Tag Archives: Rock Climbing

Marvelous Marble Mountain

On the recommendation of our divemaster Alex, we booked a day of rock climbing with a local outfitter called Phat Tire.

According to the Phat Tire website:

Marble Mountain is 25 km (15 miles) away from Hoi An to the North, and stands out from the landscape as majestic granite mountains adjacent to the shore. It was rumored that this was an eggshell of the dragon king left behind after the birth of a beautiful princess. At the beginning of the 19th century, King Gia Long, when passing by this region, named these mountains after the five elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth.

Uncharacteristically, I did a pathetic job of researching Hoi An before we got here. I mean, I really didn’t research anything. So I had no idea what to expect at Marble Mountain. I figured we’d strap on our harnesses, play around on some limestone rock formations and call it a day.

We climbed up a LOT of stairs (which were, in fact, marble) and then sat on a ledge with a LOT of tourists while our guides, Tinh and Khanh, sorted out the equipment. As we waited, I walked around the site a bit, checking out a grotto with a Buddha statue. From another spot, I could see the beach. Very pretty, but nothing that seemed to justify the throngs of visitors.

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In all, I went up the rock five times on four different routes. The first was a “warm-up” climb, which was actually quite tricky; nevermind the “piece of cake” comment tossed out by a passing climb guide. The handholds on these karst formations were essentially serrated knifes carved into the rock. By the end of the day, my hands were shredded.

Chalky hands!
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My crowning moment was mastering a 28-meter (91-foot), grade 5.9 climb, which may seem wussy to some of you, but whatever. I climb MAYBE once a year, and my body is trained for yoga and teaching English, not pulling my lard-ass up some big rock face. Oh, did I mention there were freakin’ cacti in my path? Yeah, I nearly got impaled. So give me some props, people!

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Anyway, it was super fun. I loved it. LOVED it. I really need to do this more often.

A couple notes:

(a) Khanh served us lunch – baguettes with a selection of peanut butter, soft cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and liverwurst, as well as a variety of fresh fruit. As he prepared the feast, I asked him for all the Vietnamese words and tried to reproduce them (badly, apparently, judging by Khanh’s reaction). Tony and I nearly choked on our bananas when Khanh prepared his own sandwich with EVERYTHING on it. Yes, peanut butter and cheese and liverwurst. But, hey, to each his own.

(b) Marble Mountain is – wait for it – legendary! I had no idea! After we finished climbing, Khanh took us around to some of the caves and grottoes. Remember I mentioned that grotto with a Buddha statue? Tourists kept climbing up there and taking FOREVER to come back down. I couldn’t imagine what they were doing. Well, there was another passageway behind the Buddha, and we climbed up on top of the “mountain” for a spectacular view of the sea. Who knew?! Then Khanh took us to Dong Huyen Khong (still on Marble Mountain). We stepped tentatively down into the darkness, turned a corner and encountered a cloud of sweet incense before realizing the narrow walkway opened into a huge cave lit by sunlight streaming through holes at the top. People lit candles and prayed at several Buddhist shrines, and a massive Buddha carved out of the wall stared down from above. We also visited the smaller Dong Linh Nham cave, which featured several Buddhist shrines and offerings to ancestors.

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At the base of Marble Mountain, we encountered shop after shop selling enormous statuary carved from marble and other stone. Tony clearly wanted to buy one of these lions, but our shipping allowance to India simply wouldn’t cover it.
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Marble Mountain map.
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Rock Climbing in Krabi

From what we’ve heard, Krabi is a rock climbing mecca. I had done a little research and read stuff like this on www.railay.com:

The rock is all limestone and is part of the worlds largest coral reef, stretching from China down to Papua New Guinea. The routes are all bolted sport climbing routes. The French grading system is used. With over 700 routes ranging from beginner 5a’s to classic multipitch 6a’s right up to the extremes of 8c there’s enough here to keep any climber busy for years.

But that meant nothing to me. I’ve seen many photos of climbers scrambling around on the karst formations jutting up out of the water, and it looked like fun.

When we realized that our friends, Dean and Elaine Voge, would also be here in Krabi at the same time, we decided to spend a day climbing together. Unfortunately, many of the climbing schools were fully booked. One lady said, “Hmmm… we already have a full group, but we could take you if I can find some more instructors.” I pictured her recruiting a couple tuk tuk drivers and opted out. I called Elaine and said we would have to come up with an alternate plan. Kayaking? Beach time?

I was eating breakfast at my hotel yesterday when I got a call at 7:45 a.m. “We’re ready to pick you up for climbing.” It was a climbing school I had contacted online the day before, but when I didn’t hear back right away, I assumed we didn’t get a reservation. I told the woman on the phone that we weren’t ready to go, so she offered to pick us up later. Perfect!

King Climbers drove us to a long-tailed boat for the ride to Railay Beach, where we met the Voges and their kids at the climbing shop. From there, we walked to the rock wall. The instructors showed us how to tie the figure-eight knot, but otherwise we got no instructions on what to do. They even had us take turns with the belay device! So maybe it wasn’t the safest operation ever, but we had fun.

Wading from the long-tailed boat to the shore. Some people were checking in to hotels at Railay Beach and had to lug their suitcases through the water.

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Tony learns how to tie the knot.

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Owen Voge (aka Mountain Goat) helps me tie my knot.

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OMG, I had no idea what I was doing and some poor Swiss guy’s life was in my hands.

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Tony on the rock.

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Me at the top of my second climb. I thought my arms would fall off.

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The Dents and the Voges – we “rock”!!

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