the hampi saga continues ...

We arrived in Hampi on December 17th with a plan of staying two weeks.  Since then, when asked how long we'll be staying here we' always reply "Aww, I think we'll stay a couple more weeks".  So, now a little more than four weeks here, we have booked our train ticket and leave on the 24th January. Much as we are sad, there are more places to see and more excitingly family and friends to see and catch up with. 

Our hut - our room is the last on the right!!

Interestingly, our extended stay here (though unplanned!) has been something that in each of the other climbing destinations on this trip we have not had the luxury to do.  Particularly, in both Kalymnos and Tonsai, after 3/3.5 weeks, we were both tired and needed a proper 3/4 day rest. However, at the same time, we're getting stronger and feeling more confident on the rock and wanted another 10 days of climbing to follow.  Here, really by accident, we've done just that.  About a week ago we both got sick (that was bound to happen somewhere on our trip) and were completely out of action for 2 days, this was followed by 2 bumbly days of climbing where neither of us had any power and we didn't push it.  We just took it easy and took the following day as a food filled rest day. We got up the next morning feeling a little demotivated, so we went in search of a new boulder on which to play. We headed to the "Egg Boulder Area" and got on a problem behind the "Hot Slapper" boulder.  A powerful 7a+ sit start problem.  I was working it as a stand start and Andrew the sit start.  Firstly it was great to have a problem that we could both work simultaneoulsy and secondly after 2 hours work, Andrew sent it in style.  Not only was it his first 7a boulder problem to date, but it was also a 7a+.   Unfortunately, I didn't get the stand start yet, but I think its something I can work and the stand start I think is probably a 6b/6b+.  The evening session was up on the plateau and I planned to get back on the classic problem on "TV" boulder - one I have been working for days and just can't get the last move.  It is a great little problem that is baffling a lot of people, particularly us shorter people who just can't reach through.  There are so many variations that you just have to find the one that will suit you!! So, with the intention of warming my fingers up on the problem and just jumping off midway, I start. I easily get through the tenuous (for me) first couple of moves and feel strong, so I keep going.  With great surprise to myself, I reach for the move that for me has been the crux and take it easily. I get my hands are on the top rail and somehow I keep going and top out.  The top out was a bit of a flapper (alot), but somehow I held it together.  I was so happy - I flashed my project on my warm up.  I can't describe that feeling, but it was fantasic.  What a great day for both of us!! We deserved the cold beer we had for dinner!!

Working a 6b/+ on the plateau - a short but powerful little problem!

Andrew on Cosmic Arete (7a)

So we have come to the conclusion that six weeks is the optimum minimum length for a climbing trip (if you've no other obligations, naturally!).  It gives you enough to "warm up" to the rock type, get fit and then send some projects.

Sonia on Harri's Traverse (7a+)

Andrew on 7a+ behind Hot Slapper.. his first 7a!!

Me working Classic Problem on TV boulder, which I later sent (6b/6b+)

Andrew working 7a+ on Sandwich Boulder

Me working the 6b+ on Sandwich Boulder

Over the last couple of days, I've been working another problem on the "TV" boulder (6b+/6c) and one one the "Sandwich Roof" also about (6b+).  I am making slow but gradual progress on both. Hopefully, I will have enough time left to send them.  Andrew, unfortunately, has injured his finger whilst climbing yesterday.  He was so close to getting his problem when we both heard a "pop". He was pulling on a very small flakey pocket, so we don't know whether it was the rock or something in his finger that made the noise, but simultaneously his finger hurt.  Fortunately, it hasn't swollen, so unlikely to have a seriously damaged tendon or pully, but at the same time it is too painful for him to climb.  In the interim, lots of chin-ups on the rings for him!!   

the power is coming, she says unconvinced!!

So, we are still in Hampi and still loving it. What can I say its a great place!! We are climbing 2 days on and 1 day off - with 3 session in those 2 days.  We are both starting to rack up a stack of projects. Every day (usually) I manage to tick one problem and start a few new ones. Grades, who needs grades, right? The guidebook while is useful as a guide, only has a very small percentage of problems and the grades are very subjective!

To put it in perspective, I've been warming up on 5's usually, but this one problem on "Sandwich Boulder" in Little Cave (for those that might know) took two days worth of attempts before I finally sent it.  It was a high and reachy, overhung to start and with a delicate finish.  Very technical and powerful and for me certainly not a 5 in keeping with others I have done recently - perhaps if you were 6ft then it was a 5!  Anyway, putting that aside it was a great problem to work and was a great sense of achievement when I finally got to the top. 

