THAILAND - Chiang Mai- Part 5

We had to set our alarms early for this morning because it was ROCK CLIMBING TIME!!!! We got up early and made ourselves some peanut butter banana toast and each half a papaya. Fueled up and stoked we walked down the street to meet the climbing crew. They finally opened the doors to the shop and we went into get geared up and met our instructors. Surpisingly there was a nice even mix of foreigners and local rock climbers. I was greeted by a hearty American climber and introduced to my instructor, G, a local young Thailand man. His assistant in training was name Pack, the were a funny little duo. We got fitted in our shoes and gear and then each was given a little day pack. Two other people, a man and woman, joined us. We all hoped in red truck for an hour long ride outside the city to the climbing spot. It was nice to finally get out of the city, fresh air, except for the truck exhaust in the back… But still, nature rather than polluted streets. On our way to the site, we made a quick stop a a gas station looking place, but without the gas to pick up some water jugs so we could have water on site. Back in the truck things between us all were quiet since we were all strangers and some didn’t speak english that well. We finally got to the wall and unloaded our stuff on the picnic tables. We were told to keep all our stuff locked in the car for safety, because we couldn’t trust anyone. About a 1 minute walk up to the base of the wall we all got a quick lesson on tying our knots and belaying. We separated into partners and each group got an instructor, they switched off after a certain time. Moni and I got Pack first, who was very quiet and nervous, but I knew he knew what he was talking about was correct. Moni climbed first and I belayed because Moni didn’t know how and didn’t want to start that first, which made me a little nervous, but hey, you got to learn at some point… While I was belaying Moni she was crushing it, and I was talking to G about rock climbing in the states and asking him places here in Thailand, which aren’t that many except Chiang Mai, Phi Phi, and Krabi. He did spend some time at a company in China which sounded awesome to me. He really wants to go to Yosemite, so I told him little secrets about it and what he should do. By this time Moni was done climbing and came down, it was know my turn. I got up and felt a lot of slack on my line, since Moni was slow at keeping up with my pace. But I made it up fast, didn’t fall, and Moni caught up. The partners switched climbs and we each did the next once. After that it was time for lunch, which was provided by the company. It was sweet and sour rice with vegetables. The other British girl we were with was so talkative and had no experience, but it was nice to see her out of her comfort zone, even though she was getting really sunburnt.  Lunch made us all go into a food coma. We laid down on a platform and took a little nap. G had to wake us all up and gave us a choice to either descend down into a dark hole, which had no climbing and would cut our trip short, or to climb 6 more walls. We all came here to climb so the second option was it. We got our gear and filled our waters and walked about 5 minutes to the next spot. It was very hot. We sat and waited for G and Pack to set up the first 3 routes. These ones were harder but I was willing to challenge myself. Moni and I did the first 2 middle climbs while the other couple was doing the side climb through a channel, which still no one could get up. They decided to give up and let us try. Moni didn’t even want to try it so I went. And yeah it was hard. I had a little fun at first going upside down and posing for the camera, but afterwards I had to butt scooch my way up the crevasse. Finally I made it. After that we took a little break and G and Pack had fun stealing my camera and taking pictures of each other… Bunch a goons. After we took 2 climbs down and G set up the last 2 climbs, one was very easy and the other was the hardest in Chiang Mai supposedly. I skipped the easy one and let Moni do that, afterwards we attempted the hard one but couldn’t even start. So she took a break and I wanted to try so Pack belayed me up. During this time G was slowly guiding me. I failed a lot and fell, but after about 30 minutes at this one overhang I got through! I CRUSHED IT!!! Once at the top I never felt so proud, it was an awesome feeling to do one of the hardest climbs for my ability. Before I came down G wanted me to clean the route, which I never done before but was a cool learning experience! Now I know how to clean a route. He almost wanted me to lead a climb but I was THAT confident… Satisfied and tired we gathered our stuff and headed back to the truck to go back. I took some pictures of the crazy horse and said my goodbyes, taking my scuffed up hands with me. In the car we all talked now that we were closer. Moni had us play some fast thinking hand games which made us all laugh at our stupidity. We exchanged contact info with the instructors and tried to have them tell us their really Thailand names but they wouldn’t, afraid we would butcher them. Back in the shop we cleaned and returned our gear, said goodbye, and checked out the climbing wall and merchandise. We then walked down the street to our hostel, so happy for what the day blessed us with. We were also excited to get drunk and get piercings!!! We showered and got dressed up in the hostel and had ourselves so margaritas for happy hour. After we walked to the night market in search of Sam’s tattoo shop. This is were things got tricky. We stopped in a book store which was super cool, but didn’t have enough time to look at everything, after we looked into more shops and got distracted. Next alley was full of drag queens sitting at bars… We had no idea what was happening. We found Sam’s shop but decided to get beer at a 7-eleven near by before, to boost our confidence. But Sam’s shop said this wasn’t the place to get piercings, there was 3 other shops we had to go to first. Apparently there was multiple “Sam’s Tattoo Shops”. Oh god. So the next shop was in a huge building on the third story, and here we got turned away too, the next shop as well. So There was one last shop to try, Again we had to get some more beer, all this walking was sobering us up. We were so fucking tired too, no nap after rock climbing, our hand had heart beats. Finally the shop was in the middle of the road, literally. It was a huge 4 lane crossing and in between the 2 streets was this all glass window shop. Inside they finally told us this was the right place to come, although when we ask him if he did piercing he wasn’t too confident… I knew that I wanted a bar in my ear, and I persuaded Moni to get nipple piercings! They had my bar, but for Moni the only choice she had was 2 rainbow chrome bar with jewels on them. She said fuck it and agreed. I went first. I sat down and Moni was on the computer trying to find songs to pump us up. My went by really fast and looked great! But afterwards he said the bar was too small and that I would have to change it out in 2 weeks, which would be impossible for me to do… I just said “well thats gnarly”, Moni laughed and was terrified it was her turn. I went to the computer and tried to find some songs for her to pump her up, I was under so much pressure so I just put of the “gnarliest” songs I could think of which was Eminem. She laughed and just went with it. I walked over to hold her hand and she laughed and cried. It was a great moment. After it was all over we checked out our new bling in the mirror and took pictures, while all the cars in the street could see us through the glass… Moni wanted to go straight to a 7-eleven to find some first aid kit to clean up the mess. We then walked all the way home and rested. The next morning we would be leaving for Mai Hong Son. We fell asleep with heart beats in our hands, ears, and nippled. Sleep tight.