Today was a good day. We got to climb 🙂
We started out the day as usual: got breakfast around the corner. They food they have here is DELICIOUS:
We also got some banh my to go:
We had gotten up a bit later this day, so I was somewhat anxious to get going and get to the crag. After food, Sean had to go to the bathroom, so we went back to the hotel. Then we head off to the climbing store, and half way there, Sean left his backpack at the hotel. So I had to go back from the store, give him the key, and let him in. Oh silly Sean. It was a rough start to the morning, but finally we both made it!
We went to the climbing store, took our safety test, PASSED this time, and they rented us a rope. WOOOOOOO
So then we took off on our scooters to the crag. We first filled up on gas, but this time we went to an actual gas station. It cost us only 80,000($4) to fill up both tanks. About 5 times cheaper than the time we got ripped off yesterday.
We finally arrive at the crag. It’s a pretty cool place! They had a little restaurant at the beginning of the crag, incase you got hungry. The signage to get there was pretty good as well.
Here’s a picture of us hiking into the crag. Notice the cows and chickens everywhere:
Here’s a picture of the crag itself:
This is called “butterfly valley”. We ended up climbing on the far left, at an area called the “upper mantle”. We basically climbed to the top of the treeline on cliffs on the right.
We started on an easy 5b(5.8/5.9). I lead it, and then sean lead it. As Sean was leading it, a cute couple came by. Turns out there were from Chico, around the Shasta area of California! What a small world. We talked a bit. I let them barrow my book; they asked if I had bought it, and I said something along the lines of I like buying them so I can have a collection of books that makes me look like I’m really into the outdoors. In a manly/bro-y sort of playful-mocking voice, they said “Oh yeah, you like to impress the girls huh? Like did I tell you about that one time  I went climbing in Vietnam? No big deal”. But yes, pretty much. That’s my deal.
Just as this conversation was happening, Sean said “FALLING!”. I had an inking that he was going to possibly fall, so I had taken most of the slack out of the system. However I should have been paying more attention, and not getting distracted by girls(the #1 cause of deaths in climbing). Anyways he fell, and I caught him. It wasn’t too big of a fall(I didn’t get lifted off the ground, he maybe fell 5 feet). But his first fall outdoors in a while!
Here’s a pic of him climbing this route:
Next we went over and did a 5c(5.9). I don’t have any pictures of it. It was short and sweet, with a few fun moves. Sean and I both lead this one. Great climb 10/10, would recommend.
Next we did the highlight of the day for me: a 6a, 5.10a. After yesterday, I was eager to “prove myself” by climbing a 10a. Because it should be easy, right?
I lead it; it was hard, but not too hard of a lead. The struggle however was setting up the anchor I literally thrashed around and fell like 10-15 times. It was a really awkward last move to get to the anchor. I could reach it and clip in the rope just fine, but getting close enough to clip in my PAC was another thing. You had to shove your body in a little cave, and then move and stretch out to the left to reach the anchor. I basically “aid” climbed to get close enough that I could clip in with my PAC, and then setup the rope for toprope.
Then Sean climbed it. He fell a few times but made it up. Sean did what I will now call “Sean’s way” to get to the top; basically going left, right, and swinging, making his own route to the top. Sean answers for nobody!
Here’s a pic of Sean on the climb. Sorry for the terrible focus, I didn’t have my zoom lens and my auto-focus was fucked up:
Finally to round off the day, we did a short 10b route. There were some New Zealanders next to us that had been working a 5.12a/b the whole day(these guys are basically in another league/doing a different sport).
The route was hard because the last move had a tricky balancy mantle. I had a short fall 2-3 times on the bolt, but finally I was able to do it after the worlds hardest crimp. Here’s a pic of the route:
Basically you start on the boulder on the left, and go up to the bush. The mantle move is out of this picture because I take bad shots.
We called it a day after that, as it was starting to rain. We headed back, in the rain, on our bikes. I felt like I almost skidded out a few times; rain is dangerous on scooters! We took it slow to avoid any accidents.
After we got back, we booked a kayaking trip. Which we will be doing today. We then around for like 30 minutes trying to find a bank. Who knew it would be so difficult to find one! On our way, we met-up with this cool guy:
We eventually found a bank on the street. Whew!
Then it’s time to eat. But first some smokes and me trying to look “cool”:
I really just look like I’m kissing my hand. I, much like Bill Clinton, smoke, but “don’t inhale”. I honestly do it just to wake up(because I feel I’m still jet lagged). Or that’s at least what I tell myself.
We went to a cool rooftop bar next door, and I had a really good meal again, bun cha. It looked different then the bun cha I ordered in Hanoi though. Here’s our food:
And a coconut milkshake. Woo!
They always give us silly straws at all these places for some reason…
We got into a 2 hour deep conversation about finance. We talked about me leaving AppDynamics, and if it was the right choice. I keep thinking I made a mistake leaving there because I left a bunch of money on the table. But we actually crunched the numbers, and saw that it was a wash for me to join LinkedIn vs AppD. Although it would have been a lot better for me to stay at AppD because they got acquired, there was no way for me to knowthat would happen(nobody did), so at the time, with the info I had, I still made all the right choices. Which is all I can ask for.
We then went back to the bar with the laughing gas(the one we went to on night 1). They remembered us there! I considered buying everyone in the bar a round of shots(it only costs $30 even with 18 people), but I decided to wait on it for another night. It’s going to happen though.
We did more laughing gas. Except this time we REALLY went in. I filmed a video of me doing it and considered putting it up here, but it was MUCH too embarrassing to show the world. That’s a first for me. If you wanna see it just ask and I’ll send it to you.
After that, we got some more food at the “Full Moon Party Hotel”. Here’s me looking super content eating it:
Anyways, that’s all for today. I’m 20 minutes late, got to shower, and go on our kayaking adventure. Talk to you tomorrow!