Alex and I met in Bangkok on November 14th 2015, after two years of not seeing each other and a couple failed attempts to reconnect in Northern America. We were hosted like kings at a friend’s flat (thanks Mali) – in a building full of expats from Belgium, France, Germany, etc. that soon became the basecamp of our meandering in South-East Asia – and tackled the planning of our future adventures. It was quickly decided we would do a little bit of rock climbing before getting in anything too serious together … Just a few months ^^ First we would try to get a Chinese visa and climb in Southern China for a month – Yangshuo and Getu were bright bulbs for the free-roaming flies we have become and we simply HAD TO check it out. After some costly misunderstanding with the Chinese embassy – the first of many communication misfortunes (Chinese brain simply isn’t operating the same way ours is, you have to understand and accept that in order to enjoy China and it’s people, seriously) – we were told we’d get the visa by the end of the month.

A marathon of poor nights (one of which we spent at the police station in Chiang Mai, after failing to spend the night in Buddhist temples, both very cheap options for those of you that have a tight budget), cattle-like train (le fameux “train du chien”), plane and futuristic high-speed train got us to Yangshuo in the Guangxi province of China, on November 29th. The surroundings are impressive : the winding Yu Long river meanders between thousands of karstic peaks that pop up from the farmed land like mushrooms in ever-lasting mist-ery. Lots of climbing to be done here. Let’s roll baby !

Life is good, cheap and simple. We have an off-the-gird room in a family house in a little village South of Yangshuo ; an indecent motorbike (ou “la bouse”) that fails, breaks down, rapidly falls apart and rattles like an archaic vapor train, but gets us everywhere ; a close-by local market where we buy our fruits, vegetables, biscuits and tofu (after watching the documentaries Cowspiracy and Earthlings – strongly advised ! – we sort of tried ourselves at eating vegan) ; and the traditional restaurant where we dine every night. I say ‘dine’ but really I should say ‘stuff as much food – an insane quantity of rice every night – in our mouths as fast as we can with our chopsticks’ – we got pretty good at it –, because, climbing hard and eating only fruits, vegetables and biscuits during the day, we are quite literally starving by diner time. But we enjoy that daily hot meal : the food is tasty, healthy, simple and cheap. And for once we know what we’re actually being served – no dodgy-looking strips of flesh whose taste is covered by spices and chili.

The weather is cold and rather humid, and we aren’t prepared. Our room stays unheated except for an electrical resistance stuck in what looks like a tiny chicken cage. We are forced to buy hats, gloves and puffy jackets. It is low season too, so there’s really just ourselves. BUT we’re doing great, climbing hard, and these two weeks give us time to get used to each other’s company, appreciate our reunion and think about future plans. At some point, two days of steady rain flood the bridge to the village and see us stuck to our room for 48 hours – this allows us to rest (for once), work on our CV’s and do some research for job opportunities abroad – it also forces us to cross the river bare-footed in order to eat at night, something that brought us the sympathy of the villagers …

The climbing is awesome and our progress tangible. Alex plays in a 7c for the first time. As for me I do my first 6c on sight and a tricky 6c+ “project”. First experiences of long routes for me – Alex is a great teacher ! We climb almost every day for two weeks. Next destination : Getu, for a week of climbing awesomeness !

Fun facts

Fun fact 1 : after flooding the motor of our motorbike, the latter scarcely works and we often have to run behind and push it in the middle of the traffic (mmmh pâté !).

Fun fact 2 : after some time, the Chinese family that owns the restaurant where we eat every night starts inviting us for diners – there’s the grandmother, the two sisters and their husbands and kids. Great moments shared in their company. The food is delicious and the brazier under the table makes wonders ! Google Translate on our phones allows us to communicate and the exchange is fun, sometimes weird. They are startled at the length of our beards, despite our young age, and attribute this to an “excess of masculine hormones”. The grandmother also offers to find me a girlfriend … Finally their rave about Alex’s “rough hands” and “deformed fingers” (pauvre Alex qui s’est fait mordre le petit doigt par un cheval à 5 ans n’y peut strictement rien ^^).

Gilles.

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