09 Dec 2009
PART FOUR
The crossing into Cambodia went smoothly. Although the country is supposed to be more advanced than Laos, in many ways it seems almost as deprived. The housing that many of the Cambodians live in is just as basic, and here there are far more beggars. The clothing the Cambodians wear is also bizarre - it appears that pyjamas are in fashion. Many of the woman and children in the towns and villages we pass through and stop at are wearing brightly coloured cotton PJs, decorated with bears, pink elephants and other ghastly cuddly creatures.
Fashion sense aside, the people are extremely friendly. Our first night saw us receive an armed guard from the Cambodian army, who were concerned about our safety camped at the side of the road. Although they were there to protect us, there is something deeply unsettling about waking up at dawn to see the silhouettes of several men with machine guns against the sun rise. I’m not sure I’ll forget the image of the soldiers with their guns up on their shoulders, arms hooked over them in a half nelson. I just wish I had my camera in the tent with me that night.
Our climbing destination is Kampong Cham in southern Cambodia - on granite. It is the first granite climbing of the trip for me and unusually it had been bolted rather than being left for the trad climbers. It is probably just as well, as there was little to no gear. Rather disappointingly, many of the climbs had only been bolted with top anchors and so could only be climbing on top rope. Those that had bolts all the way up tended to be run out - with large distances between the clips. One route had just three bolts to clip into on its entire 25 metres. Mercifully, it was very easy.
The climbs went up a granite outcrop that afforded spectacular views of the surrounding area. It seemed to be a peculiarity in an otherwise flat and rather waterlogged landscape. The rock itself was extremely grippy, if a little fragile. Many of us spent the first few climbs pulling flakes and hand holds off as we climbed. Although the climbing was good, it was pretty limited. We worked our way through the crimpy, delicate slab climbing over three days, every minute watched by gapping locals who found our every movement fascinating. The biggest crowds seemed to be drawn when we chopped vegetables for our evening meal.
Danny bolted an unfinished route here, which was ridiculously hard. With more time we could have established a few more routes here and even some new boulder problems on the granite boulders that littered the village.
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