Just to make you jealous, reports on the more far-flung places that KMCers have visited.
Climbing in the Paklenica Gorge
Author: Ken Taylor
Over the last few years, we’ve got into the habit of going on a week’s climbing trip in the spring. Finding a good venue has become a bit of a challenge because the core of the group is from the Kendal Fellwalkers. This means we want somewhere with good walking as well as a challenging mix of sport and trad routes, all in a sunny setting, with sensible flights (i.e. cheap, good start points/destinations, reasonable timings). It was Costa Blanca 2 years ago, Mallorca last year; where was it to be in 2010? We thought about Sardinia but the good walking and good climbing are too far apart, I’m told. We thought about going back to Spain but I wanted to go somewhere I hadn’t been before.
In this article, Shaw Brown describes his trip to the limestone towers, or 'Karsts' of Yangshou, China in November 2005
Yangshuo, I was to find, is a well known backpackers’ stop off in the south of China, where they re-charge their batteries before heading off to Vietnam, Laos and for the more adventurous Burma. It is also a popular tourist destination for the fairly recent but booming Chinese tourist industry, which is not surprising as it is set in beautiful Karst scenery (Limestone towers) on the side of an idyllic river that meanders many miles amongst the Karsts. The town has something of a dual personality, half is devoted to the tourist trade in a similar way to Bowness-on-Windermere, however the other half is ‘real China’ with street markets, noodle stalls and the chaotic but surprisingly safe street traffic.
Over the last few years, we’ve got into the habit of going on a week’s climbing trip in the spring. Finding a good venue has become a bit of a challenge because the core of the group is from the Kendal Fellwalkers. This means we want somewhere with good walking as well as a challenging mix of sport and trad routes, all in a sunny setting, with sensible flights (i.e. cheap, good start points/destinations, reasonable timings). It was Costa Blanca 2 years ago, Mallorca last year; where was it to be in 2010? We thought about Sardinia but the good walking and good climbing are too far apart, I’m told. We thought about going back to Spain but I wanted to go somewhere I hadn’t been before.