I know I’ve disappeared a little in the last few days. I’ve made it out to Tonsai, a remote beach in Thiland, dominated by climbers. It’s where the ghost of Bob Marley has come to live and smells of ganja mixed with tiger balm, sweat and magnesium. Such beautiful people on a beautiful beach that I find myself contemplating ‘what I have done to deserve this?’

Beautiful beach beautiful people

The uniqueness of Tonsai starts with the remoteness. It’s not an island but there is no way to get to it over land. Getting to the “modern” Reily beach is done by treking through the jungle or crossing over slippery stones at low tide. This means there is no law enforcement around, and “sex, drugs and Bob Marley” rule the island. But that’s only the beginning of the story, there are many such remote beautiful places that have been taken over by big resorts and hotels. Tonsai is different. Locals own all the small bungalows and restaurants. The reason for that seems to be due to Tonsai’s one major imperfection. Its beach doesn’t have enough sand. At low tide the water front moves far out and a stone field takes over making it almost impossible to get into the ocean while at high tide the water covers the entire beach and you have to wade through the waves to go from one bar to the other.

Climbing with monkeys!

This is not the only imperfection that keeps the main stream crowd away. There is no electricity in Tonsai during the day and no hot water anywhere on the beach. When it rains the paths become one big mudslide, evil mosquitoes are always buzzing around and sometimes you literally do get ants in your pants!!!

Pink Floyd reggae style with a violin… Nuff said!

Most everyone that comes to Tonsai comes to climb the beautiful cliffs. Even those that didn’t come for that get sucked into the sport/art. Climbers don’t usually just pass through, they come for longer periods, which allows for a real comradery to develop between climbers from all over the world. I’ve already written about the sharing and support I’ve found in climbing culture and Tonsai is no different, only more international and the night life is more active. With fire shows, drinking, some really good local bands and some terrible open mic nights and obviously the weed (some mushrooms and LSD too).

Locals playing a crazy game that combines Soccer and Volleyball

There is also a very interesting symbiosis between the locals and the climbers. I’m hoping that it’s not just the money that the climbers bring in that makes the locals who have ‘seen it all’ so laid back and ok with it all.

Anyway, I’ll probably be here for a while more…. It is my version of paradise after all.