On to Tonsai...
Tonsai is where this whole trip began for us. I can't believe it's been five months already.
Coming back just made sense to us.  We've really developed a love for rock climbing, and Tonsai is so out of control beautiful, so we booked our final flight and made the full circle. on our first afternoon back we were having lunch on the beach, making plans for the coming week, talking about the months behind us and the months ahead. sometimes when we're eating we'll pick a very specific category over which to wax nostalgiac; what's been our favorite meal, favorite guesthouse, best day, scariest moment, and so on. on this particular occasion we were covering people we'd met alon the way that we wish we could have spent more time with, and after rattling off an elite few, we settled on our friend rupert as our number one. we met him early on, just as we were heading into laos and only got to spend about a week with him before we parted ways.
well, our food arrived, and was not very good, and way too expensive, but the beer was so cold and so good, and we sat there staring out at the ocean when lo and behold, walking up the beach... rupert. it was another magical moment too good to be true, too perfect to explain. for the next seven days we spent our days kayaking, sitting in the sun, and climbing, just ash and i, and every night we sat on the sand and drank beer with rupert.
on one of our kayaking days, the three of us, along with two very friendly, and very stoned danish guys paddled from beach to beach, swimming occassionally to cool off, eventually floating towards a gorgeous catamaran, where we smoothly invited ourselves onboard for a quick tour.
our days climbing were fantastic, making us eager to join a gym with a rock wall when we make it home. we climbed for a total of four days, including a day of deep water soloing. deep water soloing is just like a normal day of rock climbing with one big change. no ropes. a boat takes you to a terrifying ocean cliff, and you free climb it until you either can't go any farther, you get too scared to go any higher, or you fall. it was awesome. don't get me wrong. i was near shitting my pants from fear when i first got going, but incredibly i made it to the top, and successfully and deliberately jumped 25 feet down into the turquoise water. ashley, despite being a superior climber, got a little nervous about the getting down part, and jumped from about 15 feet, still a nerve racking experience. when you hit the water, you catch your breath, and then make your way back up to do it again. it was incredible.
we spent our final day in tonsai climbing with a scottish couple who turned out to be lovely, to use the parlance of our british friends. after a delicious thai dinner we finished our night lying on the beach, watching as bars lit off fireworks, and people in nearby sailboats lit candle lanterns that float up and up into the sky until they burn out and disappear. the next day it was tough to leave the beach behind, but thank god we had our night in the four seasons to look forward to. that stroy will have to wait, though, as it's time to pack up and get into bed for a few hours sleep before six flights and two days of travel bring me back to milwaukee.
in february. way to think that one through, brian.