The Gibbon Experience

30 April - 3 May 2013

We arrived in Houey Xai around 8 am absolutely exhausted. We had very little sleep on that bus thanks to the overly tall Europeans behind us who asked us to not put our seats back. Meanwhile opposite us on the other side of the aisle was Mikkel, one of the tallest men I have ever passed in my life. The girl in front of him put her seat back and managed without getting his legs crushed. The people behind us were just selfish and rude.They could have their seats back and be comfortable so why shouldn't we??

We headed for the Gibbon Experience office which had many staff manning the phones, the computers and anyone who walked in. So why the hell didn't they answer me yesterday?? I mentioned my email and booking but they didn't get it, luckily the waterfall experience (the more difficult one that treks deeper into the forest to a waterfall) had vacancies and we were booked in for the next day - May 1st!

The view from our room in Houey Xai

We checked into Sabaidy Guesthouse which was recommended by another tourist outside of the Gibbon office because apparently they have a proper locked storeroom for your baggage while you're in the Jungle. A fan room there cost 90,000Kip ($11) which was the priciest fan room we'd paid for without air con. I guess in this small border town they can charge more as there is nothing around by miles. We were taken to the top floor and blow away by our room. We were right on the corner so we had windows spanning two walls of the room with a great view of the river below. We also had this large balcony outside our room with the same view and table and chairs - it was awesome! Perfect place to smoke weed, which is exactly what we did all day. We had a great lunch when the munchies hit and then a small afternoon nap before catching up with Mikkel and Liede for dinner.

Houey Xai, border town

The next day began at 8.30am when we were shown a safety video on how to zipline in the jungle. We were then piled into an open pick up truck and drove 2.5hrs to a small village in the jungle which was our starting point.Sam and I were in the back of the truck with two danish girls and about 40mins of the drive was off roading in the mountainous jungle with us all laughing and hanging on for deer life. It was crazy! We're getting pretty use to crazy driving now though.

Cool bamboo branches in the jungle

We walked for 3hrs into the jungle, crossing rivers, going up and down hill. Some parts were seriously exhausting. As Sam and I hadn't done any real exercise in a long time I was struggling the most. Our group were all 19, 20 and 21 so they were young and fit and barely puffing at all! I felt like such an old person haha.We even got a beautiful rain shower after some dark clouds and thunder came over us. We asked our guides if it was going to rain which they said no, 30mins later we're sheltering under a hick vines bush. Our guides ripped up a poor banana tree so we could use the leaves as an umbrella which was pretty cool :)

We reached the waterfall after an exhausting afternoon of going up and down the mountains only to be disappointed by how rank the still water was and how small and non existent the waterfall. I was really looking forward to jumping in and washing all my sweat off to! Liede and Mikkel went in but the two Danish girls plus Sam and I watched on.

It was now finally time to zipline! We climbed up this steep hill with all our heavy harnesses and caribeeners on. I had to stop as my heart was beating so fast it was actually beating in my head and I felt like vomiting. I really hate being this unfit. Once we started our first zipline it was all go go from there as we did zip line after zip line. The views were to die for. You're flying at incredible speeds over the forest canopy and as you come out of the tree tops into the middle area the view opens up to the whole jungle. Seriously jaw dropping! I wish i could've taken pictures while ziplining but I needed both hands to help control my speed and use the brake when we came to the other side so we didn't crash.

Off Sam goes!

After about 40mins or so off zipline after zipline, we finally reached the zipline that took us straight into our tree house, our accommodation for the first night. It was the coolest thing ever! This one was 40m above the forest floor and the only way to access it was to zipline into it. No stairs or ladders going up the tree at all. It was a very basic layout with two levels, one with our kitchen, table and stools and our tents for sleeping and the lower level was the bathroom. There are no walls so you literally go to the toilet and shower looking out over the forest canopy - so surreal! It was like a giant kids tree house  - the real deal! Our guides showed us where our dinner was, in metal pots to stay warm and then they said see ya! That's right they left us there to zipline the circuit around the tree house on our own. Straight away Mikkel, Liede and Sam ran away like excited children while the Danish girls and I stayed back enjoying our green tea with fruit snacks and Laos traditional sweets. We were exhausted and couldn't be bothered doing the circuit again.

Sam zip lining into our tree house - night no.1

As we were talking we could hear the others yelling out and cheering as they flew along the ziplines. They came back on incredible highs saying how they went backwards and two at a time - stuff the guides wouldn't let you do if they were around. I still can't believe they leave you completely alone in this tree house to zipline as you please! They stayed in 'The Kitchen' which was a home nearby in the jungle where all the food is prepared. They did have one rule though, no ziplining in the dark. And as you can hear someone ziplining a mile away they would be able to hear us. I wouldn't want to do it in the dark anyway - talk about scary! You wouldn't be able to see yourself approach the other side and probably crash full speed. Some rules really are there for a reason and should not be ignored.

