Bukit Keteri, Malaysia

While Squeak stayed on Chandrika at anchor being visited by a fellow cat owner and sailor, we decided to take the opportunity for some inland travel and some climbing. Bukit Keteri, a karst limestone formation, lies in the northwestern corner of mainland Malaysia in the state of Perlis. The climbing routes at Bukit Keteri were put up by the Mammut team in 2007.

Bukit Keteri

The cave formations of Bukit Keteri, shown in the above photograph, are actually one gigantic cave inside the dome of rock. You could actually walk inside the rock from one end to the other. The largest “room” inside the cavernous system could easily have fit a jumbo jet. To get into the cave system, you first had to scramble up a limestone ramp, climb a bamboo ladder, squeeze through a hole in the rock, traverse up high along the edge of the cliff, and then enter through an archway.

the approach Graham and Sue

Many of the higher quality and more difficult climbs were approached via this route. The climbs would then begin inside the cave and follow along the arched openings looking out over the surrounding countryside and the local mosque.

"Belly Button Window" 7b+

inside the cave opening the view from Mata cave

the local mosque

Not knowing what to expect we had brought with us enough food for a week and a half, a twenty liter container full of drinking water, a tent, stove and other necessary camping gear. We were able to buy more drinking water when needed by walking along a dirt path to the main road. We slept in a cave at the base of the cliff, surrounded by rice paddies and banana trees.

camping

the rice fields

The cave in which we slept was visited daily by a few men (and one woman and child) who were actively mining rocks from the cave’s inside walls. We believe they were mining some sort of phosphate used for fertilizer. The miners spoke little to no English. Every day they would lug 50 kilo (110 pound) bags of rock out of the cave opening and stack them up along the dirt road for collection. We gathered they were earning 5 Ringet ($1.70) per bag and collected anywhere from 6 to 12 bags per man per day, so about $10 to $20 per man per day for their back breaking labor.

bags of rocks

A couple of the higher quality climbs were in the back of Mata Cave, and not put up by the Mammut Team. Graham enjoyed projecting one of these successfully and would be interested in any information regarding them. All routes are getting a bit old for their expansion bolt construction and will hopefully get rebolted in the future.

one of the new routes inside Mata Cave

November - December 2011

Exploring Ao Phrang Nga

The sky was overcast and grey, not very inspiring conditions for setting sail on a 120nm passage. As the weather dictates our daily life, ordinarily we would have chosen to stay put and wait for better conditions. However, our friends were planning to arrive in Phuket to visit us in one weeks time, and we had best be on our way to meet them. We had spent the last two weeks in Telaga harbor in Langkawi, painting our mast and varnishing the interior of our boat. The calm, flat water in Telaga harbor provides an excellent anchorage for doing boat projects. It is also quiet and peaceful and has a nice community of cruisers. The sail began with light variable winds punctuated by squalls. The squalls tended to come from the direction in which we were trying to go, so even the wind that they provided was not always very helpful. During a lull with no wind, we dropped sail. A slight current was pulling us backwards. We had seen various moorings in the middle of the sea in this area that were used by local fishing boats. We decided to turn on the motor and drive towards the closest one and wait either for wind or for the current to switch in our favor. We turned on the motor and put the engine in gear. We could hear a clicking sound and the boat was not moving forward. We opened the engine compartment and discovered that the transmission was not engaging into forward gear. After some experimenting, we discovered that the problem was not with the control cables, but was a problem with the transmission itself. Reverse worked fine. We would have to sail engineless to Phuket. We hoped that we would have enough wind to make it there before our friends arrived. The rest of the sail went something like this: No wind, current pulling us backwards, drop sail, drop lightweight anchor in 200 feet, and wait for wind. Wind would come after a few hours and we would raise sail and haul up the anchor. The wind would quickly turn into a squall from the direction we were trying to go. At times the wind and wind gusts would be too strong to make much forward progress. These strong winds would then be followed by good winds for sailing (the direction would usually switch to be more advantageous) but the rain would be hammering down. The rain was so intensely heavy, it was often difficult to see beyond Chandrika’s bow. In fact, it was difficult to see, period. During one such rain, Sue could barely keep her eyes open and probably should have donned a snorkeling mask. Afterwards, her eyes felt as if she had kept them open while swimming underwater.

