No, this is not your normal tale of high scoring around the Soi Dao golf course located near Chantaburi. This is a story of the mountain that overshadows it and of 3 men’s efforts to climb it.
For many years lots of us golfers have enjoyed the stunning views and admired the mountains surrounding Soi Dao, openly discussing thoughts of climbing them. Then, just a few short weeks ago while playing the course, we discovered that our caddies and their families had hunted on and climbed those mountains for many years. From that point on the dream started to become a reality.
At close to 2000 metres, and with experienced Himalayan trekkers in the group, you would think this climb shouldn’t prove too difficult. How wrong can you be? The terrain was fearsome and unrelenting. Treacherous footholds, steep inclines, sheer drop offs to jagged rocks, all were encountered whilst, at times, hacking a way through almost impenetrable jungle. This was no walk in the park!
We knew at the outset the trek would take 2 days, with a night spent on the mountain. The initial plan was to get three quarters of the way up and camp near one of the waterfalls but with bad weather a possibility it was decided that we would stay at one of the guides hunting lodges about halfway up. This of course meant the second day would be much tougher but it did give us the opportunity to spend a great night at the camp with our fantastic guides and marvel at their ingenuity.
Within minutes a fire was built and food was on the go with all manner of vegetables, herbs and peppers foraged from around the camp. Then, almost inevitably, the Thai whiskey was being generously imbibed. Not being a whiskey drinker, I was feeling a bit left out as my friends and hosts began to get in the spirit of things, shall we say! I didn’t reckon on the resourcefulness of the head guide however. He managed to get a signal on his phone and 2 hours later another guide arrived at the camp, fresh as a daisy, with a backpack full of Leo… aah, heaven. We awoke next morning to another surprise, pad kapow squirrel for breakfast… was I glad I’d bought cooked sausages and boiled eggs.
For the next 8 hours it was quite brutal going, both in reaching the top and the descent. Falls and trips were common place, with more than a few cuts and bruises along the way but by far the worst inconvenience for me were the leeches, which seemed to like feeding on me and Jez in particular. Maybe they don’t like Americans, as John appeared immune to them.
I was mightily relieved when we finally emerged from the jungle, I’m not sure I had a lot left in the tank. Exhausted, bleeding, limping and with the sole hanging off one of my boots I must have looked a sorry sight, ‘I’m A Golfer, Get Me Out Of Here’!
There was only one thing left to do, celebratory drinks with our amazing guides and, more importantly, our new friends. They were as happy and jubilant as we were and they informed us that in all their and their families’ years of hunting and climbing the mountain that we were the first foreigners that had ever achieved the climb. As tired and weary as were, I can honestly say we were extremely proud of ourselves.
