Cuzzie love

On the 28th Jagi arrived to Malaysia! We have been staying with our aunt Mellanies friend here on Penang island on the west coast of Malaysia. Mellanies friend Ben and Pat have been so nice to us. They have treated us like family. 

We are staying at Bens moms house in northern Penang outside the city in a town called Butta Finggie (I like to think of butterfinger!). The house is walking distance from the beach! On the first day Jalena and I went to relax on the beach. 45 minutes into our tanning time a hudge rainstorm came. We ended up walking back singing shakra walka walka and dancing in the rain! 

On Bens day off her friend Vendy and Ben took us sightseeing in town. They bought us all the local friut and food to try. They brought us to the new 3D musume where we took thousands of pictures:

 

Ben:

Vendy and I:

Tomorrow we head off to Cameroon highlands! Stay tuned for more adventure!

"Pai bean paaw boh"- do you what to go climbing?

After my wonderful 10 days of traditional Lao living I was ready to get back into the English speeking world. It is a challenge to be somewhere for days without having a real conversation. I only know very basic Lao so after a while it gets pretty lonley. 

I headed down south to a city called Thakhek. Thakhek sits on the Mekong river with Thailand on the other side. 

I stayed here one night then headed 12 km outside of town to Green Climbers Home. 

GCH is a place for rockclimbers to camp and climb! It is surrounded by beautiful limestone cliffs. There are over 100 routes boulted. The furthers route away is 10 minunte walk! 

I met some amazing people here. They weren't the average party backpackers. They were people like myself, wanting to experience the culture, nature, and life of Lao. They were people who cared about the environment, their health, and others. 

My main climbing friends were Noah (American), Thom Thom (English), Angues (Irish), Juile (French) and Chang (Vietnamese). The three boys are mountain guides all over the world. They were very helpful in teaching me how to lead climb (lead climbing is when you are just attached to the harnest and the belayer then you clip your rope into the bolts. Top rope is when the rope is attached to the anchor at the top and you are on one side of the rope and the belayer on the other. Lead climbing is harder because there is a bigger risk of falling further.)

It was inspiring to be in a place were everyone was so enthusiastic about climbing. 

My average day for 3 weeks was 

530am wake up and yoga with Chang 

630 climb 

10 breakfast and rest (swim/read/relax)

12 climb 

3 lunch and rest 

430 climb 

7 slack line/ hula hoop/ frisbee/bad mitten 

8 shower/dinner 

930/11 bed 

I was working on a project (a route that's above my level and takes days/weeks or months to finally nail). The route was called Nok Nok!! Means: cheers. It was a terrible route. It was graded a 6b but the beganing was hard because a chunk of rock fell of making the start a 7a grade. Then the middle part was okay with lots of tufas you have to weave in and out of. Then there was a second crux at the top. It was a small over hanging bit. The bolts were spread out and it was super dangerous if you fell from any point. I don't know why I made this my project but I wanted it more then anything. 

On my last day I was determeined to send it (climb to the top with no rope breaks or falls). I went out with Thom Thom at 6am. I made it to the second crux I had my  left foot placed on a slippery bit but I thought if I pushed hard enough it would hold. I was far above my last bolt and Thom was antisapating my next clip so he had given some slack out (more rope so I could reach the clip). My left foot gave out and I fell. I had a good falling position with my feet up and hands out. My left shin hit the wall just under a tufa sending a hudge chunk of rock down. Thom had to move to doge the rock. I applied pressure to my shin and asked Thom if he was okay and told him there was a big hole in my leg. He lowered me down. We both agreed that the hole was deep enough for stitches. But as we were in the middle of nowhere we decided to put some superglue in it and spray the top with a liquid bandage the pull it together with a butterfly bandage. After we got things sorted with my leg I needed to nail this climb. I immediately went back up and sent the route- this time placing my foot higher and not on the slippery part. 

Pictures from around the camp:

 

The beganing of Nok Nok!!:

My leg after 4 days

Luckily I had a 72 hour bus ride from Lao to Malaysia to elevate and rest my leg. 

I am now on the west coast of Malaysia in a city called George Town. I am waiting here for Jalena to arrive then we will explore Malaysia together! 

Lucky 13

At the beganing of may I stayed with a homestay family for 10 days. Took a local bus and got dropped off in a remote village called Kong lor in Lao. I was walking around looking for somewhere to stay when I stumbled upon house number 13. There were loads of people hanging out outside talking eating mango and laughing. I said saaawa-deee and made a sleeping singal with my hands. The pulled me inside showing me a room and gave me food. 

The view from my front door. 

My three crazy homestay sisters. 

Mai(with the peace sign). Om(in the middle) and Ai(little one on the right). 

I had so much fun with these girls! 

We had a photo shoot one day: 

The parents were tabaco farmers so the girls and I would run around the tabaco fields all day. They had just harvested before I got there. So during my stay I helped them lay out the leaves to dry and then bundle them up. It was quite the process. 

We went fishing, hiking, hula hooped, and played endless games at the local school. Every evening around 4 or 5 we would take a bath in the stream. Everyone from the village would bathe at this time and it was the highlight of my day. It was so much fun splashing around. Even the elderly people would be in the water splashing eachother. I love how playful and fun Lao people are.  

On my last night my family had a basi (traditional Lao party for a family member who is arriving or leaving) for me. They dressed me up in traditional Lao clothes with a beautiful sin (silk wrapping skirt) and a scarf you wear laying on one shoulder. There was a priest who said a bunch of prayers in Lao wishing me good travels. Everyone in the village came with money attached to strings. After the priest talked everyone tied the strings with money around my wrists while they said a prayer. 

It was such an amazing experience to live with a Lao family for 10 days.