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New limestone destination in Indonesia 30-Nov-2020 At 6:35:06 AM Chris99

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There is a great new limestone cliff waiting to be developed in West Timor, Indonesia, about 3 hours from Kupang, which is about an hour's flight from Denpasar, Bali. The cliff, called Nau Susu, lies at about 1500 metres asl, so the weather there is perfect. It will have several hundred routes on it, between one and three pitches. The rock is excellent. There's bouldering potential as well.

Accommodation is at this stage basic, but locals would be keen to improve it. From where you stay, on an idyllic plateau at the top of the cliff, it is 5 minutes walk to the base of the main cliff; there are other tiers as well around the place. There are some shops and markets in the vicinity. The best thing would be to hire a car in Kupang for one's entire stay, probably for about $20 a day.

A group of Americans visited 3 years ago, and after talking with locals, put up six bolted routes, the hardest one being about 26. They tried to raise money to go back by pitching it as an eco-tourism- development project, the very thing they claimed would pull the local people out of poverty, protect the environment from mining.. and could be applied to the rest of Indonesia. Still, I think it would be good for the local community to see climbing there developed.

Since I go to West Timor quite often (although not this year obviously), I would be interested in seeing this area developed. This, by the way, is not the only area; I've seen lots of other potential. If a group of people with a bolt gun were keen to check it out, I could go along and help in the discussion with the local people or, if not, give you the low down on how to find it etc... Over time, good accommodation could be built and it would be a great alternative to Thailand, which seems a bit overrun these days. West Timor, by the way, is a stunning place; Kupang is quite nice. Before too long, there will be direct flights to Kupang from Australia (from Darwin it would be a 1.5 hour flight).

If you go to this website you will see a youtube video (Oru Kayak and the Indo Project) that gives you a pretty good idea of the place.
https://youtu.be/L2B-xGfCvKQ

For more info on the American trip and intentions, go to:
https://www.climbing.com/places/the-indo-project-can-climbing-help-save-an-island/