Sleeeeeeep

Well it’s finally happened. The shine of travel has hit the inevitable and is starting to wear thin. Like the clear coat of paint on my Pajero, the repeated exposure to the elements has left me tired and wishing for some rest. Too many airports, too many planes, too much moving around. Apologies to those stuck in their offices reading this but try taking 11 flights in the space of one and a half months while on break knowing that you’ll have more of the same when you get back to work and you’ll see what I mean.

Sitting at home and doing a lot of nothing is sounding really good right now.
In any case I’m sitting in a café on St Kilda beach killing time until a friend finishes work so we can go have some dinner. A different friend is having a 30 tenth birthday and I decided to make the hop over to the rival city for a few days to send my wishes in person.

Time for a quick back track to cover the past few weeks.

Climbing in Thailand did eventuate, if not for a few transport issues. The only flights left were to Phuket rather than Krabi so a few days in tourist town had to be worn before the real fun could begin.
Steep walls, big jugs. Sounds like a bad porn movie but that about sums up the attraction to climbing on the Phra Nang Peninsula. Tired, unfit and out of practice people need not apply. Despite fitting all of the above I persevered and managed to fart my way up half a dozen so climbs over a few days.

All the whining aside I had a good time and it is a beautiful place. The scars of the tsunami are still evident but things are recovering slowly. Being isolated as it is, it serves as a bit of a time capsule where life is simple as are the pleasures to be had.
One pleasant surprise of note were the people of Thailand in general. Warm, curious, friendly people who offer help with a smile. Sure there are the odd sharks as you would find in any country but overall it’s a welcome change to constantly having to watch your wallet and back.
My time there ended too soon, I had only just started to unwind and get into the flow. A return trip would see at least a week to chill, a week to ease back into the climbing, and another week pushing hard.

The rest of my south east asia sojurn was spent between the shopping malls of Kuala Lumpur and the rain forests of Miri in east Malaysia. Eat, shop, eat, shop, that’s about the summation of most people’s memory of Malaysia so I didn’t disappoint. I really must try doing something different next time I’m there.

Coming back to Sydney was more surreal than the trip back from Joburg. It didn’t help that they had changed the arrival terminal and customs at the airport leading me to think for a moment that I had flown into the wrong city. “Same, same but different” As quote from a local Thai in reference to a comparison of Thailand and Malaysia. It could be used to describe a lot of the world though. People essentially want the same things, they just have different ways and priorities of getting them .