15th - 19th August (Internet Cafe in Bangkok)

Unfortunately the rest of my stay in Railey beach was spent without further climbing - however, i am determined to climb again soon.

On the 16th i found out that my nephew had been born. I was pleased and relieved that everything was ok and also a little bit sad not to be there.

To start with moving around has been difficult and i couldn't even walk the 400m or so to the nice beach. As the pain eased the beach was in reach but every time i got there it would go from scorching sun to heavy rain, so I have been reading a lot. I like the relaxed night life here more than anywhere else i have been and my Thai friends are very nice (ze germans left on the 15th) but the days are getting tedious so I have to go. I paid 3000B for my two and a half days of climbing (about 40pounds which i thought was good value), got a free 'Cliff Man' vest and tipped Bong 250B just because i am a great bloke.

On the day i left, it was raining hard and i had to wade into the sea carrying my stuff to get to the longboat - obviously i took my bandage off for this and left it off for my overnight bus journey to the dreaded bangkok - this has caused my whole foot to swell up so it looks just like Carly's did when she was pregnant. The bus journey was ok despite some unexpected stops/bus changes (the usual crap) and altogether the journey took from 14.30 - 05.30 to get close to Khaosan road. I still had to walk for about 15 minutes and all the hotels were full at that time, so I had to hang around for a while and wait for people to check out, this was fine as i managed to eat breakfast while watching ESPN talking about the build up to the new premiership season for about an hour. Decided that to pay 650B per night like last time i was in Bangkok would be far too extravagent so found myself in the worst shit hole i have ever seen for 150B, shared bathrooms, loads of writing on the wall and something that could be coke (or maybe sick) on the wall. Slept for a while before going out to do a little shopping, getting info on the overnight train to Chang Mai, and getting my head shaved to guard one for 100B
(bit pricey compared to India but at least i got what i asked for this time!) Currently checking out the tatoo parlours in order to complete my new 'double hard bastard' image. The Liverpool and Arsenal games are on in the bars later so i am looking forward to that, possibly with a beer or two.

Bye for now,
Uncle Adam.