Stage 512 Oct - 1 Dec 2009Kunming to Bangkok |
Hot Rock: the arc of asia
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Laos |
Cambodia |
Thailand |
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LaosMonasteries 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. And the rock climbing in Laos is also surprisingly good. 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. |
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Our visa for Laos will last a month, and we will spend most of this time on the superb limestone cliffs rising from the Mekong, the Nam Ou and other rivers throughout this pristine country. Laos is fast becoming the "New Thailand" and now is the time to make the most of the cliffs here before they get shiny and saturated with visitng climbers. We'll climb amidst wide eyed locals, above popular tourist resorts, through extensive cave systems and monster tufas. The Silk Route expedition members in 2008-9 were blown away by Laos and the schedule here has been extended specifically for that reason. |
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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. |
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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.
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In Vang Vieng, we'll jump on rubber tubes, together with the entire 18-30 travelling population of SE Asia, to cruise the river for a day. We'll have time 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. We'll check out the mysterious Plain of Jars, the riverine bustle of Si Phan Don and the tranquility of the capital, Vientiane, before heading south across the border to Cambodia. |
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CambodiaThe release of Cambodia's first guide book last year ended the myth that there is no rock climbing in Cambodia. We had no time on the Silk Road to check Cambodia's crags out, so this will be a first for the Arc of Asia expedition. We've several days scheduled here, to enjoy a south east asian rarity: trad climbing... before heading to the capital Phnom Penh, with Pol Pot’s infamous “Killing Fields” and, of course, the single biggest reason for most visitors to come to Cambodia – the magnificent Angkor Wat. |
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Built by the Khmer civilization in the 9th – 13th centuries, it is simply an unmissable part of the expedition. Lonely Planet describes it as “considered by many to be one of the most inspired and spectacular monuments ever conceived by the human mind.” High praise indeed, and we’ll spend a day or two here before entering Thailand. |
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ThailandThe rock climbing in thailand is, of course, world class. An excerpt from “chronicle of a winter in paradise” about Sam Lightner’s trip gives ample introduction to climbing in Thailand: “I thought I’d seen it all until one moonlit night in a bar in Southern Thailand. The blue bar was a typical tropical outdoor bar – bamboo tables, swaying coconut trees, bikini clad patrons – but the massive rock wall that rose directly above it was anything but typical. I grabbed the table directly under the big rock wall and ordered a beer. I had come to witness Thailand’s first outdoor climbing exhibition. Tex, one of the local Thai climbers, had organized the event and advertised it well, tacking flyers to almost every coconut tree in the small resort of Phra Nang… the crowd went quiet as Tex roped up and began working his way up a sport 5.11 that began inside the bar.” |
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Our first climbing destination in Thailand is the Lang Sak crag near Uthai Thani, there are only about 20 routes there at the moment as it’s only recently been found but we can repeat these and scope out the many new lines that await first ascents. Here, in the mountainous north, we will stop to see the ruins of Thailand's first capital, Sukhothai, built in 1257. Arriving at the relaxed and interesting northern hill capital Chang Mai we will have the time to split up and head for different objectives. In the golden triangle area near the borders of the former Burma and Laos (previously known as Siam) there are few recently opened up crags worthy of our attention. 'Meang On' Cave in Chang Mai has 15 routes from French 6a-7a and two hours north is Mae Hong Sun with only a handful of lines on the massively underdeveloped crag. |
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Another popular excursion is a trekking visit to the hill tribes of the poppy fields where the countries meet. The Meos tribe is perhaps the best known with their colourful costumes and neck rings. If you don't want your feet to do any work then this is your chance to fulfil all those childhood Tarzan fantasies and saddle up an elephant and head into the jungle. After a few days new routing and cragging we will head into Bangkok to experience this loud, crowded, seedy city with bars and restaurant a plenty in backpacker central Khao San Road. There is the chance to visit the chaos of the floating market or the tranquility of one of the scattered Buddhist temples around the city. After a couple of days in Bangkok, now the proud owners of various fake Rolexes and Oakleys. we will give some folk a big sendoff and head south. But that is the subject of Stage 6... |
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Rock climbing in VietnamFor those that want, there is an option to split off from the expedition for a couple of weeks, to explore the Deep Water Soloing paradise of Halong Bay in Vietnam. Here, limestone pinnacles jut out of the South China Sea like dragons teeth. A short boat ride takes you to any one of them and, armed with sport or DWS gear according to preference, we’ll play hard for several days. Here’s what two of Britain’s better climbers reckoned to it: |
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“There are over 3000 limestone islands in the Ha Long bay region of Vietnam and we hardly scratched the surface in our two week quest to explore them. It's unusual to spend an entire climbing trip on a boat, but then it's unusual to do over 40 new routes without using a rope... ...It seemed pointless to mess around with a drill when we'd just found Deep Water Soloing paradise. ‘Ho Chi Minh’ crosses the ceiling of a remarkable stalactite infested through-cave and I climbed it from the bottom up, over two days of effort. Take plenty of pairs of rock shoes and chalk if you go to Ha Long Bay and watch out for pirates - there are more of them in this part of the South China Sea than any other of the World's oceans!”
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Leaving Halong Bay in your own time, you'll travel back to hectic Hanoi, many people's favorite city in SE Asia. From here, you'll take any one of the myriad border crossings with Laos to rejoin the truck at one of our destinations there, and continue on through Cambodia and Thailand as above. |
