Kohti valoa / Photoblog

Today we went out to a place called "Low Mountain". Most of the routes are slightly overhanging but still only of intermediate difficulty because of the good pocket holds that make the climbs easier.


"The Pig Emperors".


Pocket holds.

I've always wondered what's happening inside of these small holes as we are close to tropics and the jungles of this country are full of nasty-looking creatures.

I got an answer when we were about to start climbing one of the easier warm-up routes.


This murderous snake came out of the pocket hold and sent us running down the hill.

It started to rain this afternoon and the weather forecast doesn't look too promising for the next week. We decided to travel south and bought train tickets to a city called Nanning.


From there we try to travel further on south and cross the border to Vietnam. Hopefully we arrive to Hanoi on Sunday morning if everything goes as planned.


Climbing the last route of the trip. "Die another day".

We left Hong Kong a week ago and travelled to a small village called Yangshuo in mainland China. This place is a popular tourist destination among the Chinese and according to the Emperor, Yangshuo is the most beautiful place on earth. Though the weather is currently a little hazy and the sun is hiding behind the clouds, the Emperor was right. Yangshuo is a paradise at least for all who like to spend their time climbing karst mountains in beautiful scenery.

The area surrounding Yangshuo is full of limestone towers with almost 500 climbing routes. I'm not sure what the Chinese tourists are doing here but our mission is simple: to climb as many routes as possible until the weather window closes. It rains normally quite much in April but so far we've enjoyed warm and dry weather and climbed every day as much as possible. Our muscles are aching and no skin is left in our fingers but there's nothing better than to wake up, eat and hit the mountains. Evenings are pretty much spent at our favourite climber hang-out, Bar 98, just one-minute walk from our guest house. It really can't get much better than this!

The only downside are the Chinese peasants that have started to harass climbers at some areas. They are angry because all the money goes to Yangshuo where climbers eat, sleep and drink and they can't make any money out of this growing climbing tourism. First they asked for baksheesh to enter the crags but as the rock towers are not on their land and nobody paid them, they started to chop off bolts from the routes so that it's not safe to climb anymore. So who's the winner? Probably Krabi in Thailand or any other climbing destination outside Yangshuo. Luckily, there have been some development and the farmers have started up small businesses near the crags to sell drinks and snacks to gain financial benefit from climbing. I hope this works and the access issues are gone for now because this place has potential for hundreds of more routes in future.

I'll stop writing now and hurry back to 98 as Puise and Teijo are waiting for me to share a couple of Tsing Taos and plan the climbs of tomorrow. Good vibes!




Crossing the border from Hong Kong to Shenzhen.


Dont worry, you don't have to help others if the plane crashes.


Looking for a bus from Guilin to Yangshuo.


Local beer fish (!) restaurants in Yangshuo.


We rented motorbikes to drive to the climbing crags. This helmet was part of the deal. Chinese standard quality.



The karst mountains are usually surrounded by farmland so we had to walk through the paddy fields to get to the foot of the towers.


Yangshuo landscape.


Teijo working on the boulderish first moves of "Absent Friends".


Ancient cave paintings.


Climbing a 100m multi-pitch route called "Penthouse Platforms". Teijo and Puise are waiting for me to finish the third pitch.


Puise finishing the last moves of the climb.


Recovering at the top.


Puise enjoying the farmlands.


All these elegant restaurants are too expensive for our budget..


..so we had to trust the street vendors and their Chinese specialities.


West Street by night. Puise and Teijo are bargaining a proper deal with a rickshaw wallah.


This is the last thing you want to see when you're withdrawing cash.


The arch of Moon Hill.


Negotiating the moves of "New Moon".


Sunset of Li River.


Lost.


This is the way how to get rid of climbers and growing tourism.



Teijo working on a route called "Lonely Marley".

Location:城北路,Guilin,Kiina