Ton Sai, near Krabi, S Thailand. Arrived here yesterday by long-tail boat (not all the way from Sukhothai, obviously; just the last bit). Ton Sai is a little beach and village surrounded by limestone crags, some small some huge, and the easiest way to get around is by boat. Have rented a wood-and-straw bungalow in the woods (about 4 notes/night), and there's climbing, diving and sea-kayaking all within easy reach. Yes yes! Hooked up with some S Africans today and did a few 6b's and 6b plus routes over at East Railay. Steep. Don't think I'll be sending 6c onsight or 7a worked, Crazy Horse-stylee, 'til maybe I get a little fitter.

Have been to the legendary Angkor, Siem Reap, Cambodia, since my last post. Cambodia is really crummy: lots of hassle, people trying to make money from you all the time, and rip-off prices for foreigners. Maybe that's just because there are so many tourists at Siem Reap. The country is still in an economic trough since the collapse of Communism and the Khmer Rouge some 13 years ago, and you can't really blame its underemployed and poor inhabitants for flocking to Siem Reap to fleece the rich for their dollaz. Anyway, it doesn't inspire you to explore further than the immediate Angkor area, which is quite enough to be going on with. Angkor is just amazing. No point in trying to describe the ruins, I'll post some pics at a later date.

The bas-reliefs at Angkor Wat have encouraged me to begin to get to grips with that most bizarre and complex religion, Hinduism. As an entity in itself, it seems to defy description and classification: it's about as multi-theistic as you could want, and it also seems to have lots of alternative belief-systems built into it. For example, there is a belief in reincarnation and also in Heaven. That I just don't get. However, when you compare and contrast it with other major faiths, things get quite interesting.

Lets imagine you are shopping for the best deal after death, and you want some practical help in a bewildering and competitive market. This new, ill-informed but easy-to follow, online resource What Afterlife?...for those with an existence to play with who know they will one day bite the Big One and want to back a winner. May cause Professors of Comparative Religion to hang their heads worldwide. The format is a simple Q and A...I might put some scores together later, we'll see how it goes...

Q1.What about...God?
Judeo-Christian/Islam: one God, mysterious in appearance but almost certainly bearded. Address unknown; thought to be Heaven. Quite active at first; wrathful and terrifying in the Old Testament and other texts; seems to have lost interest in human affairs about 2000 years ago. Rumours of extended gardening leave or early retirement fail to deter enthusiasts.
Hinduism: 3 top Gods and another 18 major ones. Each one rides a mount such as a chariot or elephant, and you can choose your favourite God, or worship different ones depending on what you want to happen next week. Gods can appear in different forms (eg as themselves or as an avatar, ie human or animal, or even both at the same time), are always fucking and fighting, and a multitude of colourful legends abound about their activities and exploits. Again, their complete inactivity over the last few millenia doesn't seem to deter the converted. Gaudy illustrations very popular.
Buddhism: there is no God. Simps as that.