Rocking up limestone cliffs

The climber on the left is a novice while an instructor on the right climbs a technically challenging section.

One of the best places to climb vertical limestone cliffs is at the beaches of Railay in south Thailand.

IN popular film lore, Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible II demonstrates how to be irresponsible while doing a free solo climb, while a not-so-svelte James T Kirk, in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, attempts to do the same on the face of El Capitan in Yosemite.