Gibbons, Ziplines, and Laos

We entered Laos on a flight from empty Siem Reap airport (with its two daily departures) to the even smaller Luang Prabang airport. We happily picked up some new passport stamps and caught a ride to town, excited for the thrill of a new country, but missing Cambodia a bit.



Even though we flew to Luang Prabang (where we will return to) we wanted to head farther north to the Thai border, 14 hours away. After checking out our options, we decided to leave only 2 hours after we'd arrived. Given that Laos isn't as touristy as our prior stops, our only option was the local's bus, which lacked air conditioning and other luxuries (like a toilet). What they didn't lack, however, was a seriously loud entertainment system, which showed Lao music videos for the entire 14 hour trip. The videos were hillariously filled with random things one might see around Laos (rice farming, rivers, elephants) and got the locals singing at all hours of the night when their favorite tunes were played.



After a while we opted for an ipod movie and quickly realized we weren't the only ones watching it. Behind us, a man had lodged his entire head between our seats to get a good view. He watched a movie he couldn't even hear for over an hour, but seemed delighted to do so.

We were headed to Houayxay (pronounced way sigh), which itself is absolutly void of interest, to book a trip with the Gibbon Experience. The trip takes you into the nearby jungle to sleep in tree houses, fly across dozens of ziplines, and see wild gibbons. We booked a trip, got some rest and walked around town.

The next morning, we took a bumpy three-hour drive on benches in the back of a covered pickup truck to a small village. From here we hiked for about an hour to the Gibbon Expereince base camp where we got harnesses. They reviewed some general safety info and when asked, 'is it safe?' responded that it definetly wouldn't be allowed in the States. Not too encouraging, but at least they guaranteed that no one has ever fallen. They told us about the three treehouses we could between to stay in: #1 had a large bee-hive and cat that kept the tree rats away, #2 only slept two, and #3 had a resident viper that also helped with tree rats. Lindsey was put off by all of them, but agreed to #3 as it was farther into the jungle and one snake (that keeps away from the actual house) is better than these mysterious tree rats.

Five of us and our guide headed for #3, and after ten minutes of walking we arrived at the first zipline. We clipped our roller and safety line to the wire and took a short, but amazing, 60 meter glide into tree house #1. We continued onwards, and after another hour of hiking and five more ziplines, we arrived at tree house #3. Each zipline we took seemed higher and longer than the previous, yet they weren't at all frightening. We both felt very safe and loved the sensation and vantage point high over the canopy. Steve just loved being geared up and sweaty.



Once we arrived, the five of us (us, an Austrian couple of doctors, and an Australian) relaxed and got to know eachother. We played cards, had dinner, and discussed the gastro-intesinal issues of travelers. Lindsey serenated the jungle with various ABBA tunes before we all fell asleep, tucked safety in our mosquito/rat nets.



Our guide, who was supposed to stay in a shelter across the zipline, also stayed in our treehouse. We later learned that the local guides are terrified of spending the night alone in the jungle because they believe ghosts will attack them in their sleep. They have such a strong belief in this, that you can't really argue with them.

Around 3am, we heard thunder crossing the mountains and within minutes strong wind blew our mosquito net into the air and heavy rain drenched us. Having briefly reviewed storm evacuation at base camp, we asked our guide if we should go, only to find him already harnessing up and heading out the door very nervously. The guides are even more scared of storms than ghosts, and his frantic demeaner hardly put anyone at ease. With lightning illuminating the sky, we all scrambled to harness up, and because the thunder was still over five seconds away, we were able to safety zip out of the tree house under heavy moonlight. We were all drenched and cold, but we felt we'd gotten a certain thrill out of it, or at least Steve did. Closely piled into the shelter, our group got even closer as we took a few more hours of sleep.

In the morning, our guide took us farther into the jungle, crossing a series of ziplines, the longest spanning 380 meters (~1250 ft). Here is a virtual zipline for you all:

[Long zipline video coming soon!]

The humidty took its toll on our cleanliness, but we loved every minute of it.



By noon, we headed for lunch with those staying at the other treehouses and began to piece together some issues with our guide. The other travelers had been taken to see gibbons in the morning, and had warm breakfast delivered to them, while we did not. Additionally, our soaked beds and pillows had not been changed, when the guide promised they would be. We headed to basecamp to resolve these problems, and were able to work them out with the volunteer English teacher. While his job description certainly wasn't guest relations, he promised to improve the rest of our stay. He explained that the Hmong guides are generally very lazy people and cared little about work or learning English. When he tried to ask our guide why he hadn't brought us to see gibbons or delivered breakfast, the best answer was that he was tired from the storm evacuation.

After lunch (delivered 2 hours late thanks to Hmong work ethic), our group of five headed off without a guide, for more ziplining. Eventually exhausted, we returned to our treehouse for an early night to bed. Lindsey loved acting like a monkey the whole day.



The next morning, we woke up at 5am and headed to a platform overlooking the trees in search of gibbons. We waited patiently and were rewarded with a very close (although brief) look at these amazing acrobats swinging across a bamboo patch. For the following ten minutes we watched them work away from us across the canopy, jumping from tree to tree hundres of feet in the air. Thankfully, the "Gibbon Experience" lived up to its name. The early morning mist also made for some of our most beautiful views.



The rest of the morning, (you guessed it) we ziplined with a newfound comfort, easily riding upsidedown or backwards as the guides do.



Steve snapped one last picture of our crew monkeying around.



After a dozen rides, we headed to breakfast before a bumpy ride back to town. Even with unreliable guides, we both really loved the Gibbon Experience. It could certainly be organized 100 times better, but gives you an opportunity to hike and zipline on your own at your own pace. It's something you can't do anywhere else in the world, and most certainly not in the U.S.

Next we're headed on a slowboat down the Mekong River back to Luang Prabang to join the massive water fight that is the Buddhist New Year!