January - February '09 |
Hot Rock: Climbing in Laos |
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Monasteries
flowing over with saffron robed novices, temples, bells and drums, sacred
caves, roaring rivers, the sleepy mighty Mekong and the royal seat of the
Kingdom of Million Elephants, Laos is a truly surprising country.
The
size of Great Britain (but home to just 4 million people,) Laos suffers the
distinction of being the most bombed country ever, per head of population.
Now at peace for many years, it is gradually opening up to foreign visitors.
Our visa for Laos will only be for a few weeks and we will spend most of this time in the country’s main climbing area of Pa En rock, near Luang Prabang. We will visit famous sights such as the “Plain of Jars” and Si Phan Don on the way. From the town of Luang Prabang we will leave the expedition vehicle and travel by river barge up the Mekong River to the two vast limestone walls of Eagle Rock and Swallow Rock that rise straight from the river. There are both sport and trad climbs up to grade 5.13b, and include the fabulous but rarely climbed 'Guatanamera'. After seeking permission from the village, we will camp on the beach opposite the cliffs for a week to climb the best of the existing lines, put up new routes and head off into the surrounding forest and river tributaries in search of as yet undiscovered cliffs.
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As Will Hair said of their trip to open up the first routes: "We hopped
on a slow barge for a ride up the Mekong to its confluence with the Nam Ou.
For
two leisurely hours we churned past small villages and temples tucked along
the banks of the river, eventually reaching the clear waters of the Nam Ou.
When we rounded the corner to find the wall of limestone jumping up before
us we could hardly contain ourselves - We all stood transfixed, visualising
new lines up the wall." They left after putting up 19 routes from 5.7
- 5.13b and running out of bolts.
There
is a chance on rest days to discover the delights of Luang Prabang itself,
once known as 'the little Paris of the East' with its magnificent temples
and former royal palaces. The town is so chilled out with its wealth of Buddhist
monasteries, it even has a 'free range' jail from which the inmates are reportedly
reluctant to be released. In the Royal Palace you can see everything from
solid gold Buddhas, moon rock given as a present from the USA after the Apollo
13 mission and a rifle inlaid with pearl from soviet premier Brezhnev. There
are nearby waterfalls and there is always the expedition’s canoe to
head out and explore on. 
Depending on how we get on here, we may also head off to Vang Vieng before leaving Laos, to explore and enjoy its mist shrouded limestone karsts, timeless caves and ancient ruins. Here, besides climbing, there is also the potential for kayaking, caving and mountain biking trips.
But now the scent of Thailand is in the air, and we’ll all be eager to move on.
