Chockstone Forum

      Sponsored By
      ROCK
   HARDWARE

Chockstone Photography

Australian Landscape Prints

Chockstone Forum - Find Climbers

Find Climbers In Your Area

Author

Vietnam/Thailand in May


cheesehead

19-Apr-2005
2:02:00 AM

Another roll call - is anyone going to be about for May?
I'll be in Vietnam, but am hoping to make it across to Krabi for a few weeks. If anyone is going to be in either place and/or has any beta on Vietnam climbing options, let me know.

Cheers,
Mat


stephan

20-Apr-2005
2:12:48 PM

i liked northern thailand, chiang mai. it is a bit quiter then krabi. and there is some climbing in northern laos. vietnam? don't no!

joemor

20-Apr-2005
4:03:08 PM

vietnam it is hard to climb..... thailand is the way to go...


cheesehead

22-Apr-2005
1:02:41 AM

I figure it's also a sure fire bet for finding partners too. Still, would be a shame to diss Vietnam while I'm there


billk

22-Apr-2005
11:04:01 AM

James S-B, who was in Viet Nam over last summer said climbing is currently officially discouraged there. That would make it very hard for first ascentionists to bolt routes. If attitudes change, there is apparently scope for some fantastic climbing areas, especially in Hao Long Bay.

Sea kayaking is probably the go at the moment if you are wanting to do something more adventurous out of town. From what I heard, trying to cross the street in any city should get you an adrenaline rush.

joemor

22-Apr-2005
2:38:39 PM

ha long is not really that good as a future climbing mecca.... every bit of rock is accessable by boat. boats are controled by the government and personal hire rates start at $100 us a day.

i met a guy who had developed some of the routes there... and was part of the trip that featured in a recient issue of "climbing". they hired a boat on the sly via a fisherman. their captain was arrested by a police bat and they had to bribe them selves out of trouble. we went there thinking we would climb. i wsa there with a vietnamese speaking person and we inquired often about boats crags ect.... and still we didnt even get our shoes out of our packs.
there is no guide that i could find to any of the "established" areas.

there is alot of rock in vietnam granite and limestone but its mainly in the middle of no where.. aloneside highways with nowhere to stay.
nha trang has a hillside of granite boulders that could be ok...

thailand is by far the place to go in asia.


billk

22-Apr-2005
3:05:35 PM

That's such a pity. It would be good for the local economy as well as good for us if the Vietnamese government worked to encourage visiting climbers, rather than making it impossible for them.


cheesehead

22-Apr-2005
6:23:54 PM

To play devils advocate, I wonder if it would be good for them. Sure, it's increased tourism, but at what cost? I guess comparing Thailand and Vietnam is probably a good case study like this... Just thoughts.
Thanks for the beta guys. I think I will keep my shoes in my pack until I get to Krabi :(

PS - who was the guy who wrote for climber? Was is Neil or Tim?

DJ Biggs

22-Apr-2005
6:48:16 PM

A friend was able to climb inland in Vietnam in a national park somewhere with no hassles though I am not sure as to how challenging it was. Near by though I was recently (January) climbing with the guys who have bolting a lot of routes in Laos and who managed to get climbing permits scrapped after lots of haggling with the government. If you can read german ......other wise for the maps and instructions in english just go to
http://www.climaxsports.de/ click on "gebeite" in the left hand collum and then on
Neu: Neue Routen und Topo von Laos by Doc Volker Schöffl ( and the climbs are dirty and often an adventure to get to.).
Worth the trip from vietnam.


Jackie

22-Apr-2005
11:29:57 PM

thailand was sooooo three months ago Matt


Iser

25-Apr-2005
3:33:45 PM

On 20/04/2005 stephan wrote:
>i liked northern thailand, chiang mai.

I second Chiang Mai as very very worthwhile.
1st hand sez: Lots of great routes up to 7a (22ish?)
2nd hand sez: Lots of great routes up to 7c-8a (28-30??)
My peepers say: stacks of potential for hard persons with bolting fetish (I think a new area had just been found when I was there over summer, too)


billk

26-Apr-2005
12:19:54 PM

Cheesehead wrote:

To play devils advocate, I wonder if it would be good for them. Sure, it's increased tourism, but at what cost?

Good point CH. A relatively low-key climbing scene in Viet Nam could provide a nice but modest earner for some locals in small towns (which tend to need more jobs wherever you go in the world). But yes, tourist hoardes tend to stuff up all the things that attract them to exotic destinations in the first place.


cheesehead

28-Apr-2005
5:57:27 PM

Yeah Billk, I'm getting a bit Alex Garland...

