Krabi

Frankly, these are some of the photos that would bring both smiles and tears. Krabi is one of my fondest place, somewhere I would retreat to into when the material world got better of me. And very fortunately, I had the freedom to choose what I wanted to do for my Soci papers, and of course, I made the most practical choices - for Southeast Asian Studies, I did something I has a particular concern on; 'The Impact of Tourism in SEA and Their Communities'. And something even closer to my heart, for Sociology, 'The Religion of Climbing'.

For some reasons, I have these photos... and I wonder where I kept the 31/4-inc diskette with the actual photos of the resorts popping up along Railay Beach from 1996-2001. The first time I went Krabi was with the climbing kakis. And needless to say, it became a place of refuge - whenever I needed to climb or dive - when I needed to see the world from a different perspective.

Frankly, what I needed was to live out of a backpack, walk on the sandy beach and dive in the sea water. Alright, I'm not talking about the hippy thing, already back then, I would feel like a plant whenever I baked in the sun; it was pure photosynthesis. As weird as it sounds, I needed regular solar power-ups.

And the dives, every dive made me hyper-grateful. My eyes would be red from the sea water after I clear mask... but unbeknownst to everyone, I would tear whenever I take my first breath underwater. As the carbon dioxide bubbles out from my regulator, there will be a choke in my throat. (No, I have equalised well and breathing well from the tank). I would marvel at the beauty of the world and for unknown reasons, there will also be a sort of 'sadness' that so few people can see and appreciate it.

And this is the whole reason why I'm recounting all these; Jaeden and Jaelyn, there's more to the world than what you see, there's more to the world than the classrooms, the geographical boundaries. There's more to the world than yourself. Go seek the greatness out there and within!

#nature #outdoor #climbing #diving #thailand