[smuidim]

Headin off round the world in late April for a year and though its not strictly a bouldering trip I'm bringin my shoes and hope to spend up to a few weeks at a time at whatever good venues I cross paths with.

Information on the web seems scarce enough except for a few of the big names like Hampi so anyone have any experience of bouldering in any of the following...

India (read the Hampi thread)
Nepal (saw a photo of some shit looking bouldering at base camp)
Thailand (read the thread about Tao)
Malaysia
Cambodia
Vietnam
Japan
Chile
And then the rest of South America ...

Cheers,
Diarmuid

[r-man]

Japan - http://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,6079.0.html

[chappers]

indian himalaya, i spent some time in the parvatti valley, there are bits and bobs up there, but there is much more on a plateau accessible above rishikesh near gangotri i think (issue of friction with details, ill have a look for it) - time of year dependant tho, may be masses of snow! there was also a link to a site of some crazy guy from the lakes who seemed to be living out there HOUDINI!!!!  i am sure was involved in that discussion.

thailand - houdini (again) knows the whearabouts of a load of sandstone boulders in central thailand, and they look good from the pics. i have a copy of the tao guide that i feel i should pass on if you want/houdini doesnt want it back (chances of me going again soon are slim). nick the hobbit from buk spent quite a long time climbing in northern tailand near to chang mai.

cambodia - loads there, but i didnt do owt, watch out for those land mines word!

[jwi]

Japan - http://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,6079.0.html

Japan, apart from Ogawayama:

It's hard to give concrete advice since I have no idea of what grade-span smuidim wants. But for hard bouldering (Fb 7a+/b and up) I think Hourai/Horai (spelling according to preference) is quite good. Especially for fans of pinkie-only pockets on steep ground. The few easier problems they got are utter shite. For hard bouldering Shiobara seems to be the place right now.

I like Toyota. The granite at most areas in Toyota is too sharp. Other than that it's ace.

Fukube just outside Mino city in Gifu-prefecture is very good.

Mitake is close to Tokyo and supposedly good.

[Houdini]

Heard Cambodia is double mank for malaria, but what the fuck, eh?  Korea, dude.  Korea has phenomenal bouldering.

I know a guy who developed an ace Korean venue.  PM me if you want his e-mail address.

The guide was a gift Chappers.  Keep it, pass it on as you wish.

The sandstone in Thailand is in an area known as Sukothai/Sutokai (sp?)  Check your Lonely Planet.

www.losthorizontreks.com  Pakistani bouldering.  Many pics.  Ty Gordon is the man to quiz.

[Bonjoy]

 For some bizarre reason my dad used to recieve tonnes of N Korean communist propaganda literature through the post when I was a kid. The books always seemed to be filled with loads of photos with the most amazing granite crags and boulders in the background, really awesome looking stuff.

[BenF]

For some bizarre reason my dad used to recieve tonnes of N Korean communist propaganda literature through the post when I was a kid.

As a consequence of this mail, did you ever notice that there was always an unmarked police car sat outside your house?

[G.K]

Heres a place I'd like to try if I ever get back to Malaysia. The rock type is granite. http://www.gacadventure.com/tampinbouldering/tampinbouldering.html

If memory serves, Melaka is about three hours from both Singapore and KL

You should get intouch with this guy for details.brandon@gacadventure.com