Schlagwort-Archive: climbing

Laos

Digital Nomad Stop #16 – Thakhek, Laos

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In 2013, I had travelled Laos North to South as a backpacker and ticked all the touristic sights. I never really thought about returning, until I found out that there was amazing rock climbing in the center of Laos, near a town called Thakhek. Funnily enough, I had also been here in 2013, as it is the starting point of the (now famous) motorbike loop.

As mentioned, this time I was here for the climbing though. I planned to stay a month and ended up extending to 6 weeks because I had such a great time. I finally stayed in the right place to project some hard routes and met the right people to climb together with, who were encouraging and supportive and lots of fun to hang out with. In the beginning, I checked out a lot of different crags, started projecting some face climbs but didn’t really get anywhere. Then, I sent my first 7a – Sound of Music, a steep, pumpy climb, and decided to try climbing on the famous „roof“ next to it. I never thought that I’d be able to climb anything as steep and overhanging as the routes up there – turns out I was wrong. I sent another 7a – Cheeky Fucker – in just 3 attempts and decided I needed to get on something harder. Jungle King (7b), the king line of the roof was the obvious choice. In the beginning, I felt a bit ridiculous, hopping on a 7b with only two 7as in my pocket – but the route was just so beautiful that I couldn’t resist. After about 2 weeks on it, lots of trying hard, lots of frustrating moments and loooots of persistence, I finally sent it! Laos would have been a success even without sending Jungle King, but this was the icing on the cake!

Next to climbing, I also explored the area a bit – mainly in the beginning of my time in Laos when I didn’t always have good climbing partners. It is a pretty region – maybe not quite as pretty as Ao Nang and a lot more rural, remote and dusty.

Climbing the roof, learning how to knee bar, to project hard and hang out with this great group of climbers has been one of the highlights of my nomad journey so far and if possible, I will definitely return to Laos next year!*

*I wrote this blog entry a few months ago, and did actually return to Laos at the beginning of 2024. Unfortunately, I had to cut the trip (very) short and return home for health reasons. Let’s hope for a great Laos season in 2025! 🙂

Thailand

Digital Nomad Stop #15 – Ao Nang, Thailand (January 2023)

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As much as I love Koh Tao, I’m not the biggest fan of the climbing there. Sharp granite and crimpy face climbing / slabs are just not so much my thing. I was excited to get on some pumpy limestone again and get into the 3d-tufa-climbing-action of the Krabi region. While I had spent 7 weeks in Railay a year ago, I decided to stay on the mainland this time and settled myself in Ao Nang.

The climbing there has two main advantages compared to Railay/Tonsai: less people and less polish. What’s more, Ao Nang offers a lot better value and variety in terms of accommodation and restaurants – so I was pretty happy with my choice. Again, I was able to meet up with some friends and ran into some climbers I already knew from different places. The travelling rock climbers community is small, so it is nice to start seeing familiar faces everywhere I go! In Ao Nang, I focused on mileage and on getting into the swing of tufa climbing. Again, I was supposed to stay only for a few days but ended up staying almost 3 weeks. I didn’t get on any really hard stuff, but have plenty of reasons to come back and do exactly that!

I also climbed some multi-pitches with Mattias and Tomas – 2 very short ones and a longer one up Ao Nang tower. Previously, there was only a 6c leading all the way up there, but they had just opened a 6b („Joob Joob“) which I couldn’t miss out on. The climbing was fun, but the whole logistics of getting there in a kayak (which then ripped off the rope we used to tie it to the rocks) were a bit exhausting and don’t make me wanna go back there.

Next to climbing, I also explored the area quite a bit with my scooter – it is such a beautiful region with lots of picturesque limestone mountains. One day, I went on a hike up Dragon Crest with some people, which was lots of fun and offered the most amazing views! Definitely one of the best hikes I have done in Thailand. Overall, I really enjoyed my time in Ao Nang and will definitely be back.

Here are all my photos of my time in Ao Nang.

Thailand

Digital Nomad Stop #14 – Koh Tao, Thailand

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After my little detour to the Maldives, I spent a few weeks at home for Christmas, but decided to escape the grey winter quickly afterwards. I had always wanted to spend New Year’s on a beach, so returning to Koh Tao, Thailand, seemed like a logical decision. I met up with my friend Sarah from the Netherlands and we had a fun party night as well as a couple of fun days together before she returned back home.

Initially, I had just wanted to spend a week or two on Koh Tao, but ended up extending my trip to about 3.5 weeks to be able to finally catch one of the trapeze shows that I had missed last time. Of course, I also took some flying trapeze lessons myself again and I ended up swapping the silks for lyra which I think suits me much better (less options for confusion and entanglement). I also went climbing a lot and managed to meet up with lots of friends – Tiffany and Joska from the Koh Tao 2022 group, Sarah and the trapeze crew who live on the island, and Justin and Nia who I had met in Turkey. This time, I also managed to go scuba diving a few times and ticked off the top dive sites around the island – some of them surprisingly good.

Tiffany and I climbed the island’s first multi-pitch which was a fun adventure in very windy conditions! All in all, it was a great way to start the new year in Koh Tao – one of my favourite nomad places with some of my favourite people. Here are more photos from my time on Koh Tao.