Climbing in Mae Sai

Mae, myself and Sak, just before dropping me off at the bus.

Another activity without any photographs was the rock climbing in Mae Sai. When I was in Bangkok I was spectator at a Thai climbing tournament. One of the organisers gave me a flyer and this is what brought me to a climbing wall next to the 'fish cave'. Again this was an initiative where the local villagers had learnt to climb and belay. After a couple of difficult phone calls, because my host-to-be Mae didn't speak a lot of english, I got picket up from the main road. Everything was pretty well organised. There were a lot of routes set up in the rock and all the materials - shoes, harness, ropes - was available. After starting with a top rope climb I did a couple of lead climbs. The guys, Mae and Sak, tried to give me more difficult routes every time.

At the end of the afternoon I could stay to spend the night at Mae his house. He took me to the local karaoke bar where his girlfriend worked as a waitress. A lot of fun. Sak didn't know any english, but managed to teach me 'mang ma'. 'Mang ma' means 'very much'. So every time he asked me something, eg. 'muan mai?' - 'did you enjoy?' - I needed to answer 'muan mang ma' - I enjoyed very much'.

The next day I could borrow Mae his scooter and spent a day on the road visiting tea plantations and mainly enjoying the scenery.