Adventures of the Ural climber

As a native Uralian, I have one foot in Asia and the other in Europe. More precisely, I have a larger scale: the right hemisphere, responsible for figurative thinking, I am in the East, and the left, logical, far in the West.

And there and there, I spent a few years of my life trying to combine these different worlds. Perhaps that’s how I became “sick in the head.”

 

So, let's get this straight. My name is Vera Curlyava, and I was born to crawl. Rock climbers don't say that, it's right to say climb. Anyway, I wasn't born to fly. I'm afraid of planes. This is my passion for traveling and climbing.

Since 2002, virtually all of my trips abroad or within our country have been to rocks, mountains, or wherever they are. My friends and I loaded backpacks and went to our Asia to conquer the peaks of the Fan Mountains, or arranged company training on the Ural granites of the Devil’s Fortress. Sometimes I could go abroad. In fact, my first trip to Thailand influenced my way of life so much that it made it a nomadic place forever.

 

When I talk to people who don’t know me very much and mention this country, the reaction usually follows: “Ah, I was Pattaya, Phuket.” Uh, no, you guys weren't in Thailand. Physically, they may have been, but they did not see it as different, tasty, kind and unique as it was and remains to this day.

In addition to the well-known islands in the south, there is also northern Tai. How beautiful is the Buddhist, calm and meditative Chiang Mai. And in the central region of Isan, people carefully preserve their traditions, engage in agriculture, where you can see the real rural, not tourist life of this state. And yes, these places are also engaged in rock climbing, there are several large areas equipped for this activity. I did not see the North on the first race, much later. And now about the initial acquaintance with the mysterious land of smiles.

 

Southeast Asia greeted me with a kaleidoscope of bright smiley faces, spice-smelling, and stuffy urban humidity. Everything here was alien to me and a little scary. Then there was a long way from Bangkok to Krabi, and from there by boat to a climbing campground on the shores of the Indian Ocean. His name is Ton-Sai. But all the fatigue and fear that I would not like Thailand disappeared the second our boat rounded the edge of the cliff and a magical landscape opened up to my eyes. A beach with palm trees, surrounded on all sides by sheer cliffs. It was like the DiCaprio movie of the same name, only cooler. Because not only is it beautiful, but there are no crowds of one-day tourists. It's a place of climbing power. And it was my paradise on Earth.

 

Looking ahead nine years, I found another paradise in Thailand, Koh Tao, in the Gulf of Thailand in the South China Sea. You can get there by transfer from Bangkok by bus ferry or ferry from Koh Samui, where there is a small airport. Subsequently, Koh Tao became my home, I put him in my soul and do not want to let go. The name from Thai translates as Turtle Island. These sea creatures are really there. In addition to turtles, thousands of species of fish live on reefs, including the world's largest shark - the whale. This shark is a very nice and friendly giant.

 

One day while diving, I noticed that our instructor was frantically waving his hands near his head, and everyone else was giving a shark sign! At first I was seriously scared, but then, when I saw this smiling spotted “submarine” literally 5 meters away from me, I was speechless. I mean, I even stopped blowing bubbles out of admiration. Luckily, I did not forget to take my bathyscaphe camera and managed to take a selfie with a whale shark!

 

Yes, Tao is known for its diving schools, hundreds of people scuba diving here every day, diving on breath holding or just snorkeling on the surface of the water. Therefore, if you are attracted to diving and non-banal holidays on a small tropical island - here you go.

 

Although climbers here will also find a very prickly and specific type of climbing - bouldering. Conquering the big boulders.

 

The size of the island is only 21kv2, it can even swim around in less than a day, there were such experiments. It is mountainous, the roads are serpentine, and people mostly live in three locations. They are not even villages, they are beaches. Therefore, Koh Tao is a very private, calm and relaxed island. And here the dreams will come true.

It's a place of power, and I don't know a single person who's ever been to Tao and desperately doesn't want to come back. I couldn't fight that desire.

 

Once I came here for a week to try diving, passed the first stage of the international PADI system, got crusts, went back to Russia.

And then it's like a movie about crazy downshifters. Passed her last accounting report at work, sold her car, threw a farewell party and went to live on an island. On Tao, I lived five pennies of years, completed my studies to the degree of Divemaster, got a place of photographer in one of the dive centers.

While living there, I paradoxically met a huge number of friends and acquaintances with whom it was so difficult to see live. Some of them even stayed on the island. I have a friend who met her future husband there and now lives with him in Finland. I periodically went from there to climb Ton Sai, to the nearest countries for a visa, and once I was carried away to the other side of the world, to America. But let’s go back to the “Indian” side of Thailand, to our rock climbing Ton Sai.

The beach is unique in its location. It can only be reached by water. Boats run from the city of Krabi through the famous tourist beach Riley, or directly from the village of Ao Nang. If at the moment the tide, the boat moored to the sandy shore. And the fact that you are unloaded on the rock and coral bottom a hundred meters before the edge of the beach, does not mean that you were deceived. Don’t worry, it’s just the time of the ocean.

Congratulations, you are in a real tropical jungle, living by the laws and rhythms of nature. In addition to amateur climbers from all over the world, there are a number of Thais, all sorts of creeps like snakes and spiders and several flocks of wild monkeys (almost those, Brazilian, from "Hello, I'm Your Aunt").

 

In addition to residential houses and huts, the beach and part of the jungle are filled with rasta bars and cafes. All food and fresh water is brought here by boat, so the prices are slightly higher than on large land. People here hang out simple, sociable and soulful. In the morning, some creep along numerous rocky routes, others go to the beach to relax, bite a coconut or chew a banana. Yes, our happiness is constant, Chunga Changa!

 

In the evening, everyone gathers in bars or again on the beach. Fire show, tightrope walkers, evening yoga. And this is not a spectacle, this is a Tonsai life, penetrating you with freedom and creativity. And even if you're a serious office clerk in ordinary life, a couple of days later on Ton Sai you find yourself spinning intricate poi and standing with one foot on a tightrope and lighting everything around with a Thai smile to your ears.

 

On that first visit we spent two weeks in Ton Sai with friends. Climbing, filming, I dragged my camera everywhere and tried to capture all the best moments on it. From here comes my climbing life, interest in travel, to learn something new. One day, the three of us climbed a long route with our comrades on several ropes. The route passed through a small cave in the middle of the rock, you had to climb through it and get out on a plumb. To descend from this point to the ground had to climb a huge collonet, menacingly hanging down from a height of 60 meters. The Dulfer station was right at the tip of this giant. Dulfer in the emptiness of the Thai stalactite, like a spider descending on a web into the abyss, is still one of my most vivid impressions.

Then I went back to this rock-climbing paradise. This is where my other Western travel story begins. On Ton Sai, I met an American who invited me to do a trip all over the country. USA From the west coast to the east, and in the course of the play to conquer several peaks. Do you think I agreed? Guess! And it was the first step to adventure on the other side of the earth, conquering American peaks, cities and human hearts.

 

I’ll tell you about this next time, follow the publications, and subscribe to my Instagram, there is still a lot of interesting things: https://www.instagram.com/verafototravel/

Text: Faith Curly

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