Midterm coming up..

Just a couple of days of school left till our 3week fall break begins. On Friday we hop on a plane to Bali for a couple of weeks and after that a week and a half somewhere in Malaysia. The fall break has brought midterm exams with it. Last week we had some presentations and this week will be the midterm exams. I had to mention these just so you don´t think that we´re just enjoying a holiday here..

..but enough about school, way more exciting things happens outside the classroom. This weekend, or Sunday-Monday, we went to Khao Yoi, a small village 1,5hours southwest of BKK. The reason for our trip was climbing. We rented the gear we needed and took a minivan from Victory monument to Khao Yoi. We got dropped off in the middle of the village and straightaway got pointed in the direction of the cliff we were to climb. The cliff was located next to a back alley opposite of the hospital, which would later point to be convenient. The back alley was owned by scary looking straydogs, or zombie dogs as we call them, and monkeys. They were all acting unpredictably so we tried to avoid them as best we could. After we´d checked out the spot we started looking for a place to spend the night. At the same time a cop came up to us and asked us what we were doing. He only spoke thai so it took us a while before we managed to explain what we wanted. He made a couple of phone calls and told us to wait. About ten minutes later he showed up in an SUV and told us to get in. He drove us to a golf resort some 5km away, courtesy of the thai government. The resort looked expensive but since it was low season we managed to get a room for a very reasonable price. After we´d settled in our receptionist got us a pick-up truck to take us back to the climbing spot. It really felt like another world sitting in the back of the truck in the thai countryside with perfect weather.

The routes at Khao Yoi turned out to be more difficult than we expected and the fact that our lead climber had been partying till six in the morning didn´t make things easier. However, he miraculously managed to attach the top rope so that the rest of us could enjoy the climbing as well. Later on, when leading another route, he slipped and fell a couple of meters before smashing into the wall leaving him with a sprained ankle. Good thing the hospital was close.. Nothing too serious so we headed back to the resort as the sun went down. When trying to get a ride this local drunk offered to take us for 500baht, although we only paid 100 for the ride there. After a short negotiation we decided not to hitch a ride with him since he couldn´t even walk straight. At the same time a family drove by us in a pick-up and offered us a ride for free. The next morning after breakfast a couple of us headed back to BKK for health reasons while the others stayed for the day.

The trip was fun, easy and definitely different from just another weekend in BKK. Now we have a couple of days at school before our trip to Bali. Sorry for the lack of photos on the blog site. I´ve experienced some difficulties uploading them. I´ll keep trying as well as writing about our time in Bali and Malaysia. Until the next time..have a good one!