chossclimbers

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The following morning, we rented a scooter from Noom (the owner of the guesthouse we were staying at) and set off to find the peak. The whole scooter, two people with gear, and wrong-side-of-the-road traffic package was probably the most memorable (…dangerous) part of the whole trip. By the time we finally found the Buddhist temple where the approach trail begins my forearms were pumped and I felt generally cooked. A polite exchange with the groundskeeper and we were let in onto temple grounds and were at the base of the formation 10 minutes later. After a bonus pitch (screw up) and some vertical bushwhacking we finally found Corcovado , the 6-pitch 6b line we came for. Once on route, the climbing went quickly and soon we were lounging on the overgrown summit under some (prayer?) flags. The route was clean and well-bolted, the ratings felt soft, and the limestone was pristinely rough. We liked it!

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We killed the rest of the day by eating our way across the old city and people watching. At about 5pm, a large crowd gathered in the square and then engaged in some aerobics set to a fast-paced techno beat led by a guy up on a stage with the visage of The King behind him. This turned out to be a daily occurrence. During dinner we saw small groups of old men bring their own bottles of local whisky and polish them off over their meals. We promptly rushed out and got our own bottle of Hong Thong for 300 Baht…cultural immersion and all. This would turn out to be a valuable lesson later on during the family portion of the vacation (though ultimately we’d switch rum).

Photos

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