Mac working the 5c in Sandwich boulder

Andrew, like when we sport climbing has yet to find his limit.  He has flashed 6c's and has tried a number of 7a's and 7a+'s.  It's now sending time.  His current tick list looks something like this: 

• Torture Traverse 7a+ 
• Cosmic Arrete 7a
• Sandwich Roof 7a+
• Airplane 7a
• 3 7a on the Plateau
• 7a at Double Tap

Matt on Kingfisher (7b?)

Alessandro on a 7a in Egg Boulders

Hopefully the list is a lot shorter next time I blog and a few 7b's will be featuring on it.  For me I'm working a bunch of 6b/6b+s and a 6c.   I would love to get the 6c before I leave, but I'm not too concerned about the grades and more about getting volume in and feeling confident about bouldering - something that I never have before and for now, I am most certainly ignoring any highballs.... 

The burning fireworks man

FIre Damage to the Hut

New Years Fire Fun

Climbing aside, its been an eventful Christmas and New Year.  Both were spent relaxed and chilled out in our guest house, with a bunch of climbers, sitting around a campfire munching on yummy indian cuisine.  New Years was slightly more eventful with a spectacular (ahem, a large straw scarecrow, packed full of fireworks (almost like dynamite!) and lite in an open field) fire works display - indian style - light the firecrackers and worry about consequences afterwards.   And yes, there were consequences :)  One fire cracker didn't quite take an upwards trajectory, more a sidewards one and landed on the roof of our cabin. Luckily it was noticed immediately and put out but we live in mud huts with thatched straw roofs, so two minutes later we'd have lost everything - down to our passports, visas and money.  We were lucky - it must have been our night... and it was - it will be evening neither of us will forget because it was also the evening we got engaged :)

 

Hampi Island

We are slowly adjusting to our new temporary life in Hampi. The plan was to stay 2 weeks, but after being here a week already, I don't think two will be enough. The area is beautiful and there are more boulders than you could climb in a lifetime. The guest house chilled out with a great bunch of climbers from all across the globe. Why would we leave?

The Hampi Friendly Gecko!

Boulder View from Goan Corner

We are staying in Goan Corner, a large guest house with plenty of mud huts to house quite a large bunch of avid climbers. Shamilla, the owner, is a wonderfully eccentric lady who bakes the best deserts. Even though, I try to be good and not eat them, by the time the desert comes, beautiful smells wafting from the kitchen it is just too hard to say no.

The Temples in the Background

Palm verged Paddy fields

Sunset from Hanuman Temple (Monkey Temple)

But why are we here? To climb no less and what a climbers paradise it is. Acres upon acres of granite boulders to tear our little fingers apart. Having be safely tied to the end of a rope for the past 4 months, it took a few days to really start to feel comfortable bouldering again. Our daily routine has fallen easily into an early rise (0630-0700) breakfast, walking to the boulders for (0800-0830), back for lunch (1200), chillout for the afternoon and head back for a second session late afternoon (1600). We are in India and once the sun hits the rocks its too hot to climb – but in the shade, with a gentle breeze, all is good. Pictures will probably say more than words for here.

Andrew bouldering!

Rest days are spent either crossing the river and spending the morning in Hampi village or chilling out in Goan Corner. Crossing the river gives you a little reminder of what real India is like – it is a flurry of sellers and traders. We tend to forget this in the more isolated chilled out atmosphere on our side of the river. Today, however, a little more adventurously we rented bicycles and cycled to the Lake. The bikes themselves were part of the adventure as they were without brakes, appeared to be welded together in parts and generally creaked and cranked. The lake another adventure. A place where we could chill out and go for a swim? Well that was the plan. Andrew and I and some of our international friends set off and arrived at the lake along with a bunch of starring Indian men (leering might be more accurate!).  Most left briefly which allowed us jump in for a quick dip.  But the remains of the afternoon was overshadowed by seeing different groups just out right staring from different corners of the lake.  To me, it was quite unsettling and certainly not somewhere I would feel happy about going with only one or two girls.  Anyway, it was just another side of India to experience. 

Happy Christmas Everyone!!

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and very festive holidays, we miss you all!! Hampi is wonderful, but it lacks the Christmas cheer of home - and from what I hear the snowy whiteness.....

