Mai Pen Rai

Mai pen rai = All is well.

We, a group of about 10, just returned from 6 days at sea aboard the Dragon Heart pirate ship. We spent our time traveling from island to island, scouting for prime deep water soloing and highlining. We slept on the boat and ate family-style traditional thai meals. We got rained on most nights, but it was usually in the form of a brief but torrential storm, and it always calmed and cleared by the time we went to bed. 

The first couple of days were spent anchored outside an island with a cave. We boarded kayaks and paddled into the cave to discover that it opened into a huge cavern with an open ceiling. As we continued paddling, we discovered there were more of these caverns inside caverns inside caverns. It was truly magical, and perhaps the most special part was that you can only access these inner caverns when the tide is just right. If the tide is too low, it's just mucky, sticky mud, and if the tide is too high, you can't get the kayak through the cave. On top of this, the water has bioluminescence, which lights up neon, glowing in the dark when the water is disturbed. So, if you swim at night, the water glows around you....and if you are swimming in a cave, you can still find your kayak because it is outlined in neon where the boat touches the water!

The group rigged several slacklines, one rope swing, and one zipline inside the first cavern, and to our surprise, hundreds of tourists in kayaks started coming through the cave during the middle of the day. It was hilarious and bizarre to watch European tourists, most of whom were overweight, lounging kayaks being paddled by petite Thai men, but I think they found us pretty entertaining, especially when we erupted in monkey noises at their approach. 

We moved on to another couple of islands, containing both a tower and stalactites galore for climbing, as well as another cave, where a highline was rigged and sea shells were collected.  Because we moved north toward the river delta, the water was murky and we were unable to spot the abundance of jellyfish lurking below. Jared was the first victim....he got stung pretty badly on his knee while deep water soloing. Andy rushed to his rescue, offering to pee on Jared's leg, but unfortunately Andy was fairly dehydrated and only a trickle came out. Preston, Jared's brother, got stung the very next day, and his screams were agonizing! He declined offers of urine on his wound. Then, yesterday, I got stung while swimming back to the boat after deep water soloing. My sting wasn't as bad, but I definitely screamed loud enough that the others knew what had happened. Andy offered to pee on my leg, but instead I opted for the Thai method of vinegar and tobacco. It burned for awhile, but it's fine now.

I have been working on my chongo start but I have yet to stand up on a waterline. I helped Hayley rig a mid-line and took a few attempts. I've made some baby steps, and I am so psyched to walk my first line!

The group is pretty banged up, but doing well. We are covered in scratches and bruises and are taking a much-needed rest day before raging to Koh Phi Phi or perhaps Tonsai. No plans yet, but things seem to work out better that way....

Coconut juice...yum!

A couple of monkey pirates

Dragon fruit

slackline using the pirate boat and a stalactite as anchors