So, we are half way through our time in Tonsai – I can't decide whether it feels like forever or not. A lot has happened in the two weeks - and then has it really? Maybe that is Thailand for you!!
Well one things for sure, we've had more rain than I suspect there has been in Ireland. Its rained almost every day since we arrived. About a week ago, it rained for about 8 hours stopped for an hour and then continued to rain for a further 18 hours … cabin fever started to kick in. Having said that, its warm rain, so who cares about getting a little wet and we are getting out and doing a few routes most mornings.
Both of us went to Thailand with not so much routes in mind but number and grades that we'd like to achieve. So far we are not close to getting those. A number of things are impacting us: Its taken far longer than expected to get used to the humidity and the style of climbing, Andrew is also carrying a finger injury and my back is not playing nice. It was quite disheartening in fact the first week, being spat off 6a/6b, literally slipping out of holds... I think the only route I flashed was a 5 the first few days. But slowly we are adjusting to the style, foot to hand and climb fast. We have eyed up lots of routes that we aim to try, whether we get them is another matter - we'll have fun trying!
I think we are seeing a break in the weather, we'd a gorgeous Thai day today – the sunny part of the day is getting longer and longer and rainy part less and less...
On another more annoying note, my camera is giving me a lot of unwanted pain :( Its a Nikon D300 – so if anyone has one / or knows – feel free to comment:
Basically, the CF led has started flashing on the the back of the camera when the camera is powered off. This is draining the battery over night if the battery is left in the camera. This happened a number of times when I started removing the battery. Then a few days later the camera would not turn on at all with a newly charged battery (it was as if the battery was still drained). I have two batteries, both were charged and tried.
I tried cleaning on the contacts on the lens, battery and camera, and also switching lenses and memory cards, with no joy.
Today, I tried again and miraculously the camera turned on!?! CF led still flashing if powered off.. so I took it out for a test – and it was very “temperamental”. Most of the time I could take a handful of photos before it would stop and act like the battery was dead. I would take the battery out for a while (20 minutes or so) and then it would work again. On occasion when you looked through the viewfinder, all possible focal points would fade in and out and the background become fuzzy, like a loose connection.
So, I am none the wiser. From my research on the interweb I've found that the flashing CF led could be a faulty clock battery. But some of the comments on this seems contradictory, some say that the camera will not work (like mine) and some say what does it matter if the clock battery is not charged only the dates will be wrong.... also the focal problem today does not help matters. On a plus note, it does appear that I might be able to get camera to slowly (very slowly) plod along (the very occasional photo) until we get to Bangkok.. the question is – is it going to be fixed easily or will it need to be properly serviced and how long will that take? …..... or is it time for a new camera?
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