None the less, we are having a fabulous time here in Hampi, it is a boulderers paradise.  Like every new climbing destination, it takes a few days to get your head into the zone, and to harden your finger tips (it hurts to type).   A proper update will follow.  For now, here's the best of Spain, from our month in September.  Enjoy!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolemcgloughlin/sets/72157625280341338/

Goa

After a early rise (5.30am), haggling with a sleepy taxi-man, a fast spin across town to CST, a 12 hour (ish nothing ever runs to schedule, we're learning) train ride south and a taxi, we arrive in Goa, in Panaji (or Panjim, everything seems to have two names) at Casa Paradiso, Lonely Planets “Our Pick” accommodation – it was basic but adequate. It was late and we just wanted somewhere for the night. We were hungry, so after a short walk we found a local Indian restaurant and were immediately ushered into a chilly air con room past the hustle and bustle of the front room, strange I was thinking to myself. We sat and looked through the menu, which almost immediately I noticed was a different colour and had “A/C Menu” on it... I mentioned this to Andrew and we decided to sit out in the hustle and bustle and eat the same food at about 25% cheaper. The A/C room was too cold..

Quiet Morning in Panaji Streets

It was almost like a weight had been lifted off my head the next morning when I woke – we wandered the streets of Panjim and although there were still hundreds of people, it didn't have the same manic feeling as Mumbai did. You could breathe. There isn't a whole lot to see and do in Panaji, it is an old Portuguese town and the remnants of colonial buildings are still very evident if a little run down. So the following morning we decided to head north to Candolim, one of the northern Goan beaches where we decided to stay a little out of the village in Dona Florina's Guest house. This was a stone's throw from the beach, and the beach was beautiful. An endless sandy beach. I'd like to say a “a white sand beach” but it was more of an orangery hue with a gigantic ship wreck almost shading the beach. Our favourite spot on the beach was a shack called “Pete's Shack” which served wonderful food morning noon and night.

The view from just outside our room in Dona Florina

Petrol Station in Candolim

The beach in Candolim

The view of the ship wreck looming over the beach

After a few days there, we headed south to a place called Palolem, supposedly a quiet hidden gem. Unfortunately, this gem has been discovered but its still a wonderful beach, just far too many people. However, we're chilling out and enjoying the hassle free (well... if you consider come into my shop, take a look, looking for free, can I ask you a question, will you come to my shop, please just take a look, mine is different from her's, please take a look…. As hassle free – of course looking isn't for free and if you take a look you really are expected to buy... she says now the proud of two necklaces!! ok make that four necklaces, two bracelets and a pair of earrings!! ) I still feel bad that I didn't buy more, not because I want / need any more jewelery, but you do feel bad for them, its a hard life that many Indians have been born into. Talking with a couple of them it couldn't be more different from our Western society. From the smallest of things – like we see traditional beauty in darker tanned skin, whereas they look to the Western world and see pale skin as beauty and prosperity. Like at home in pharmacies you can buy self tanning, here all the creams are whitening, but they some do not stop there and use chemical such as bleach to attempt to whiten their skin to make it look milky as Westerns. This is not only true of Indian but a lot of the South East Asian countries too. Many of the girls will never see their parents and families again after marriage. For example, one seller when she travels back home to her husband and family, must keep her face covered at all times and may only show her face to her husband and children. None of his extended family or friends will ever see her face. She is almost liberated working in Goa because nobody knows her here so she does not need to keep her face covered. Families are traditionally large (not unlike Ireland of old) and the eldest children may never have formal education and are expected, from a early age, to move hundreds of miles from home to help earn a living for the family back home. The two jewelery seller sisters we met, 18 and 15 had been selling jewelery on the beach since the elder was 10. She'd no schooling but was sending money home so that here younger brothers and sisters might have the opportunity. Her family lived near Hampi and for 6 months of the year she lives some 600 miles west in Goa on the beaches, for the other 6 months - 3 are spent making jewelery the other 3 are spent in the paddy fields.

A quiet moment on the beach in Palolem

Beach Sellers

On Friday we head for Hampi..... roll on the bouldering !!

