In the last couple of years the Myanmar climbing scene has started growing up. We’ve seen an outbreak of home climbing walls in Yangon and Mandalay, accompanied by regular community ‘Crank Nights,’ and finally the opening of a couple of small climbing gyms. Outdoor, we’ve developed two more small sport climbing areas to add to the existing crag in Mandalay. This video footage was collected over the last four years of bolting and climbing at one of these new crags (Bayin Nyi in Hpa-an). So many great routes and memories at this crag over the last couple of years, and hoping that more crags can be developed around Hpa-an in the near future.
Tonsai: Escape from Reality
Tonsai is a polarizing place among vagabond climbers. Characterizations of this mythical climbing destination range wildly. The poshest among us insist that it is no more than a sloppy cesspool of dirty backpackers, buzzing with dengue carrying mosquitos, hosting an out-of-control cat population, and limestone that is so polished that you might as well bring crampons rather than climbing shoes.
The dirt baggers retort by waxing poetic about a climbing paradise: a secluded beach on crystal clear water overlooking the Andaman sea, completely walled off from civilization by towering orange and grey swaths of limestone weathered by the sea and wind, streaked with tufas and stalactites.
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Down South: Framily Bouldering in the Rocklands
To me, the greatness of climbing trips is based on a casserole of abstract criteria: rock quality, natural beauty, weather, food, cultural experiences, and climbing performance are all part of the equation, but the company absolutely carries the most weight, and I don’t think it’s ever been better than our Rocklands trip. If it had rained every single day, Me, Katie, David, Nicole, Ty, Beans, & Jeremy would have had almost as much fun hanging out in our cottages, talking in foreign accents, trading stories, drinking Stoney, and catching up on life. Fortunately, the weather was idyllic, and we got to do all of the above while trading burns on the world’s best boulders.
Yangshuo: King of Karst
In our three plus years living in Myanmar we’ve had opportunities to travel to most of the climbing bubbles in the South/East Asia region. We’ve ticked Green Climber’s Home in Laos, Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba Island in Vietnam, Tung Lung in Hong Kong, a crag or two in South Korea, a few zones in Myanmar, and I’ve been to Chiang Mai twice and Tonsai in Thailand 6 times. The only major climbing hub remaining in this corner of the world was the karst jungle of Yangshuo, China. The ominous sounding visa process was the main culprit of our China procrastination, and it turned out to be much worse than we had anticipated, Continue reading
Western Wanderings: Roadtripping the Climbing Meccas
Our annual trip to the states in the fall of 2017 was preceded by a turbulent series of events in Myanmar that are still defying my best efforts to mentally sort into neat little boxes. At the core of our trip, KT and I were seeking rejuvenation. What we got is what we needed; desert vistas, big granite walls, long road trips, canyon ranches, hot tubs, fireplaces, and rocker/recliners, all with the best people. Continue reading
A Visual Feast: Climbing in Bulgaria
A week of spectacular climbing in Bulgaria. David came out for an off-the-beaten-track brother adventure, and Bulgaria blew away our expectations; it is stunning.
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Aegean Ascents
Earlier this year Katie and I travelled to Greece for some climbing and culture. We were welcomed by our gracious host, enlightened guide, and zealot of all things Greek, Dimitris. Dimitris was our oracle, enlightening us by explaining how extra virgin olive oil was different, how the ancient Athenians were the most YOLO people of all time, and how Cretians essentially won WWII for the allies by losing the Battle of Crete to the Germans. For the following three weeks, tidbits of Dimitris knowledge would float through our heads as we explored the Aegean. After staying with Dimitris for a day in Athens, we travelled to the island of Santorini.
Italy: High School, Rock Climbing, and a Glass of Milk
Although they are highly enjoyable, holidays in Italy aren’t really conducive to interesting storytelling. Perhaps this is because every single person’s Italian holiday gush sounds exactly the same. If you’ve ever fallen victim to one of these recountings, you know the glazed over look in the eye as the holidaymaker retreats into their visceral memories of gelato and pizza, the enthusiasm in their voice as they recite the notorious buzz words. . . The Vatican. . . The Colosseum. . . The Pantheon, and the eager hand gestures, channelling the inner Italian spirit with the thumb pressed securely to the index finger.
yep.
ditto.
West Auz
Like any other country at the moment, Myanmar has mixed feelings about their expats and immigrants; feelings ranging from stewing xenophobic tension to glowing admiration. Myanmar’s current policy towards foreigners on working visas mandates that we leave the country every 70 days. For some this is an annoying inconvenience, for me it’s a regular forced vacation to an exotic location every couple of months. Due to our regular visa runs over the last two years, Katie and I have been running low on Asian countries to visit (it’s a tough life). We decided to stretch our visa run distance and length to hop over to Western Australia for something novel. Continue reading
The Temple Plateau (Bagan in Photos)
Bagan, plane of endless temples; it is Myanmar’s transcendent cultural icon. It’s the Cristo Redentor of Brazil, the Angkor Wat of Cambodia, y’all it’s the freaking Statue of Liberty 🗽! Along with any location given cultural icon status, Bagan caters to hordes of tourists, of which I reluctantly accept membership. Nothing like standing on top of a temple meditatively watching the sun set across a beautiful temple plateau dotted with 475 people taking selfies. Continue reading