Thakhek Rock Climbing

This area is fun with routes for all abilities but a word of caution should be made about the anchors. For some reason all the anchors are composed of two bolts connected to each other by an old piece of rope that is not equalized. One of the bolts will have one quick link on it that is used for lowering or rappelling from, making the second bolt virtually useless. If the bolt your lowering off of was to fail the second bolt would be shock loaded by the old piece of rope which would most likely break. The photo on this page should clarify this description. Feb 23, 2015

To extend on Steven's comment, if the quick link fails you are also toast. I saw several people toproping through a single quicklink, which adds to the risk factor. We put a Prussik on the lead line when lowering for peace of mind.

More broadly, green climbers home is an awesome place to visit: the rock is perhaps the nicest I have visited in Asia. The approach to crazy horse seems long and arduous in comparison, accommodations are rustic but nice, staff are excellent, and thplace has a great vibe. Imagine a version of camp 4 plopped down in the Lao jungle, without the Bears, Rangers, and conga lines to get in, and better bathrooms. Food was great as well. Apr 6, 2015

Hmm...funky anchors and 22 varieties of venomous snakes sounds sketchy. Jan 10, 2017

Some tips on getting to Thakhek:

The most direct way is to fly from Bangkok to Nakon Phanom (also in Thailand). NP is currently served by Air Asia and Nok Air. From the NP airport, take a minibus to the main bus terminal. From there, you can catch the bus to Thakhek, which drops you off in the center of town. Then, hire a tuk tuk to drive you out to Green Climbers.

You will need a visa to enter Laos, process at the border. They require a passport photo, and Laos immigration will make a copy from your passport for a nominal fee.

Transport options vary depending on time of day: The cross-border bus does not run in the evening, and the tuk tuk driver will charge you more at night. Bus schedules are available on the Green Climbers website.

You can also order a driver from Green Climbers, who will collect you at the NP airport and take you directly to camp. Fee is a bit over $100 US, and the van seats 8-ish people. Oct 11, 2017

So in other words, bring a few leaver slings to back up the belay bolts?. Is it best to fly from BKK or take a bus Dec 5, 2017

Don’t stress out if the Green Climbers Camp fills up. Apparently they start taking bungalow bookings a year in advance.... a better option and what I did was stay in town, Thakhek is a cool little town with plenty of great and inexpensive restaurants and accommodation from cheap and clean guest houses to 5 Star Hotels! I rented a motor scooter and a leisurely morning ride takes about 1/2 your and is very beautiful. I felt that a lot of the people living at the Climbers Camp lost out onthe wondrous Laos culture and really just hung out with other westerners, which is cool if that is your taste.
Lots of climbs now for people pursuing the wide range of climbing grades. Some of the most grippy tufa climbing you will find anywhere!! Get after it! Dec 30, 2017

You might be somewhat confused by the description of "how to get there" if you haven't travelled in SE Asia a lot. However, the descriptions are about as good as they can be, you'll figure it out. Everyone we talked to that arrived from a place other than Nakom Phanom had some crazy stories; i.e., sitting on top of cargo in the back of a truck "bus," from Vinh; getting kicked off a bus in the middle of Laos only to be magically picked up 6 hours later by a different bus; experiencing motorbike break downs and paying a farmer to drive them 35km to the nearest town on a tractor... Make sure to stop in Bangkok on the way. Plan extra rest days for healing cuts on your hands from sometimes sharp rock and bring appropriate first aid supplies. The river through the valley is traversed by cattle and you may not want to wash in it. Oct 6, 2018