The Shifting Sands

As part of our “something for everyone” holiday, in between baby tigers and crippled elephants, I managed to slide out for a couple days climbing at Crazy Horse Buttress 45 minutes out of Chiang Mai. The local club and guiding companies developed a great crag with really responsible environmental practices.  They run a shuttle service to an form the crag which makes access easy. The limestone was not super steep but steep enough for me and the rock was yet to show signs of being polished. Two days and 6 on-sights per day between 5c and 6b+ was enough for me, leaving my arms burning and my belayer covered in my dripping sweat after each session.   If you are heading to Chiang Mai and are keen to climb make sure that you don’t miss Crazy Horse Buttress. There is a great guide book at the local climbing club cum climbing shop and any gear that you could need that you may have left at home.

I had some work in Delhi so I departed Mumbai Domestic Airport in a pin stripe suit with mountaineering boots to try to keep my baggage below 20kg, always a good look. On the 26th of July, I took an early morning flight to Kulu airport. It was like flying in the New Zealand Alps in a Pilatus Porter, circling to wait for a clearance in the cloud followed by a sprint up the mountain valley to get in before the cloud closed in again. Manali A 45 minute drive saw me settling into my budget hotel in bustling Manali. According to the locals Manali was quiet until the militancy in Kashmir forced travelers on the hippie circuit to look for other locations. A reliable supply of high quality local cannabis made Manali a very popular location particularly with post military service Israeli’s who prowled the streets in large groups. Like the Gaza strip with bongs! TATA Truck at Rhotang I met my team consisting of Bagwhan and Mohan along with their boss Kaushal and