another squall

We eventually arrived in Ao Chalong in Phuket, where we entered the harbor at night under sail. Not having an engine, we decided to drop two anchors (we put them in tandem on one chain) just to be on the safe side. It was a good thing we did. The next few days brought the heaviest weather seen in this part of the world in the last 20 years. The strong gale brought screaming winds and blinding rain. The rain was so heavy, we actually saw the crew of one dragging sailboat appear on deck wearing wet suits, masks and snorkels. Numerous boats drug anchor or severed their mooring lines, occasionally taking out the boats downwind of them. The boat of a friend of ours washed up on shore after two other boats piled on top of it, fortunately with no damage. Since we had anchored at night under sail, we were conveniently far away from many other boats. It would not have been easy to avoid an oncoming boat as our transmission was still not working. One morning while groggily trying to sleep in the bouncing Chandrika, Graham was awoken to a waterfall of ocean water pouring in through the forward hatch and straight onto his lap. Fortunately for Sue, the bouncing had made her need to pee, so she was conveniently not in the forward berth when Chandrika’s bow dipped under a wave, sending ocean water streaming down her decks, and through her forward hatch (which was closed but not latched!). Our friends, Claudine and Jeff, from the states were due to arrive in a couple days. We had been constantly water-logged for the past 2 weeks. All of our clothes and bed sheets were dirty and soaking wet, and our forward berth was now soaked with salt water. It didn’t look like we’d be able to get things to dry before they arrived to stay with us. More importantly, we did not have a working transmission, so through the gale, Graham and Sue (twice) took the transmission off the engine, put it in a dry bag, and rowed it over 1/2 a mile to shore to take it to a mechanics. The outboard engine was, of course, not working from the constant rain. Miraculously we managed to get the transmission working and the boat somewhat presentable by the time our friends arrived. We had an excellent visit with our friends. We explored ocean caves, relaxed on beaches and in lagoons, rock climbed and road motorcycles around the island of Koh Yao Noi. Hopefully they had fun and will come back to visit us again.

Exploring Phrang Nga Bay with Claudine and Jeff Jeff and Claudine trim the jib sail a beautiful lagoon at Koh Ko Du

Jeff kayaking at Koh Phanak

Claudine climbing at Koh Yao Noi

Riding around the island of Koh Yao Noi

March - April 2011

We took one more trip down to Langkawi. This time we painted our decks and while they were drying we enjoyed hiking and swimming in the river and its waterfall pools.

Slip and slide at the Seven Wells in Telaga Harbor

May - June 2011

For the southwest monsoon season, we decided to explore Phrang Nga Bay and climb at Koh Yao Noi and some of the surrounding islands. Phrang Nga Bay contains many tall rock islands and is inhabited predominantly by Muslim fishing communities. It is quiet and peaceful and the locals are friendly. There are many caves to explore and beautiful cliffs to climb.

the village of Baan Tha Khao on Koh Yao Noi

Fishermen from Koh Yao Noi

Finally we've discovered an easier way to open a drinking coconut!

Graham cooling down with a refreshing coconut at Ao Po Nui on Koh Yao Noi

the nearby island of Koh Roi

This natural archway leads from the sea into a large hong (or chamber)

inside the island on Koh Roi.

(The photo is looking out to sea from inside the hong.)

This tunnel leads through the rock to an opening 200 feet up a vertical cliff face,

where we rappeled down to the ground.

A cave along the edge of the water on the island of Koh Khlui.

A rubber tree plantation on Koh Yao Noi.

A shack where Burmese rubber tree collectors

press the rubber sap into matts,

which are used for making latex.

A Buddhist spirit house at the rubber tree plantation.

Tarzan swinging on the vines of a banyan tree.

hiking the trails on Koh Yao Noi

When we first arrived, Graham was leading a route at a climbing area called The Mitt. When he neared the top of the climb, the stalagtite he was holding broke. He took a 10-15 foot lead fall and swung into a nest of swarming bees. The nest was about 1 to 1-1/2 cubic feet in volume and was completely covered with bees lying on top of bees on top of bees. Graham was flailing around and screaming as a massive cloud of bees surrounded him. Unfortunately he was wearing nothing but a pair of small running shorts. Sue lowered him to the ground and began swatting the bees off of him. She managed to escape with only 20 stings. Graham, however, was not so fortunate. He was stung over 200 times, with 100 of those stings being just on his face and neck alone. Unfortunately, the climbing area was not right on the water but was deep in the jungle. Any attempt to escape and hike out only agitated the bees causing them to attack and sting again. We hovered and waited for about one hour for the bees to calm down before attempting our escape. We had anti-histamines with us in our pack (and an epi pen which we fortunately did not need). Leaving our gear up at the cliff, we hiked out and Graham visited the local clinic for an anti-histamine injection. That night, Graham had a low grade fever and was nauseated. It took about 10 days for the swelling to go down enough for Graham to be able to smile using both sides of his face and for the purple dots to fade away into scars. Other than our bee experience, the climbing has been excellent.

