Phi Phi Island, Thailand - My Birthday

 I've dived around Phi Phi Island before, but for the boyfriend here, he has always been curious about the sites here. I'm not much of person who likes touristy beach areas with the pubs and bars, which Phi Phi Island really is just that. If you like the beach and party scene, this place will really suit you. 

Unfortunately, I've cut out drinking almost entirely. They say exercise is for people who can't handle drugs and alcohol. I'm kinda just like that.

And...the mandatory photo if you're in any part of Thailand that has a beach resort. 

Aside from the sun, sand, and bars, the massages are awesome, and there's some nice crags to climb. I was concerned whether it'd be like Krabi - Tonsai & Railay areas which aren't that built up. It is always important to bring the right luggage especially when you've got heavy gear in tow. My roller luggage did just fine here. 

Taking a long long walk from the resort to the crag in the background just to take a look on the first day.

A map of Phi Phi Island. It's pretty congested with people and the paths are not all that wide. But it takes about half hour to walk from one end to the other. 

Day 2 & 3 - 6 dives + 1 night dive, and a very naggy dive computer. 

Let's go diving! 

 Lots of stonefish at the dive sites. So better watch out! 

Walking back to the dive shop. We dived with Blue View Divers, and highly recommend if you're thinking of linking up with a dive shop before heading over. 

We didn't get to go out to King Cruiser Wreck and Hin Daeng & Muang because on our last day of diving, the waves were just really too choppy, so the trip was called off. Oh well, guess that's just another reason to take a break. 

All in all, with pretty decent lodging - air con, bed and hot showers are a luxury for me, oh and a TV. We spent most of our night watching not-so-old movies. We paid about S$120 per night per. We have our full set of gear, so we got extra discount :D 

Anyhow, diving in Phi Phi, the rates are controlled. 

Drying out the 'laundry' 

Since we couldn't go out to dive, we decided to go climbing instead. Lots of 5Cs and 6As. 

We got a guide anyhow, because we didn't know the area, although we could have just rented the rope and quick draws. I think the guide had a super relaxed day out.

Sometimes I wish the bf could take more flattering photos of me...

 Well, we all have to eat right? Supposedly the best Padthai noodles on Phi Phi. Looked a bit dodgy at first, but this came highly recommended from our dive guide. Portions are big too! 

Ok, I'm not much of a foodie, so this is about as much as I can do to describe it. 

Taken from about 25metres up. Phi Phi Island, till we meet again!

[Climb] Yangshuo, Guilin, China

2nd - 9th April 2011(8 Days)

Climbing is just an excused to get out of the country for me to explore places that sometimes, isn't really a tourist haven. So far, in my limited experience with China, I have actually liked it quite a lot. Even though my Mandarin is barely there.

Yangshuo is a town in Guilin in the province of Guangxi. In short, southern China. It was put on the map as a rockclimbing destination only after early 1990s. We had a few friends who went up before and had raving awesome reviews. So we too decided to see if it was worth raving about.

Photo from wikipedia.

This is starting to be a usual trend where I seem to be going to places out of their peak season. We travelled early April. The best time when the weather's good is from about late April to early October. There was a group up there a few days before and they told us the weather was awesome, cooling and sunny, averaging about 24 °C. But when we got there, it was rainy and windy, most of the time, the temperature was below 13°C.

Since I sold off my DSLR and friends, I now use my Domke bag as a miscellaneous compartmental bag for travel. Things to survive, wallet (duh), a good book (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), spectacle and contact lens case, my oakley sunglasses a 21st bday present, ATC (I forgot why it's in my carry on and not check-in), klipsch earphones (I swear they're the best), and other personal items.

Tiger Airways used to fly to Guilin, but last I heard, they stopped the flight. Tickets were only >$300 during the promotion. About a 4 hour flight, we landed in Guilin all set to take a van ride to Yangshuo. Not too long, about a couple of hours. The roads were clear like nothing I've ever seen before.

We stayed at Riverside Lodge, recommended for climbers. The owners themselves climb and were extremely helpful in arranging transport to the crags. 

 We paid roughly S$10 a night per person. Not bad I say, not bad. Hot water, heaters, air-con (although we really didn't need that at all) and TV. 

  Albeit not so awesome view of people's laundry. 

Yangshuo is surrounded by beautiful limestone krasts, and it's not too touristy yet. 

River that runs through the town.

 Second day onwards, we headed out to the rocks

Egg Mountain. I still fail to see the resemblance. 

The guys trying to see the routes. 

I brought my camera up, yes, that is someone's farm in the background. It was really that cold I had to wear my chiong fleece jacket we bought at the town the night before. 

Most of the trip was spent going through people's farms to get to the crags. We tried our best to stay discreet. 

On our "rest" days from climbing, also because the weather was really getting quite unbearable to climb, we decided to do some touristy things like see the limestone caves and watch a waterthemed concert.

 Some neon lights for the limestone. It's quite a bit cave and somewhere along the route, I got lost and only caught up with the group much later. 

 Honeycombs. What they do is they hack off about a kilo for you. The thing was, later on when we wanted to eat it, we realised utility knives weren't as powerful as the hammers.

It was cold I tell you. Worse is that we didn't really have the clothes for the weather.

 Some really amazing walls. 

Walking to the crags again. We spent a lot of time walking and finding the crags. 

Twin Gates. 

 After a very tiring walk up Moon Hill. The Moon in Moon Hill.

The weather was just making my photos look bad. But one of the scenic highlights of Yangshuo.

Belaying 

 We saw a whole lotta cute dogs on the way too! 

So there's this bouldering gym that many of the climbers hang out on their 'off days' too.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself in Yangshuo. We didn't get to try many other tourist activities like rowing down Li Jiang (Li River) because much of the time was spent climbing. Although I'm not as proficient as the rest, I still had a great time there. There's the other option to make a stop over at ZhangJiaJie which is also known as the Avatar Mountains. I'm definitely heading back. 

Best time to go: Late April - June, September - October. 

Budget: 8 Days - Total of $800. Accommodation is very affordable, food as well. Inclusive of buying some clothes for the rainy windy weather.