Same Same but Different: Ton Sai

Life is simple here...

7:45am - Keelin and Ian wake me up by knocking on my bungalow door and we have some breakfast.
9:30am - We climb. Usually getting to the route is half the fun (wading in neck-high water, scrambling through the jungle, etc.) Sometimes we skip the morning climb and just sit on the beach.
1:00pm - Lunch at our favorite "restaurant" called Chicken Lady 2. It's really just a food stall with three bamboo tables. The same guy takes our order every time, which usually includes him laughing at us about something or giving us a mini lesson in Thai.
2:30pm - We climb some more, meaning that Ian climbs up like a pro, Keelin does a good job, and at multiple points on the route I just hang there and wonder how the hell I am supposed to reach my hand into the pocket four feet above me.
6:30pm - Dinner at Chicken Lady 2 and the sunset. The BBQ chicken is bomb. Don't eat too many mangoes and too much curry. I did have a not so pleasant deja-vu moment in the jungle (only those of you who were in Ko Samui eleven years ago know what I'm talking about). We've been forced to take "rest days" consisting of toast, bananas and rice.
8:00pm - We retire to our bungalows. Often I am greeted by giant cockroaches, frogs, and other unknown creatures...there are a few holes giant in the floor (hooray for cheap accommodation!)

Most days also include playing with kittens on my porch, watching baby monkeys, reading on the beach, and complaining about the mosquitoes.

Keelin and I on the sailboat!

Today, however, we spiced things up and went on a sailboat that took us to a sweet deep water soloing locale, then sailed a bit through the islands. It's not very often that you get to dangle from a stalactite then drop twenty feet into the Andaman Sea.

From Pacific to Atlantic: Cordoba, Seville and Portugal

Cordoba turned out to be a city that I meshed with - a slower tempo, not many tourists, and lots of tiny cobblestone streets to explore. Was greeted by a parade for All Saints Day the evening I arrived - lots of priests, Virgin Marys, and kids with instruments.

Stroll through Cordoba's side streets

Met some fellow West-coasters in Seville and spent an evening watching an impromptu flamenco show. I was a little disturbed by THREE Starbucks within two blocks of eachother by the cathedral, and found myself longing for a smaller town and the coast...

Which is a small part of why I ended up in Portugal. An old friend had been camping near the coast, and equipped with only the name of the town he was camping near and a little faith, I made the journey to Sagres, Portugal to track down the most un-trackable person I have ever met. Somehow things fell into place (thanks to the Swiss girl on a bike, the Spanish guy who gave me a ride, an old Portuguese woman who offered me a room, and the British guy I met on the beach who, after I explained my story, told me it sounded like Sleepless in Seattle), and I found my friend.

My lone backpack and the cliffs in Sagres, Portugal 

Too bad I only had a couple days in Portugal, because it is amazing. Huge cliffs, beautiful beaches, and genuine people. Spent Sunday hiking along the coast, deep water soloing, swimming in caves, and picnicing. Monday morning we took a bus to Seville, and then I hopped on a plane to Rome. Almost didnt make it on the bus out of Sagres (for a solid twenty minutes I convinced myself that I could just camp there and stay forever), then almost didnt make it on my plane to Rome (completely different reason - and now I know not to drink a bottle of wine before catching a bus to the airport).

Next post will be from Thailand. Ciao, Europe. You taught me to live in the present and that things always work out in the end.