The jungle adventure: ants, river wading, bushwacking, oh and some climbing!

i have finally uploaded some photos from Yangshuo, hope you like them.
Vang Vieng is still not that exciting, but i did have an awesome day yesterday!
I was gonig to go climbing to one of the normal climbing areas, until Danny came and asked me if i fancied climbing the 6c+ multipitch (Graham had pulled out), so i thought why not?! We went with Shaggy and Pete, as there are 2 routes that go up the face next to eachother, and as Pete had been here last year, he would be very useful in the bushwacking up to the beginning of the route.
it started with a walk to the river, then a short boat ride across the river to the otherside. then it was dense jungle, where a path used to be to get to the crag. Pete brought his mashette and tried to clear a path, but we struggled to find evidence of any path from the previous year. we kept going through all sorts of plants and insects- including standing on a ants nest- they had painful bits that made me jump around until i could flick the ants off! after probably about an hour of this, or maybe 2, we got to a river which was a few metres down. we had to climb down the muddy side into the river, then cross and climb up the other side. it was slippery so Danny tied a bit of string to a tree to help. then on the other side the path turned more rockyso that sharp broken rocks mad up the path, and it was a case of climbing and balancing from one to the other without falling between them. 20 mins later and we saw the rock face! it was now about 2pm so we needed to get moving if we wanted to get up the climb and out of the jungle in the day light- there was no way i was going througfh the jungle at night- we would get lost and who knows what extra and possibly worse creepy crawlies came out in the dark!
Danny quickly led up the first pitch which was really nice, if a bit steep when i was carrying a backpack with 3 litres of water in it! then i led the next. the bolts were nicely close together. the 3rd pitch traversed slightly, and we presumed this was the 6c+ pitch, even though it felt like a nice 6b. so i was up to led the next pitch. i looked around the corner at another traverse and after clipping a few bolts, decidedthis looked far too hard! so backed down to the belay and danny led it- this was actually the 6c+ pitch! 2 more wicked pitches after this and we reached the top. we passed a snake skin on a ledge on the last pitch which made me more cautious of putting my hands in pockets!
2 abseils later and we reached the ground. it was 4.30, so time to make a move on getting out of the jungle. the other 2 had gone back earlier becasue their route was unfortunately wet. we walked back to the river, then decided that it would be easier and quicker to walk up the river to get to the main river where we could easily get a boat to our hotel. we were going to climb down into the river using the rope we had left from before but it was completely covered with ants- the white rope was now black!so it was harder to climb down. we then waded up the river, which came up to our waists (still with full harness, quickdraws and chalkbag on! occationally slipping in the mud! it was brilliant. the river was about 3 metres wide and covered with trees and low branches. it went on for a good 20 minutes as we got more anxious that it might not lead to the main river! but eventually we emerged from the jungle and hauled ourselves out of the water. we found a boat to take us straight back to the hostel.
straight in the shower, was bliss! what an adventure!
unfortunately it didnt end there- i got so many stings and bites from the jungle, and one was particularly bad- i think it must be some kind of plant or bush. i cant see much on my leg but it is incredibly itchy and has stabbing pains. this contiunued through the night and today- so i didnt get much sleep!
therefore an easy day today uploading photos and watching family guy!

The jungle adventure: ants, river wading, bushwacking, oh and some climbing!

Vang Vieng, Laos