Chattru
Saturday 21st June

WOW WOW WOW, Chattru is stunning! A slightly nerve-racking drive out of Manali and up the surrounding mountains on dirt roads was fun, even when the mini bus driver insisted on overtaking every car and truck he could on the single track road! it took us 6 hours with a breakfast stop. the view is of mountains in every direction, snow caps in the distance, rock and glaciers. Chattru consists of a few tents the locals live in and a couple of bigger tents which are cafes (known locally as dabbas). we found a nice spot to camp, near the river which runs through the valley. the altitude is 3200m and a combination of dehydration from being ill and the altitude, i have been feeling a bit strange with a headache.
the bouldering is great. Walk a couple of minutes from camp and pick a boulder and find a problem. Most have already become projects becasue they are too hard for me?! the boulders spread for 17km either side of the river. today me and Jill walked a bit further along the boulders crossing a glacier which felt scary as we made footprints and inched our way across trying not to look down at the drop one slip would casue us to hurtle 20 metres down into the river. im bringing a walking pole noext time! then across a rickety bridge! a little further on and we hit the best bouldering area yet- Crytal Ship. There are so many nice problems here.
It is an amazing place to be bouldering in- with mountains, snow, springs and sunshine. the weather is great- it gets warm/hot in the day then cools right down at night (to being too cold in my opinion! thermals and down jacket are needed!).
i went hiking the other day with Gareth, Jeremy, Veronica and Jill. We walked up a snow patch as it was the easiest way up until it got steeper and steeper and we were in need of crampons and axes. Jill and i moved onto the grass and rocks and ascended a bit further to just over 3700m so we climbed a total of 600m. to my surprise i really enjoyed the hiking. the altitude seems to mean that the others slow down to walk at a pace that my asthma can stay under control. the amazing setting helps too! when i came back down to camp 4 1/2 hours later, the mountains seemed smaller and less imposing after having been half way up one.
Here in Chattru we are cooking in teams with normal camping stoves- i am with Ben, Paul, Roscoe and Dave. We bought lots of tinned food in Manali, so the food has been basic- not too exciting yet! but the dabbas also sell somne basic meals. i have discovered aloo paranthas- which are like chapatis but with potato, onion, garlic, chili and probably other things inside. Veg fried rice is also a treat for a night off cooking.
Some of the group have been exploring trad lines, but with mostly at least a 2 hour vertical walk in at altitude to unknown rock, it is a committment to finding a good do-able line. then there ius the risk of finding a good absail off the route too! so i am going to leave trad for the moment becasue there is so much hiking and bouldering at my fingertips.
I just have to say i am writing this blog in an internet cafe where the owner has been playing Backstreet Boys for the last hour and singing along- its pretty distracting!!

Monday 29th June
What a week! Things have got even better! i went hiking- this time up a grass hill- with Veronica and Jill. Veronica is now nick-named the mountain goat as she is so fast, so i soon found myself way behind Veronica and ahead of Jill. i paused for some 'Hide and Seek' (the best chocolate biscuits in India with chocolate chips!) and to see where Jill was. i could no longer see Veronica. as i approached the bottom of the crag, i started to feel a bit vulnerable as i had lost both girls! i think i reached around 4000m but couldnt be accurate. i decided to descend- to find Jill and becasue i didnt know how altitude would affect me higher up- or how to getdown! and not surprisingly i got completely lost on the way down! nearer the bottom i tried crossing a field on a path, and got scared off by an aggressive guard dog! i retreated quickly thinking about my lack of rabies vaccinations! i reached the cafe after a total of 4 hours and found some otyher hot rockers playing cards there. i want to go back up the mountain and reach the summit before i leave Chattru, i think its about 300 metres higher than where i reached.
Since enjoying the trekking so much i have been concidering going to Leh and up Stok
Kangri. I hate decisions! So when Samora asked if i wanted to join him, Ed, Shaggy and Jon to go to Crystal Ship and tehn walk the 14 km to Chota Dara on the side of the river with no road, but plenty of bouldering according to the guide, i thought why not!
the first night we found a nice cave in the area, put the bouldering mats down as sleeping mats and layered up for what could be a cold night. the guys had bought a feast with them- tinned ham, spaghetti, real pasta sauce with olives in it! fresh tomatos, onions, and peppers that we ate as a salad, and plenty of pasckets of Hide and Seek! we even had music from an ipod and mini speakers. the cave was completely open on one side, so the sky and stars were above me as i fell asleep. why have i been sleeping in a tent for so long?! it was even warm in my thick sleeping bag!

to be continued tomorrow as its dinner time and there is a film showing at the restaurant!........

written by  Clairesj on July 9, 2009 from Manali, India
from the travel blog: Clairesj's Travel Blog
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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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So we had a complicated journey to Skardu, that took about 10 hours, becasue of all the check points along the way. when we got to Skardu, we couldnt see the bouldering area which is supposedly obvious, so everyone thought we should continue to Kaplu where there is a 13 pitch trad route with 6b grade pitches. i wanted to stay in Skardu and spend a bit longer looking for the boulders. but we swapped taxis after they tried to rip us off, and we evetually made it to Kaplu at about midnight. we camped in a nice hotel and the rock is a couple of minutes walk away, through apricot farms. however we soon discovered the rock was very dirty and loose. it was hard to find any gear placements you could actually trust. on the second day, i started up a route but backed off at an awkward move. Jill took over the lead and just as she stepped up, the foothold broke, and she fell, ripping out what we both thought was good gear. she hit the ground, but luckily just had a painful shoulder that evening- nothing serious. it was scary though as it reminded me of my accident and seeing her on the ground. it was not nice. So after that i thought i would give the trad climbing here a miss! When a couple of the guys said they were going back to Skardu early to find the bouldering- i jumped at the chance. It has been me and the 2 mexicans, so its been frustrating when they speak in Spanish all the time, but the bouldering has been great. we have camped in the boulderfield- very dusty, and a long way from water or food! but the stars at night have been amazing! today we have come back to Skardu for a nice meal, and becasue we ran out of food. then we are going to another area the other side of the town that looked like it had good bouldering potential. hopefully we will then meet up with the rest of the group on their way through Skardu, to Passu.
Kaplu and here have both been really freindly. i have started wearing a head scarf and covering my shoulders as is expected here. we met a lot of friendly people in the town, who would ask if we wanted a cup of tea or needed help. i got my head scarf for free when the shop keeper said i was beautiful and could have it! i was a bit worried accepting it would mean i was accepting a marriage proposal! but luckily not!!We had some visitors to our camp site here and when we were climbing- people stop by the side of the road and come over for a chat! a lot of them just came to chekc we were ok- we must be a strange site, a couple of westerners in the middle of nowhere, when there are so few tourists here anyway! i find the men less threatening than India too, they still stare but keep their distance more. so all in all, im enjoying Pakistan!
time to go and get a luxury chicken burger i think!

written by  Clairesj on July 26, 2009 from Skardu, Pakistan
from the travel blog: Clairesj's Travel Blog
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