Malaysia - BiRT's back
After
crossing the Malay straights from Sumatra in Indonesia the Hot Rock round
the world group is reunited with the long lost truck. With the first climbing
guide to the countries awesome limestone released a few weeks before they
head out to the crags. Fi takes up the yarn as she is reunited with her beloved!
In Malaysia I was finally reunited with BiRT (the Big Red Truck) after more than 6 months apart. Finding and collecting the truck was not, of course, without it’s own dramas though. Scheduled to arrive on 2nd of January, on the 16th of said month I was still having telephone conversations that went something like this:
When are you expecting my shipment to arrive in Malaysia?
Shipment?? (Said like they have never heard of it or me before)
Yes - you know the shipment from America - one expedition vehicle on a flat
rack.
Flat rack?? (Said like they’ve never heard of one of those either)
It was supposed to arrive weeks ago - where is it?
Ahhhh … shipment not coming … now in Shiang.
Where’s Shiang?
Yes … now in Shiang.
Yes but where is Shiang?
Shiang … in Shiang now.
Yes but what country is Shiang in?
Country? Ahhh … Shiang … China
China!! (squealed in a slightly desperate manner)
Yes China … shipment changing vessels … shipment coming in 1 week
And
so on and so forth … I would have to admit that I did, for a time, doubt
whether I would ever see my truck again - it amazes me, having now dealt with
numerous shipping agents and port authorities, that anything which is shipped
ever arrives at its destination. There must be people, and I have never met
them, working in the shipping industry who actually know what they are doing,
but they keep themselves well hidden - they’re probably scared that
if people get wind of the fact they exist they will be swamped with work!
Boud takes up the story
I think Fi’s first words in her first e-mail from Malaysia were something like: "In Malaysia, have truck, will drive". My first words should probably be: "In Malaysia, found rock with decent bolts, will climb (loads!)." The first crag that we went to in Malaysia was the area around the Batu Caves, near Kuala Lumpur. There are over a hundred well bolted sports routes in all grades ranging from 5c to 8a+. What a relief after our adventures in Indonesia! And all that only a 15 minute taxi ride from the centre of KL, with good food, bars, cinemas and shopping centres (one with a rollercoaster inside!).
However, life in the city is not what most Hot Rockers prefer. And with the truck finally back in our possession (very nice and clean after a full day of scrubbing, a time-zone party and then another cleaning session the morning after…) most people were eager to get out and play on the rocks. About half way between KL and Singapore there is a brand new bouldering area called Tebong. Between a freshly planted oil palm trees there are big rounded boulders of the sharpest white granite I’ve ever seen. We spend two days camping between the oil palms tearing our fingertips to shreds on the boulders before heading down to Singapore for more shopping centres, another public holiday (somehow Hot Rock manages to hit all the major holidays all over the world, was that part of the plan Stiggy?) and more climbing.
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As
a Dutchman I must say I’m becoming very jealous, because it seems that
every country in the world, however small, has rock that you can climb on,
except Holland… The climbing area in Singapore is small, but fun and
definitely worth a visit if you are there. It’s an old granite quarry
and you wished that they had left a few more of the nice cliffs that surround
the grass field in the centre of the area. Stocked up on electronics (very
cheap in Singapore) we made our way back up North into Malaysia towards the
town of Gua Musang, for more bolted sports climbs. Although the crags around
the botanic garden where we stayed had lots to offer, our eyes soon fell on
a massive wall further along the road to town called El Dorado wall. Having
the truck back also meant having the Hilti back, so our fingers started itching
to put up some new routes. 5 Hot Rockers spend 4 days cleaning and drilling,
leaving behind 4 brand new routes on this huge cliff, touching only a very
small part of the potential this wall has to offer.
The next destination was Gua Kelam, very close to the Thai border. It was supposed to be quite similar to the crags in Gua Musang, but it turned out to be quite different. On the first day there, several people got attacked by wasps and bees. I got attacked by bees half way up a route next to a big nest and ended up with between 10 and 15 stings in my head and neck. Of course this wasn’t very pleasant and the prospect of the world class climbing of Thailand nearby, the choice was made quickly to head off and head towards sports climbing paradise: Krabi.
Story by the Boud and Fi
