Monks, nuns and crocodiles

We have found a hidden gem – a veritable garden of Eden of climbing. We have spent just under a week at a little known crag known as Khao Chin Lae near Lopburi, about an hour and a half outside of Bangkok. Hidden above the friendly monastery of Wat Pa Suwannahong are a set of limestone cliff faces that equal and in some cases surpasses Chang Mai.

We travelled here after spending two days in Bangkok, catching up with some lost members of our group. It appeared a lot had been happening since they left us to go on ahead to sort out some visas. One guy, we shall call him Ed, found himself on the wrong end of a crocodile after trying to pet one in a pool in a bar. It bit him on the hand and resulted in a night in hospital being stitched up while still clutching the super strong cocktail that had driven him to believe it was a good idea to stroke a large two metre long reptile with jaws like a bear trap. Another member of our team, we will call him Matt, had a no less dangerous encounter with an old Thai lady and a soup bowl, which combined managed to split his head open. Sadly, we had to say goodbye to these two rather accident prone adventurers and move on to our next location. The monks and nuns at Wat Pa Suwannahong were welcoming and allowed us to camp in the grounds of their monastery, provided we abided by a few rules and kept the rippling muscles on our torsos covered up. To climb on the cliffs above their monastery, the monks ask that climbers also sign in and out so they can be sure no one has had an accident or got lost on the mountain. The routes were beautiful and often long. Not an inch of the crag is polished, and I climbed a couple of brilliant 6bs and 6b+s. On one day Danny and I took a trip to the aptly named Easter Island – a pinnacle of rock shaped like an Easter Island head. After a bit of jungle trekking and a scramble down a rather leafy and steep slope, we found the start of a sharp but wonderful multipitch climb that winds its way up this tower of rock. Up close, it barely seems like the pinnacle can stay upright as it slants at an improbably angle on top of a narrow shaft at around mid height. Yet it is there, still standing, gifting climbers with beautiful views of the sunflower filled fields that surround the area. Danny did have a near miss with a large bird of prey that took umbrage with being disturbed on this seemingly isolated outcrop of rock, but the route up was fairly straight forward. We later abseiled into an area known as secret garden, the rock covered in fantastical vines and strange vegetation, it felt like something from Never never land. After just four days in this wonderful area, we had to move on again.

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