Mumbai

Gateway of India, Mumbai

And so we arrive in Mumbai, India. A new country, a new timezone, a new sub-continent, a new city, a new way of life and an utterly mind blowing and overwhelming experience. I keep hearing Andrew whispering in my ear, relax, your making me tense, relax. But for some reason I can't and I can't actually put my finger on why? Its not that I don't feel safe, though I am clutching my camera, just in case – but it is the shear number of people, that makes me feel uneasy. Maybe I'm a bit agoraphobic. It feels like you are coming out of a large concert all the time. But its also the way people treat you here. The hotel we are staying in is lovely, complete with, lift-men, doormen and bell boys – but it is as if I don't exist. They look right past me and talk directly to Andrew. Every morning I get into the lift first, and its “Good Morning, Sir” “How are you today?” “What have you planned?” or something such similar, looking right through me at Andrew, I barely get a nod.

Local Cricket in Oval Maidan, Colaba, Mumbai

Its loud and noisy, its smelly, its wonderful colourful but at the same it dirty and grimy. You don't go to India to see things per say, you go to experience it. We walked around the Colaba and Fort areas, looking at the all the colonial building mixed through an array of modern, derelict and collapsing buildings and concrete jungle. But it's the people that make what it is, and more importantly, the sheer numbers. For example, yesterday was Sunday, which like much of Europe most businesses were closed and streets were quieter (only in the sense that there were not as many cars/taxis about, so less horns) but that did not make it feel less crowded - in fact maybe it was more crowded... Every quiet street had a local game of cricket, played with a tennis ball and most players running barefoot. Then there was Oval Maidan (the local park), about 4 times the size of St. Stephen's Green, it had a cricket oval at either end with a game playing in each and in between (the size of another 2 cricket ovals) there must have been 50 / 100 (too many to count!) cricket creases just full of people playing - kids, teenagers & adults. There were literally 1000's of people playing... it was hard to see where one game started and the other ended. To give a sense of scale to Mumbai, there are more than 16 million people living in the city. 2.5 million people pass through CST (the central railway station) daily. There are a mere 17 public toilets for every 1 million people and there are about 29,000 people per sq km.

Streets of Mumbai

Colaba, where we are staying, maybe epitomizes Mumbai and the class and wealth divide. The streets are lined, both with markets stalls (selling everything from cheap clothing to giant balloons) and up market high street, with everything from Nike, Nikon, Body Shop, to Louis Vuitton. Everyone from the clearly wealthy Indians to whole families living on the streets. This afternoon we walked passed a group of small semi naked children and their parents all asleep on the street at the entrance to a busy petrol station on a road junction. Poverty is obvious and a huge problem. 

CST (Victoria) Central Train Station in Mumbai

And Onto Bangkok

Our time in Tonsai has came to an end and we were sad to leave.  We were finally getting into the swing of things.  It took the first two weeks to really acclimatise to life and the climbing in Thailand. But for the final 10 days we found projects to work and we were feeling more confident and happy with our climbing.  On the last day climbing Andrew sent his first ever 7b.  It only took 4 attempts, so clearly he has not reached his limit.  The route was Tiger Queen on the beach in Dum's Kitchen, a short but stiff little route.  On day one, he wired all the moves and surprised himself by sending on the first attempt on day two. Needless to say he made the route look easy.  I had found a number of other routes that I would have liked to redpoint, but we just ran out of time.  Two routes in Wild Kingdom and a third route on Dum's Kitchen.  We left Tonsai with an excuse to return one day, projects to tick, but we also left happy with the couple of routes we'd ticked there.

Andrew sending his project, Tiger Queen, 7b in Dum's Kitchen..

Me bouldering on the beach in Tonsai

And so on the 1st December we arrived into bustling Bangkok at the very early hour of 5.30a.m. after an overnight bus ride.  We found our hotel, hoping that they would let us check in, but alas no – we had to come back at 10am :( but at least they let us leave our bags.  So off we trot down Khao San Rd (I can tell you I've never seen it this quiet!) at 6am – a couple of laps of the area, a very long breakfast, and a trip to a coffee shop for coffee and Internet and it was finally 10am – and we were allowed to our room - a room with AC and a hot shower, oh the little joys... The next three days were spent sightseeing. First up the ultra modern, ultra large MBK shopping centre, Wat Pho and the magnificent Grand Palace, the obligatory walk down Khao San Road for a little shopping, and of course find the quiet coffee corner off the beaten track, to relax and get away from the bedlam.

Base jumping from the top of Tonsai Roof

One of the glorious buildings inside the grand palace

Andrew and the Grand Palace Bangkok

And then we were on a bus to the airport....if I wasn't awake before getting on the bus, I was as soon as he started driving.  It was one of the most hair raising bus journeys I have ever been on!   Next stop Mumbai.