UKC

Right I'm off to Bali soon I was thinking 10days then India (Chennai).

I don't mind traveling around but does anyone know of any climbing spots. (Not the himalayas)

In reply to Ban1:

Hampi: top class bouldering, also scenically/historically/architecturally interesting and a good place to hang out. Badami is supposed to have good climbing and also looks pretty scenic in pictures, but have never been there. Granite domes near Bangalore if you like Tuolumne-style scary runouts.

In reply to AlanLittle:

Second all the above, badami is nice from architectural viepoint as well, climbing is on hard sandstone. For all destinations bangalore is a better starting point than chennai.

In reply to Ban1:
So let me get this right. You're gonig to drop nearly a grand in flights, visas and vaccinations for a trip, spend hours on an airplane, etc etc - but can't be arsed to google "rock climbing in south india" which will bring up everything that more generous minded posters than I have typed above? You have an incredible amount of information at your fingertips yet can't be arsed to search for even the slightest of it?

The developing Indian climbing scene is not well documented on the Internet, so seeking advice from a climbing community strikes me as rather sage...Unfortunately i don't think Chennai is the epicentre of Indian climbing. Bangalore has an active climbing community with indoor gyms and outdoor climbing. Hampi is the obvious choice if you want the luxury combination of a backpacking lifestyle with bouldering bliss. Check your timings though as I suspect the season will shortly be coming to a close.

Cheers

Dan

Apart from the obvious dickhead great advice from everyone.
I'm staying with a friend so we will be based in Chennai this isn't a climbing trip just thought I would get a day or so if I could

In reply to Ban1:

Hope you've got your Indian visa already... the requirements change on Monday and include visiting a visa office in person.

In reply to AndyC:

You might then try bouldering at mahabalipuram close to chennai, possibly as daytrip. Surely not as extensive as hampi.

In reply to Ban1:

youtube.com/watch?v=jLPzcJPbGVk&

In reply to AndyC:


Really? Can you say more Andy? Im planning on heading out in October.

In reply to Ban1:

Hmmmm, well there's very little here you couldn't have got from a quick google. My advice is do a little research, find the general lay of the land, and only then start asking questions - because at that point you'll have a bunch of "known unknowns" that you'll want answering. You'll be at a point if asking specific questions, maybe asking for some contacts in the destination, etc.

I may be an obvious dickhead, but having done 50+ trips over the years, I do know a little about researching them... Anyhow have a great trip!

In reply to Kimono:

It's a tit-for-tat attack on British travellers by the Indian government - other nationalities including Americans, Germans, Japanese etc. can get visas on arrival but Brits are now required to provide biometric data before travelling. It will cost something like 90 quid and they want a lot more details.

Been a few bits in the news recently and it was mentioned on You & Yours on Radio 4 yesterday. Here's a Telegraph article about it:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/india/11426221/New-Indi...

or Google 'India visa changes'.

In reply to AndyC:

Jeez, that looks a right pita

Visa on arrival would be really nice.
Ok, thanks for the heads-up

In reply to Ban1:

Has anyone got anything on bali I can't find a thing