In early January we had our first friend from home come to visit us in Thailand!  Hooray!  Mackenzie is my old climbing and hiking buddy from San Diego.  She’s a natural adventurer and in super great shape– she’s basically Superwoman!  I knew she would love Thailand, and I guessed correctly that the world famous rock-climbing peninsula of Railay Beach and Tonsai Beach would be her favorite spot!

Coming back to Railay after our previous quick visit last October was a great opportunity to go straight to the climbing routes we knew we could tackle, and to fly our brand new drone!  Yes, that’s right, we bit the bullet and purchased a DJI Mavic Pro.  Get ready for some next-level travel videos as we’ll now be adding drone footage of every destination video we make from here on out!

We stayed in Tonsai Bay on this trip, which is the super-hippy Burning Man-esque village on the beach full of dirtbag climbers, reggae bars built out of driftwood, cheap/sketchy Thai food, and fire-spinning slackline shows!

Getting our yoga on with all the awesome Tonsai murals

Side crow for the win!

Here’s a 10-minute vlog all about our adventures with Mackenzie in Railay and Tonsai!  We think it’ll give you a sense of how laid-back and beautiful this peninsula is!  And we hope you’ll notice we got better at climbing!  We even crushed a 5.10a!

Ahh, yes, the infamous “Penis Cave”.  As I explained in the video, this cave has been filled with phallus figurines by locals as a way of summoning both fertility and success in fishing!  No disrespect to Thai beliefs intended, but it’s definitely a unique site and a hilarious place to visit!

The Phra Nang Princess Cave (aka “Penis Cave”) is a short hike from Railay East Beach!

So many phalluses.  Or is it “phalli”?

Friends who climb in Thailand together stay friends forever!

Zach rocking the splits on Ramazon 5.10a!

Ramazon is a super fun climb with an awesome jump to a stalactite in the middle!

A beautiful last morning at Phra Nang Cave Beach

It was great to feel way more comfortable on the walls of Railay and Tonsai!  And we always feel at home in the hippy vibe of Tonsai Beach so we can’t wait to come back for another visit!