy routes. It was so much fun! I did not lead climb just some toprope. I am happy again. That is also why I suddenly started taking pictures. And it is really nice and quiet here on the rock climbing beach of Tonsai.

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2.2.2008 von Ines.

I am currently escaping the winter in warm Thailand. It is warm here with sunshine, ocean, white sand, palm trees and cliffs. This is perfect for a climbing holiday. I actually did climb the first day. Just some easy routes to get the feeling of leading and feeling of this wonderful rock. Then I hurt my heel (not during climbing - no it happened in the ocean) and now I have a lot of time to read books, drink tea, watch all the Chinese and other climbers. That is good too. And hopefully in a few days I can go climbing again.

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14.1.2008 von Ines.

This winter has been so warm. There was no ice on the lakes in all of December and also the first 10 days of January were really warm. On January 6th we went rock climbing outdoors in Ritan Park. That was the earliest in the year that we have ever done that.

It was so great that we decided to go out into the park for the second time in 2008 this past weekend.

The sun was shining again, but unfortunately the temperature was really different compared to the week before. But we were 2 guys and 3 girls and it was fun to be outdoors.

For sure we had the right clothing. We were able to climb even though our fingers were frozen by the time we reached the top. We actually climbed quite often (well, that was the only way to get the body temperature up).

We thought we were tough till we saw this guy do gymnastics. He was wearing light shoes, socks and short pants. Nothing else. The temperature was about -7 degree celsius…

…at least there will be ice soon.

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11.1.2008 von Ines.

Yesterday we tried to go climbing in Hong Kong. We would have preferred somewhere outdoor but the only outdoor wall closed early in the evening and the rates were quite high. We then found the Climberland:

We went there by subway, then had to walk a bit. We got to the street it should be on but only saw factories. We found the house with the right house number according to the address (The address and the map on the above picture are the old ones. Climberland is now located in Kowloon…), but the big iron gate was locked. It was very dark in the street but we did manage to find a small piece of wood hanging quite high in front of the gate saying “climb” and having something like a bell. We rang about 3 times but were not convinced that anybody would be behind the iron gate. When we were about to leave we suddenly heard some noise and actually somebody came and opened the door. He was very astonished to see foreigners, but he let us in. We had to take the industrial lift to the 3rd floor in which the bouldering place is.

It was really cool. It is in this industrial building. It is more like a club than a club where most people are members and have monthly or yearly cards. There were about 3 people there and they showed us some boulders. It is all very overhangy so our arms got pumped up really fast. Very nice atmosphere.

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4.1.2008 von Ines.

We often go climbing south of Beijing with the rock climbing community. Last May a friend of mine took some shots and then made this nice short film.

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