Oh Jac, retro is so in, don't you get it?

joemor

29-Apr-2005
8:55:59 PM

On 26/04/2005 billk wrote:
>Cheesehead wrote:
>
>To play devils advocate, I wonder if it would be good for them. Sure,
>it's increased tourism, but at what cost?
>
>Good point CH. A relatively low-key climbing scene in Viet Nam could provide
>a nice but modest earner for some locals in small towns (which tend to
>need more jobs wherever you go in the world). But yes, tourist hoardes
>tend to stuff up all the things that attract them to exotic destinations
>in the first place.

pfft climbers wouldnt stuff up the area any more than they are doing already themselves..... take halong bay.. every piece of rock not surounded by water is activly mined for the lime in it to make concrete... this is the way for most limestone pillars that we saw inland on our trip. you'd be driving along see a beautiful pillar then get to the other side and see the quarry and concrete factory.

climbing can be organised in dalat and saigon with tour guides but was all top roped and very low grades eg. 8-19 and there was no bolted lines.
not worth the effort.


cheesehead

11-May-2005
12:09:51 AM

Actually, don't bother coming to Thailand now if you only want to climb. The rains seem to have set in already, so it's only sporadically that you can climb.

If you want to build some houses and help people get out of the monsoon, that's a different story. In my view, Phi Phi's currently got more volunteers than it needs. Head to Kao Lak if you really want to help.


billk

10-Jun-2005
5:34:14 PM

Hi all

Just back from Thailand.

Had a couple of days climbing on Tonsai Tower which was great except that the weather was shocking and every little scratch I got has turned into a tropical sore. (NB: do not get bogged in waist deep water if you have any scratches on your legs.)

Wet season finishes November in the south for anyone planning a climbing trip. Either don't bother before then or head first to Chiang Mai if its a little earlier.

There is no climbing there but in every other respect Khao Lak is just the best place in the world. Please include it in your schedule - you will be shown incredible hospitality and see some beautiful places amongst a bit of broken concrete and other junk.

Currently, a lot of Thai people refuse to go near Khao Lak because of the ghosts. When I got on the bus in Phuket town a school kid said "Bai nai?" (going where?). I replied: "Bai Khao Lak" and was greeted with a look of utter incomprehension. I thought to myself, that must have been a particularly crap effort at pronouncing it but I was later told that what I said would have been understood, just not what I was doing.

People are also currently refusing to eat seafood right across Asia. Needless to say, thats not helping the fishermen to get their lives back.

So here's how you can do your bit to make up for all the Farang Kee Nok ("birdshit farang" or "dickhead tourists" to put it in plain Oz English) who go over and trample on Thai culture in places like Phi Phi and Krabi. Learn up on Thai language and culture over the winter and then when the rain stops make Khao Lak one of your main destinations. Either do some volunteering or just see the sights, eat the food and drink the beer. The local people will love you for it and you will be helping to maker it a place other Thai people will eventually feel able to go back to.


kezza

10-Jun-2005
11:57:06 PM

On 10/06/2005 billk wrote:
> Either don't bother before then or head first to Chiang Mai if its
>a little earlier.
>
>There is no climbing there but

There is climbing in Chiang Mai. Jen and I were supposed to head up there before going to Ton Sai in Feb, but didn't end up making it and just went to Ton Sai instead.
But it's been developed and looks amazing.. Would be a good idea if not wanting to climb in the heat down south in summer as 'apparently' it's quite cool up there in summer.
There's a guide book to climbing in Chiang Mai (well it's just out of Chiang Mai, but anyway).. Can't remember what it was called, but I'll get back to you with that one..
The climbs are a great range of grades, I'd say definately worth the look! And just to add, it's quite a detailed guide book compared to trying to read the Ton Sai guide which was annoying..

Kerryn


cheesehead

11-Jun-2005
8:18:10 AM

Yeah, I get the impression they're really trying to develop the climbing in the north.

If you still feel compelled to help Tsunami efforts in Thailand, don't send money. None of the money sent to the Thai government is going down south (they even asked people not to send money).

Get in touch with Billk or myself, who can guide you on where money/effort really is needed.

It's not all about returns of course, but it was so touching to be told by locals "when my house finished, you come back stay here. No hotel, restaurant, money. You stay with my family. is important to me here (touches heart).


billk

14-Jun-2005
4:35:05 PM

Sorry, I meant there's no climbing in Khao Lak but that you absolutely have to go there because everything else about it is so good.

Saw the Chiang Mai guidebook - it looks like there's fantastic climbing there and you can probably have a much more Thai time in Chiang Mai than Ao Nang.

My Thai friends tell me that Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Pai are all very good places for learning Thai, because northerners speak much more slowly than southerners and don't drop out so many consonants.

As Mat noted, donations to the big NGOs are likely to sit in some big bank account in Bangkok. However, there are smaller aid organizations doing on-the-ground stuff who can reliably turn your donations into houses and fishing boats that will go to people who need them rather than the Mafia.

It's worth asking some hard questions of the big NGOs if you have any connections with them - I certainly will be. It's also worth asking some hard questions about the churches who are involved there. There are some Christians doing great work there at the moment but there are apparently also fundamentalists who are trying to use the devastation as a tool for getting converts. That makes my blood boil.


cheesehead

14-Jun-2005
10:08:41 PM

As a christian, I didn't even want anything to do with what I saw from the missionary groups there*

*YWAM were there. In the past they've always been okay in my book

There are 25 messages in this topic.