Access Denied

2/11-2/12

Words from the recovering sick kid (Robyn)

Bodies have a funny way of telling you SLOW DOWN! The past couple of off days we have had were to help me recover from a darn common cold. Austin had to brave the pharmacy where language barriers get taken to a whole new level. He did get his hands on some decongestant and cough suppressant after acting out the best he could my symptoms. It is really easy here to get what you need without a prescription, everything is over the counter. The pharmacist even tried to give Austin Valium when he attempted to act out what a sore throat and sinus head aches looked like! 

After a day and half off from climbing, we decided to head to a climb spot called “The Farm”. The Farm is close enough to town you can even walk there. Lucky us though, we hopped on our motor bike and cruised down a residential road that turned into a dirt path. Our guide book told us to leave our bike to the side of the path and walk on in. The Farm, like a majority of Cat Ba’s climb spots, was on private property. Because of this, sometimes you have to pay to access the area. We were told we were good to go but if someone does approach you, it might be a small charge. As we gathered our stuff to continue on foot, a local man drove up on his bike shaking his head no. We showed him our guide book and made the sign for rock climbing but he told us “No”, pulled out his cell phone and made a call. Austin was given the phone with the local business owner for a new climb/tour shop in town on the other end. He explained that we had to buy a pass through his shop and was very confused on how we new about the area. There were a lot of miscommunications due to language barriers over the phone so the the fella hung up saying “I will just meet you out there.” Austin gave the phone back to the owner of the farm and just looked at me confused. I gave him the “lets just go look” and with a nod we both apologized to the owner and headed out on our bike. On our way back to town we passed a westerner and a local on a bike, doing a double take when we passed. Climbers here stick out like a sore thumb with our obscure shaped packs and climbing helmets on. 

We cruised back to where our buddies worked and where we got our guide book to re-plan our day. As we got off the bike behind us pulled in the two fellas (the same ones who took a double take) on a bike who turned out to be the owners of the new climb shop in town. They asked us a bit aggressively what we were doing in the farm and how we even knew about it. We showed them our guide book and that we were told by other climbers that we were fine to go there. They gave the book a bit of a guffaw, explaining that there are way more routes then our book depicts and that the climb shop shouldn’t be sending people out there (even though they were the ones who had bolted the wall). If we wanted to go we had to buy a pass through them (the two on the bike) and park in a designated area where we would turn it in at the sight (none of which is set up yet-so we would of likely been told to leave either way). They became very apologetic (again motor bike guys), explaining that they want climbers to come and enjoy the climbs at the farm. They urged us to come over to their shop and get a pass at which point we simply told them we would come by another day and needed a minute to plan our day. 

This whole conversation took place in front of the climb shop that  our buddies worked at and who had established the rest of the climbing areas in Cat Ba. So once they had left we turned around and retold the whole story to several employees/friends that were sitting and watching the whole thing. The employees at the climb shop told us their perspective to this small town political problem which left us in a situation where it would be silly to choose sides so we were better off just going to climb else where. (We apologize if this was confusing for we did not feel comfortable mentioning the names of the two shops involved.)

After witnessing what felt like a child custody battle, we headed off the trusty butterfly valley. Austin warmed up on a 6a and pushed me to top rope it. I floundered around for a while, feeling like a goopy sick-kid, then decided to just belay for the day. Luckily Josh, one of the employees, from our trusty climb shop, came upon us and asked to join. I was happy to slide off my harness and watch Josh push Austin to his limit.  Josh is a really strong climber and was climbing 7a’s and 7b’s while recovering from an injury.  At the end of the day, Austin led a 7a (5.11c/d), 7a+(5.12a), a 6c+ (5.11d), and top roped another 7a. After that he could barely grip the accelerator on the motor bike to get us home.  

After a day like that, we planned on taking it easy for a day. Thank god it was raining to keep us off the wall. We tried our best to have a proper rest day just eating food and laying low but after the rain subsided we had to get just one climb in so we cruised over to Ban Bao which is a harbor town within walking distance from Cat Ba town. Our buddies who work out here live at a hotel on the water and right next to the wall we climbed. While climbing mist continue to blow in and tourist crowded the dock taking pictures. Feeling uncomfortable do to weather and pressure of tourist watching, we got in one wet route and called it good. The climbing continues! Its been a fun way to explore this island so far!