To continue... An early start the next day, we set off towards Chota Dara, knowing there was at least one river we had to cross, so the earlier the better. an hour or so later and we found the river! apparently the snow melt over the last couple of days has been much higher than normal. the river was wide and very fast. the current here is scary! after exploring, we accepted there was no way to cross, as one slip would send you hurtling into the main river and you wouldnt get out of that. we turned back, then saw a local shepherd walk past us from the direction of the river. using some sign language, we asked him to show us how to cross- the answer was to wade straight across with his walking stick as guidance on what stone to step on under the water. as the guys put it- it was a bit too 'Rambo' for us! the locals are tough here!
after a stop for everyones favourite breakfast- porridge, we headed back to Crystal Ship and bouldered there defeated. we met the girls there and had a relaxed day bouldering.
I have found much more psyche back recently. i have bouldered a lot with Jill, who is better than me but closer to my style than most of the guys. we have found good problems together and got on well. jill has been climbing for 26 years and used to climb with the British team and onsight 7b, redpoint 7c+. very close to my ambition of one day climbing 8a. its inspired me to believe its possible again. so back to bouldering hard!
Samora, jon and i camped another night in the cave and i had a good day bouldering with them the following day, finding 'easy' problems (their idea of easy is very different from mine!). i should also say that jon is a French guy that we met in Manali, so is not a Hot Rocker, but is a free spirit- staying on his own in a cave most of the time and a good climber, so he has fitted in with the group. a final night in the cave with a minor worry of rain that luckily passed quickly, and a morning bouldering where i found more projects rather than completing any of my existing ones! we returned to camp in time for lunch after running out of food. the snow field is melting so an unpleasant crossing may be the last for a while.
i am finally having a rest day. i weven managed to wash my hair in a stream (not very successfully but better than nothing). the Leh team left yesterday- 7 went and left 11 of us in Chattru. we may move camp to Chota Dara tomorrow by hitch hiking a lift there- for more bouldering.

Saturday 4th July
Things just get better and better- can you believe it! I love bouldering!! the first time ever that i actually love it! i moved from Chattru a couple of days ago with Ed and Jon. we got the bus- had to put all our bags on the roof, then stand in a very small space for most of the bumpy journey. we stopped the bus at Kyara which isnt a village but a boulderfield! it felt great to be dropped off in the middle of nowhere, so isolated! we searched around for a cave to sleep in. we found a nice one with a sand floor, so levelled out some good sleepig space!
it rained so we wanderwed around the boulders getting lost. the next day i tried some awesome problems. they were all quite hard- the guys warned me they were doing hard problems when i joined them. i tried a problem over and over so many times- it had a great toe hook move to a crimp just out of reach. eventually i did it, then Ed said do it again for photographic evidence- it took me 10 more goes to repeat it! another problem started with a sit start on 2 crimps and a heel hoook to a long reach to the right to get a mono (2 finger pocket for me!). i thought there was no way i could make the move, but after a lot of attempts i stuck the sloper as the mono was just out of reach. thats as far as i got but i was very happy! the guys tried a nails 7b+ before doing some 'girl' problems to finish (girl problems are balancy slabs!).
Jon left in the afternoon to go back to Manali then Thailand. Ed suggested we move to Chota Dara- 4 km up the road where everyone else was moving camp too, that evening. we set off in nice weather, but it soon turned and the rain started chasing us up the valley. no trucks or cars came past to hitch a lift so we walked the whole way up hill with way too much gear- perhaps my pillow wasnt really neccessary!
3 tents were set up in Chota Dara, and we found Pete, Lorraine and Peter in the Dabba (much more basic than the others- it was the guys house, consisting of one room, and he only made Chai, coffee and omlette chapatis!). Here we met Pil who is an old English guy who has lived in the area (going to Hampi for the winter) in caves on and off for 7 years developing the bouldering. he climbs font 8a. he also produced a basic guide to the boulders which is what we have been following. he was a little strange but friendly and full of stories. i slept in the Dabba- not a comfortable night sleep but better than finding somewhere in the dark!
Chota Dara has a lot of boulders too so some more exploring and some easy problems made for a rest day. some boulders have no friction which leads to slippery climbing. the area is at 3800 metres so we have increased 600m and it is noticable. im always hungry for a start! and walking around means getting out of breath, even boulder problems leave me sounding like i have just done a sprint!
regular trips to the dabba have become the norm. i am drinking a lot of Chai when its cold and eating omlette and chapati everyday (i actually like it!) plus chocolate! we have had some rain and sun but the wind makes it really bitter, especially at night when i have to wear all my layers to cook in. Tibet could be bad!!
i wanted some new projects here, and the first boulder we went to today is perfect! its a traverse so i broke it down to 2 parts. the crux is the move before the mantle. its font 6c+ so a bit hard for me but im going to give it a good go!

Friday 10th July
we had a party on the 4th as it was Gareth and Lorraines birthdays. the dabba was a unique party place! we did have fireworks as Paul had brougfht them for American Independence day, so we set them off outside and tehy were really good ones. im not sure what the locals thought!
the rest of the time in Chota Dara was the same- i wont bore you with more bouldering details! i didnt complete my project but got closer- with more time...! i started feeling tired aswell as i hadnt had enough rest days- actually im not sure if i had any proper rest days! and the other boulders were so frictionless they werent so inspiring. so it was the right time to return to Chattru on the morning of the 8th. we hitch hiked in groups of 2, and evetually all arrived by lunchtime. i got a lift in a decorated truck, which to my surprise had a CD/MP3 player with USB insert- i havent even seen those in England! it was a bone shattering ride back but food awaited us at the Chattru dabba. countless card games and chess were played that afternoon, and we slept in the dabba, before our prearranged lift came the following morning for Manali.
it was sad to leave Chattru, but a shower, good food, a real toilet and bed were all calling! and my fingertips could do with growing new skin- i have holes within holes!
im impressed if you have red the whole blog! i just wanted to record everything from Chattru becasue it was such a cool experience!

written by  Clairesj on July 10, 2009 from Manali, India
from the travel blog: Clairesj's Travel Blog
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Chattru (also spellt Chhatru, Chatru) with chota dara, kyara, Crystal ship are truly fantastic places to boulder. The whole place is really magical/athmospheric and I can strongly recommend this to anybody considering a bouldering/trad climbing trip to India...

have a good time climbing...

adam

ps: some pictures from Chatru and Chota dara: http://nzclimb.blogspot.cz/2011/09/indie.html

written by  Adam Slachta on November 29, 2013

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