The crag ended up being about an hour outside of town with a surprisingly calm drive on newly paved road. One of my favorite parts of trips to countries so different from our own is riding along and taking in the surroundings. I am amazed at the number of Temples that are everywhere. There is no reason to seek them out, which I was expecting and spotting them along the road was quite interesting.
CMRCA is a group of folks who have developed, cleaned, bolted and created a delightful, almost spoiled destination for climbers of every experience level from around the globe. There are little huts for eating the hot lunch that they prepare and deliver to you and squat toilets that lack that awful outhouse smell we have in the US. The bolts were all solid and well cared for and the guides, legally all of whom must be Thai nationals, were knowledgeable, patient and cheerful.
As a special birthday treat, Jim lead climbed "Happy Birthday" for me to top rope, a 6B (5.10c), wet slippery, beauty of a climb. Our new German friends even sang Happy Birthday to me as I tied in to climb :-).
This area was so safe and the bolts were so frequent that I even got on three climbs and led myself. (For our reference later) I climbed a 5c at Tamrind Village called Gecko, Flapper, a 5c at Hanging Gardens Wall and Easy Bake Over, a 5b+, on Furnace Wall.
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Jim cruised up Crazy Horse's Reindeer Request, a 6a+ finishing it out by adding on Partners, a 6a+ full of juggy holds on a weird overhung face. I opted out of the last climb, the humidity having worn me out by that time, but Jim led up Blackhole Sun, a 6b+.
We had an absolutely wonderful day followed by more fantastic Thai food and then passed out in bed by 9:00. I think the 12 hour time difference is catching up to us :-).
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