I was going to sign up for a tour in Chiang Mai called Flight of the Gibbon which is hugely advertised everywhere and supposedly the number one tourist attraction in Thailand. Im glad i didnt though. Just across the border for Laos I signed up for "The Gibbon Experience" and i dont regret it.
The Gibbon Experience is an eco-tourism project in the forests of the Bokeo province in north-western Laos. It works on protecting the forests and the Gibbons that live within it from poachers, deforestation and other threats to their habitat.
The Gibbon Experience is an eco-tourism project in the forests of the Bokeo province in north-western Laos. It works on protecting the forests and the Gibbons that live within it from poachers, deforestation and other threats to their habitat.
The 2 days 1 night program that I signed up for cost me 1.4 million kip ($178) which is probably outside my budget and defiantly the most money i have ever withdrawn from an ATM at one time. I had to do 2 transactions because they most they will give you at once is 1 million kip.
From the office it is a 2 hour drive through small towns and villages to a house in one where we got our harnesses. After that we walked for another 15 min through peoples yards and farms to a small river. this is where we did our first zip line and i though it was the greatest thing ever. probably not even 10 seconds but still a blast. It was the main thing that kept me going for the next 3 hours as we hiked up the mountain. Just thinking that there would be even bigger and better ones.
The hike up the mountain was quite strenuous. Millions of bugs flew from everywhere and the stairs made from dirt and old pieces of wood were a tripping hazard. about half way we stopped and ate some sandwiches provided by our guides. Much better than the sandwiches that we got from the little shop in Huay Xai.
Finally we got to our first real zip line. We got to clip our selves in and away we went. Crazy feeling flying through the trees, this zip line was about 30 seconds. When you get to the end you have to time your brake so you land on the little platform or else you either run into the tree or have to pull yourself across on the wire.
We hiked a bit more and then there was another zipline. this one went over a valley and into the trees on the other side. Even more fun than the first one. Never in my life have a flown over a valley and it was the best thing ever.
We continued doing ziplines all over the place going back and forward over valley and through forests for about another hour till we came to a tree house. This would be our room for the night
Build on an extra tall tree you zip from the side on the mountain right onto the front porch.
The tree house had 3 levels, on the bottom level there was the Bathroom complete with shower and sink, on the middle level there was a dining table, sink and some beds, and up some more stairs there was another set of beds and an amazing view.
Once we settled in one of the ladies exclaimed and ran to the other side of the tree house. Sometime since the last group stayed in the tree house a green snake had decided to set up home.
Next we discovered that our guide was afraid of snakes.
He handed me a knife and made a chopping motion and pointed towards the snake.
I was not going to kill a snake.
So we made lots of noise and it eventually made its way out onto one of the branches and down the tree.
After that we went and zipped around for another couple hours on other huge valley ziplines. At some points you could see other people in the group going the opposite direction on a zip line across the valley.
Back at the tree house we had dinner which consisted of a whole heap of sticky rice and dishes of various soggy things like mushrooms and vegetables.
After that our guides left us for the night and said they would be back in the morning.
Stuck in a tree house isnt too interesting when you dont have anything to do and cant go anywhere. But we made do. As it was getting dark after pictures of the sunset we were setting up our beds and we started hearing this really loud creaking sound moving around the forest. We think it was some sort of insect making mating sounds but still not sure.
In the morning we got up just after sunrise and waited for our guides to bring us breakfast. They came and made us some coffee and nuts. One of the other guys on the tour decided that wasnt enough and that we should have the breakfast that we were supposed to have at 10 right then. So the guys brought it and it was pretty much the same thing as dinner. After that we zipped around bit before heading back to the house to pick up our bags and set on our way. A couple new zip lines as we made our way back to town. Then we came to the stairs.
There was literally a couple hundred thousand stairs going down the side of that mountain. It was cool cause they were going through a bamboo forest but its was so steep and the steps so big that every ones legs were wobbling by the end of it.
Once out of the forest we arrived at some ones farm which was where we ate lunch (same thing as breakfast and dinner). After that the guide said that we could go swim in the river that flowed near the farm. 4 of us ended up trying to float around on a bamboo raft with 2 of the locals that joined us. It was super fun, the 2 local guys thought it was the funniest thing to see us fall off the raft into the water and we had a blast too.
After we got out and dried off we piled into the back of a pick up for the ride home.
The drive home was in experience in its self. The truck was driving up and down rocky dirt hills, on the side of a cliff, and up ledges that size of large stairs. the occasional time it would have to back up and speed up more to make it up some hills but most of the time it was not stop. It some points we would come to little rivers/streams where there would be a tree that was cut in half to make a bridge for the wheels or, we would just drive right through it. At one point the road turned into a stream and we drove up that for a while. Through random villages and peoples livestock we eventually made it back to regular roads and were on our way back to town.
If you have the time and the money this is something you most certainly should do.
For more pictures check the Huay Xai album on the left!
Remember to comment and let me know what you think!
Finally we got to our first real zip line. We got to clip our selves in and away we went. Crazy feeling flying through the trees, this zip line was about 30 seconds. When you get to the end you have to time your brake so you land on the little platform or else you either run into the tree or have to pull yourself across on the wire.
We hiked a bit more and then there was another zipline. this one went over a valley and into the trees on the other side. Even more fun than the first one. Never in my life have a flown over a valley and it was the best thing ever.
We continued doing ziplines all over the place going back and forward over valley and through forests for about another hour till we came to a tree house. This would be our room for the night
Build on an extra tall tree you zip from the side on the mountain right onto the front porch.
Once we settled in one of the ladies exclaimed and ran to the other side of the tree house. Sometime since the last group stayed in the tree house a green snake had decided to set up home.
He handed me a knife and made a chopping motion and pointed towards the snake.
I was not going to kill a snake.
So we made lots of noise and it eventually made its way out onto one of the branches and down the tree.
Back at the tree house we had dinner which consisted of a whole heap of sticky rice and dishes of various soggy things like mushrooms and vegetables.
Stuck in a tree house isnt too interesting when you dont have anything to do and cant go anywhere. But we made do. As it was getting dark after pictures of the sunset we were setting up our beds and we started hearing this really loud creaking sound moving around the forest. We think it was some sort of insect making mating sounds but still not sure.
In the morning we got up just after sunrise and waited for our guides to bring us breakfast. They came and made us some coffee and nuts. One of the other guys on the tour decided that wasnt enough and that we should have the breakfast that we were supposed to have at 10 right then. So the guys brought it and it was pretty much the same thing as dinner. After that we zipped around bit before heading back to the house to pick up our bags and set on our way. A couple new zip lines as we made our way back to town. Then we came to the stairs.
There was literally a couple hundred thousand stairs going down the side of that mountain. It was cool cause they were going through a bamboo forest but its was so steep and the steps so big that every ones legs were wobbling by the end of it.
The drive home was in experience in its self. The truck was driving up and down rocky dirt hills, on the side of a cliff, and up ledges that size of large stairs. the occasional time it would have to back up and speed up more to make it up some hills but most of the time it was not stop. It some points we would come to little rivers/streams where there would be a tree that was cut in half to make a bridge for the wheels or, we would just drive right through it. At one point the road turned into a stream and we drove up that for a while. Through random villages and peoples livestock we eventually made it back to regular roads and were on our way back to town.
For more pictures check the Huay Xai album on the left!
Looks like fun hayden! Wayy better than the ziplines here. And no big deal just taking a million out of the ATM. Haha
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work.
Luke