Chapter 4: Thailand - Bangkok + Krabi/Railay Beach

A two-day layover in Bangkok was always part of the plan. Travis wanted custom tailored suits made, and I was thrilled to have 48 hours in a new city filled with some of my favorite foods. But when Travis caught me binge-watching climbing videos on Instagram under the covers one night, (as I often do — thanks, Drew), he had the brilliant idea to shave a few days off other legs of our trip and tack on five days in Krabi to play on rocks. I was a yes. He’s a good one. ;) So we threw together a new plan to fly from Borneo to Bangkok for two days, onward to Krabi for five, and back to Bangkok for a final day. 

Bangkok, Round One

On day one, we got straight to business and headed to Rajawongse Clothier — a world-renowned hole-in-the-wall tailor shop that has been handcrafting suits for three generations. Photos of former U.S. presidents and patches from customers around the world cover the walls. Travis had been twice before, 2012 and 2015, and not a thing had changed. Except maybe T’s measurements, a bit. We were welcomed with two cold Singhas and a stack of pins for Travis to mark his favorite fabrics. A tailor took his measurements while I pretended like I belonged there. 

We ended the day in what was clearly the hipster, college-student neighborhood of BKK, where hoards of youth lined up for fun food fads which we were happy to partake in, starting with a packed seafood spot and ending with a torch-roasted marshmallow wrapped around ice cream on a stick.

On day two, I found the only bike tour in existence (for good reason — don’t bike in 98% of this city, friends). We spent half a day with a group of Dutch tourists learning about Bangkok’s temples and biking through fruit and flower markets, winding through back allies, side streets and sidewalks. The second half of the day was dedicated to eating. We headed to the Iconsiam mall, Bangkok’s newest glitzy mega-mall, known for its multilevel incredible food courts and its Singapore-esque giant water features. Highlights included: yummy flakey red bean pancakes, steamed shrimp dumplings, rainbow sticky rice, spicy curry noodle soup, and a life-changing green custardy bubble waffle. Life-changing because it was incredible — and because just prior to their purchase, Travis had grabbed money from an ATM nearby and left his credit card behind. Which later cost a few hours/days of Travis’s life to resolve but c’est la vie. 

Bangkok ➝ Krabi

Our last morning in Bangkok we spent over an hour in rush hour traffic commuting to a mall to try out a local climbing gym (as one does). Then we flew to Krabi, spent the night, squeezed in some ping pong, and caught a boat to Railay Beach the next morning.

The limestone cliffs around Krabi, with unbelievable ocean views, are a climbers paradise. I’d never been to Thailand before, and naïvely thought Railay would be a quiet, nature-filled haven for seasoned climbers. Lol.

It was jaw-droppingly beautiful — and the climbing was spectacularly challenging, terrifying, and exhilarating — but the town itself was packed with tourists, the worst spring-breaking kind. You really had to be high up on the rocks to find your zen. Which was the plan!

We hired a local guide to climb with on three of our four days, leaving one day in between to let our arms recover and lay around on the beach. We had the same guide each day, who has lived and climbed in the area for the last 20 years. He was definitely a man of few words but he knew the crags like the back of his hand and took us to the most epic spots, quickly learning our respective skill levels and taking us on challenging routes with incredible views. Travis, newer to climbing, went for every hard climb regardless — and I had just as much fun holding my breath and cheering him on as I did climbing myself. I think we both loved pushing ourselves and each other. 

By our final climbing day, the town had thinned out and things felt a bit calmer. Our guide took us to a mellow warm-up spot, then led us farther into the jungle to a towering wall with huge overhangs and iconic karst columns. The only others around were a couple off-duty guides, chatting, smoking some weed and cleaning up routes. Our guide, determined to properly push me, convinced me to climb one last long route just as the storm clouds rolled in. (He didn’t say much that day but he did turn to Travis with a smirk at one point and said, “This should wear her out”.)

Unbeknownst to me, he’d sent one of his buddies up a nearby route and orchestrated a photo shoot as I was sending the hardest climb of my life with thunder roaring behind me and rain starting to drizzle. I was terrified and exhausted halfway up but there was no choice but to finish because I had clips to remove and stoned guide fans to impress. Fortunately, I’m just proud and stubborn enough, and managed to finish the ascent right as the skies fully opened up. See below for some pretty great photos. 

Back to Bangkok

The next morning, we flew back to Bangkok with sore muscles and big egos, with just enough time for one final suit fitting and a quick visit to the Reclining Buddha.

Next stop: three weeks in Sri Lanka.