Climbing Karsts at Ban Mung

Our original plan was to ascend Phu Kradeung, camp for two nights and explore the plateau at the park, and then descend down the "secret trail" at the back of the mountain.

The night before, while huddled around our hot mugs of Ovaltine at the camp restaurant, Karl suggested a different idea. I think we were both feeling the past two days of extreme adventure. The secret trail was just beyond Lomsak Cliff, meaning that it was going to be a further 10km hike just to get to the trailhead before taking the long climb down (without rest areas). Once at the bottom, we were going to have to find a driver or hitchike the remaining way back to the National Park HQ where we had left our car. In the end, we both decided that it wasn't worth it and that it wouldn't have made such a great video for Karl's YouTube channel.

"I'll tell you what Mike", he said to me, sipping his Ovaltine. "We'd be cream crackered if we go down that way, but I have an idea. There's a place I read about not far from here. We could check it out if you're up for another adventure before heading back to Bangkok?"

I told him that I was always up for an adventure!

After an icy shower and a few moments spent just staring at the amazingly clear sky and its millions of stars, I turned in for the night, sleeping soundly in the cold, fresh mountain air.

The next morning, we awoke with the dawn and after an early Thai breakfast (basil chick and a fried egg for me), we began the trek down. It was much easier than the climb up the mountain, and we made it back easily by only taking a break at every other rest stop.

Arriving back at the car, I felt an amazing feeling of victory and success. I had done something incredibly difficult - possibly the most physically demanding thing I've ever done. My legs and body ached, but I was so happy, and ready for whatever mystery adventure that Karl had in mind (he wanted it to be a surprise).

We drove from Loei Province into Phitsanulok Province. It took several hours, and we discovered that the winding country roads had really led us into the boonies (or as we say in Thailand, "Nakhon Nowhere"). In fact, at one point, we even had to stop in at a 7-Eleven and beg the shopkeepers to let us use their private staff-only toilet in the back! (We asked them if we could be "staff" for ten minutes, and they laughingly agreed). It was the first time I've ever been in the backroom of a Thai 7-Eleven!

Eventually, we arrived in Ban Mung, the little village that was the destination of our adventure. Karl pulled the car off to the side of the road, and we consulted our map. We saw that there was a small guesthouse resort just a few hundred meters away, and we beelined our way there. It had been a long day, and we were both understandably exhausted.

We booked into a pair of little bungalows for a much-needed evening of rest.

After the week's adventures, I can't tell you how happy I was to have a comfortable bed and a hot shower!

It really felt like we were in the middle of nowhere! The little village was situated in a valley surrounded on all sides by towering limestone karsts. It was really incredible! We had an early night and got plenty of rest.

The next morning dawned bright and early. We started our day with canned coffee and toasty sandwiches from the local 7-eleven, then followed a map to a local temple. All we had to go on was a rough starting point and a GPS coordinate that Karl had found online.

As we were preparing to begin our hike, an old Buddhist monk wandered over to us. He told us that the temple was famous for its caves, and invited us to take a look before heading out on the trail. We found that this little rural temple was quite interesting! there were several shrine areas built into small caves in the side of the limestone cliffs. Far overhead, we could hear the sound of hundreds of bats chirping.

Finally, we were ready to begin! We followed Kar's satellite GPS to the point where it said the trail was supposed to begin. Sure enough, just outside of what appeared to be a campsite, we found an area marked by a Thai flag with a relatively clear area that we figured must be the trail.

It was time for the next adventure to begin!

Almost immediately, we found ourselves questioning what exactly we had gotten ourselves into. It wasn't so much a trail as it was a series of boulders and ladders. Each step of the way, you had to pull yourself up using ropes that had been lashed to the side of the cliffs as handholds. It was incredibly steep, and at times it was almost impossible to find a place to set both of your feet down at the same time in order to stand and rest.

The climb only got steeper and more difficult as it continued on. As we neared the top, I realized that this was not only the most adventurous thing I had done, it was probably also the most dangerous thing I had ever done... The ladders themselves were very narrow and got increasingly more difficult to climb as we continued higher and higher.

After about an hour we were so close! We had come out of a crevice between some of the karsts, and could see the bright sunlight just ahead. We knew we were nearly at the top of the mountains!

Finally, we pulled ourselves up the last few meters and were amazed by the incredible view that stretched for miles and miles. 

What most surprised us was that there appeared to be a sort of campsite set up at the top of the cliff. There was a covered bamboo platform equipped with a cooler, a gas stove, and a tea kettle.

There was even a sort of very makeshift toilet set up just off of the platform!

It had been hard to climb up, but it was even harder to move around at the top of the karsts. The rock had formed into knifelike spikes that would cut you if you touched them wrong. It was extremely difficult to walk around, and you had to move slowly and very carefully.

The view, however, made the entire adventure absolutely worth it!

We stayed at the top for about an hour, resting and taking photos of the surrounding area.

Going back down was even more difficult, however. It was much harder to descend the steep and rickety ladders backwards, and you had to be very sure of where you were putting your feet so as not to slip and fall. A fall up there would have been disastrous.

Finally, with an incredible sense of accomplishment and great excitement for the adventure that we had just had, we reached the bottom of the valley.

Our victory was short-lived.

As soon as we came out of the trail, we were met by five guys carrying guns who demanded to know what we were doing. We explained that we had been climbing the cliffs, and they looked really angry with us.

It turned out that the trail and campsites belonged to a national park, and that it was only accessible by registering and taking a ranger as a guide. We had no idea! There was nothing posted about it online and there had been no signs marking the trail as a part of any national park. They loaded us into a pickup truck and drove us about a kilometer to the park headquarters.

After we explained the confusion, they turned out to be very understanding, although they told us that we were still going to have to pay the 1000 baht fine (about 30 USD) for trespassing on national park property - even if it had been an accident. We genuinely didn't know. I felt so bad about our mistake, but I have to commend the national park department for being so polite and professional.

While they worked on the paperwork, they gave us bottles of water and even drove us into town so that we could get lunch at 7-Eleven! We may have been detained, but it was the friendliest detention I could have imagined.

The annoying part was that it took them about three hours to get the right forms and documents wired over from national park HQ. Finally, we signed our forms, paid our fees, and hopped back in the pickup truck to be dropped back off at our car.

It was an inauspicious end to a week of adventure that had gone perfectly, but all in all, it wasn't that bad. We were out 1000 baht, but we gained a fantastic story to tell.