July - September 2011

Climbing on the Phrang Nga Peninsula

On our next Thailand trip, we chose to explore the southern tip of the Phrang Nga peninsula, near the city of Krabi. This area has over 800 climbing routes and is the world-class climbing area that attracts hundreds of climbers every year from all over the world. The climbing is generally quite steep. Most routes are single pitch, but there are many multi-pitch routes as well (usually around 4 or 5 pitches long). We discovered that once above the first pitch, the crowds would disappear and we would have the climbing to ourselves. Most of the climbs are near the beach (Ton Sai and Railey beaches) and a few of them are directly out of the water, making it an excellent place to climb via sailboat/ dinghy.

Our first multi-pitch in this area was to climb "Orange Chandeliers" on Ao Nang Tower.

Ao Nang Tower

We raised the dinghy to keep it from banging on the rocks while we climbed.

Sue at the belay at the start of the climb.

Graham on "Orange Chandeliers"

We also climbed three different multi-pitch routes on Cat Wall named "Heart of Darkness", "Mussong" and "The Ninth Life."

The view from Cat Wall of Railey Beach and the Southern tip of the Phrang Nga Peninsula

Graham leads through a STEEP overhang on "The Ninth Life".

Graham trying to fit his oversized body through the tunnel on "Mussong"

with about 250 feet of air below.

We also visited a nearby island and enjoyed some fabulous single pitch routes in a beautifully serene setting.

Graham finds a rest on the overhanging "Hang Whitey".

Leaving the cave

Sue on "Roy Raeng"

During this time period, we have made a few improvements. While we have been happily content to row for the last 3+ years, the combination of climbing and rowing was exhausting. We have purchased a used 3.5hp Nissan outboard engine. We now also have internet aboard Chandrika while in Thai waters as long as we are within range of cell phone towers. On our climbing rest days we also putter about the boat and work on boat projects. We have recently painted our boom and our aluminum hatches.

Cooking Thai food in the galley aboard Chandrika

photo by James Pullum

Carrying the dinghy up above the high tide line.

Photo by James Pullum

While at Ton Sai and Railey beaches, we had the good fortune of meeting Sam Lightner and Liz Wattenberg from Moab, Utah and James Pullum and Laurel Graefe from Atlanta, Georgia. We spent two weeks climbing with them and spending every evening sitting on Railey beach watching the sunset. We will always cherish the memories of “sunset” on the beach.

Eating lunch at the base of Thaiwand Wall,

where we met Sam and Liz.

photo by James Pullum

Sue belays Laurel on pitch 2 of "Circus Oz" on Thaiwand Wall.

photo by James Pullum

Sue on "Organ Grinder" on the Thaiwand Wall.

photo by Laurel Graefe

Drinking coconuts on Railey Beach before sunset From left to right: Sam, Liz, James, Laurel and Graham

Sunset

It is general practice all over the world to place fixed stainless steel bolts on climbs that can not be protected with natural, removable protection. However, in the 90s it was discovered that the stainless steel bolts that were being used in Thailand were corroding very quickly (sometimes becoming unsafe within 6 months of being placed). These bolts would occasionally rip out of the rock, when a climber would fall on them, sometimes leading in serious injury to the climber. The problem is the corrosive marine environment in conjuction with the high magnesium content of the karst limestone rock. After a bit of experimentation, it was discovered that Titanuim glue-in bolts were far superior in terms of longevity than stainless steel ones.

View from Thaiwand Wall

In the foreground is a stainless steel expansion bolt,

which has been replaced by Sam with a titanium bolt glued-in with a two-part epoxy.

photo by Liz Wattenberg

Our friend, Sam Lightner, has been climbing in Thailand for over 20 years and has established many of the rock climbs in the area. While we were in Railey, he was rebolting a number of routes with Titanium bolts to make them safer for climbers. Sam and a number of other climbers have spearheaded a rebolting project, called the Thaitanium Project, with the goal of rebolting the climbing routes on the Phrang Nga peninsula with Titanium bolts. The problem is that the Titanium bolts cost significantly more than regular stainless steel bolts. To learn more about this problem or if you would like to contribute to making climbing in Thailand safer (and thus making us safer by extension), you can make a donation to the Thaitanium Project by visiting http://thaitaniumproject.com/ January – February 2011