So, rock-climbing. We didn't suck at it but we didn't exactly excel either. Railay Beach was a fantastic place to try the sport though. We got a bus and a longtail boat there, arriving at 9am so that we could relax before our climb at 2pm. The golden beach was beautiful at that time, and so so peaceful. We were surrounded by rugged cliffs and caves and had a great uninterrupted view out to sea, where yet more huge rock structures rose majestically out of the water. It felt like we were in the land that time forgot. It was good we got to see it like that as forty-five minutes later the day-trippers arrived and the beach was absolutely rammed! Eventually we went for a walk to escape the masses and stumbled across a cool little cave filled with hundreds upon hundreds of wooden penises of all sizes and colours. Apparently the sailors used to leave these phallic gifts as offerings to their fertility goddess before leaving for voyages...

We had lunch at a posh resort, where we spotted at least one mouse, before heading to the rock-climbing office to get kitted out. We each got a harness belt (mine was child-sized, the shame!), a chalk pouch and a pair of teeny tiny soft shoes that have to pinch otherwise they won't work. We also got given a bottle of water each, which I promptly lost. I had ticked the 'I have never climbed before' box on the registration form and, rather naively, hoped that this meant they would go easy on me. No such luck. We were all dumped at the bottom of a very vertical, very smooth cliff face (grade 5, whatever that means), harnessed up, and told to start climbing. My first attempt was terrifying, partly because the lack of a briefing and partly because the guide of the girl ascending next to me - sodding 'Tulisa', her name will forever be burned in my memory - was ridiculously loud and extremely verbal ('Tulisa! Left foot to your knee! Now shimmy to the right! Tulisa! Right hand up and further to the right! That's it Tulisa!' etc etc etc) and basically drowned out any words of encouragement or direction that my guide was shouting up to me. As a result I spent most of the climb clinging like a limpet to the rockface, frozen with fear and wondering where the f*** I should go and what the hell I should be doing, and, most of all, who this Tulisa was. I kept remembering Harry's advice to Jak: use your legs more than your arms. Armed with this little gem I somehow inched my way up to the top before being winched back down. I was such a trembly sweaty mess by the time I reached the ground that my ponytail was stuck to my back. I almost didn't attempt another climb but I'm glad I did as it was much better; I could actually hear the guide, there were more footholds and it was generally easier, plus I had started to trust in the rope a bit more then. By the third climb I was even enjoying myself a little.

Jak took to it easier than me but struggled slightly as he had stubbed his toe, badly, a few days ago and the climbing involved a lot of squidging your toes into tiny crevices and putting your whole weight on them. He completed a couple more climbs than I did, giving up only when he was so tired that his legs kept giving way and he kept swinging away from the rockface. He wasn't the only one - by the end of the session everyone was wiped, even the really sporty looking people. We left feeling very happy and pleased with ourselves; after all, it's not everyday you get to clamber over such an iconic landscape.

That night we went out for dinner and bumped into a couple we'd met in Langkawi. All plans of an early night evaporated and we found ourselves drinking cocktails and playing pool until the wee hours. Good times :-)

Yesterday we caught a local bus, or songthaew, to our next hostel 30km up the coast. We were approached several times by taxi drivers whilst we were at the bus stop, many of whom told us we would be waiting until 1pm for the bus. We sat tight and at 11am the bus, which looked remarkably like a wooden shed on wheels, pulled up and we jumped on next to the pineapples and mangos. We stopped several times at little villages to pick up more deliveries and before long we were completely surrounded by fruit and veg, cardboard boxes and bicycle tires. Every time the driver stopped we were convinced there was no more room but every time he managed to find some, even if it meant tying twine across the back of the bus to stop all the parcels falling out. When we reached our destination we had to climb out the window to get off. Even so, it beat my old commute to London hands down - the views were amazing, the breeze through the open windows was gorgeous and it was fun.

We're currently staying in a cute little bamboo bungalow on stilts. It's fairly remote so the only sounds at night are those of crickets, geckos, the wind, birds and the occasional gibbon(!) By day hens, tiny chicks, cats and stunning white peacocks strut about the place. The peacocks seem to particularly enjoy resting under our bungalow and we can see them through the holes in the floor if we look down. Mercifully we have a mosquito net - it's great being close to nature but a line needs to be drawn somewhere. On our first day here we just relaxed. There is a pier at the end of the grounds where you can watch the sun set over the water with a beer, so we did that, then played cards until we were sleepy.

Today we walked to the nearby beach, which stretched on for ages but was COMPLETELY empty :-O It was amazing to have it to ourselves, especially after sharing our personal space with so many at Railay. We read and sunbathed and swam before reluctantly dragging ourselves off for lunch. Afterwards we were booked onto a guided kayaking tour. We kayaked into various caves and through a rock canyon and finally though a mangrove forest where we had to lie flat on our backs several times so that we could pass underneath branches and we kept getting wedged in between trees. It was brilliant, it felt like we were kayaking through something out of Jurassic Park or Avatar. Surreal. When we got back we had delicious massaman curry and roti bread. I'm writing that down so we don't forget what the curry was called as it was Yummy!