Enjoying afternoon tea after a hard day trekking & zip lining

That night as it got very dark and we had no electricity, we used my head torch to tie above the dining table and ate our dinner by the very soft red light. We couldn't use the white light because it attracted too many bugs and you can imagine when you are the only light for miles in the jungle that every bug is going to swarm to it. Liede, Mikkel, Sam and I smoked a lot of weed and got progressively high which made being 40m above the forest floor in a tree house even cooler! We talked alot of shit, and even though the Danish girls didn't smoke with us they didn't mind it around them and the 6 of us had a great night. At some point we started hearing serious noises all around the palm-fron roof and decided to shine the torch up to see what was going on. We spotted some seriously giant rats running all around, unfortunately we also spotted a massive spider that looked like our huntsmans back home. It didn't take long before we were spotting these spiders everywhere! We counted about 10 just one side of the roof, 3 near our heads! I am pretty stoned at this point and really starting to panic. I hate hate hate spiders! Thankfully Sam had made sure our sheet tent was tucked into our mattresses when it was still light in preparation for the bugs later on.

The Bathroom!

We were warned about rats already by other tourists who had been on the experience and they told us to put all our food in the eski's provided or else they will chew through your bag to get to it. We stopped shining the torch up as everyone was starting to get uneasy at the sheer amount of spiders we kept finding. The Danish girls were mostly afraid of the rats. The whole time we were up and talking we had a storm in the distance that seemed to be coming closer and closer. The lightening flashing and thunder grumbling- how cool would it be to have a storm in a tree house!

Smoking weed under the red light

Everyone went to bed about 11.30pm and sure enough, within 20mins the storm hit. The lightening was freaken cool, lighting up the whole tree house and the forest canopy. I had to jump out to watch. It was more sheets of lightening and not bolts so I didn't bother get my camera out. Plus I was pretty stoned which always makes taking pictures that much more difficult. Sam went to his shoes thinking he should keep them in the tent so spiders don't go in and as he grabs them a giant spider runs out and across the floor! No way I was touching my shoes haha. Eventually we drifted off to sleep as the rain hit. Luckily there was no wind or we would've been drenched!

I am woken the next morning about 7am by the sound of our guides ziplining into our tree house. They politely say 'wake up now', so soft that no one gets up and they just zipline off again before returning 30mins later and trying again. Breakfast was laid out on the table, fruit, eggs and toast with a pot of tea. Mmm I drink so much tea these days. I drank about 5 cups of tea the night before alone! I don't add milk or sugar so I think it's not too unhealthy?

Breakfast

We start our day by zip lining out of the tree house and then walking 3hrs through the sweaty, humid jungle, reaching our zip line circuit and next tree house just before lunch. The zip line to the tree house was pretty cool. You start off by flying towards a bunch of trees which shield your view and then as you go through and it all opens up to the most amazing thing you will ever see. This tree house, visually, was way cooler! It stood an extra 10m higher then the night before and had no trees blocking any view. It stood out on it's own high above the forest canopy. So bloody cool!

Our guides put our lunch on the table, once again in metal pots to keep it warm until we were ready to eat, then they told us how to do the surrounding zip line circuit before taking off and saying they will be back after 6pm with our dinner! We are literally left alone from 11.30am until the evening to do as we please! It was amazing. We relaxed, ate our lunch, zip lined, talked shit, smoked weed. The freedom we had was just incredible. We even monkeyed our way back out on the zip lines to take photos of the tree house and ourselves just hanging there at 50m above the ground.

Finally the sun set and night fell. This tree house had some dim lighting so we didn't need my torch this time. We were waiting for the rats and spiders but they never came - how strange! Once again we got a storm, this one was way more intense as the wind was psyco, blowing our tents way above everything into the roof and leaving millions of sticks and leaves all over our bed. As we were sitting around the table, very nicely stoned once again, the wind really picked up as lightening flashed and thunder struck. Next thing we are moving! We are literally moving! The whole tree was swaying in the intense wind gusts which meant the tree house was also swaying! It was crazy! I have lived through many of these storms back home in tropical Darwin but I have never been through one 50m above the forest canopy in a wooden tree house! Luckily there wasn't heavy rain to go with the wind or everything would've been drenched.

More bamboo as we walked through the jungle

The temperature dropped significantly to 20 degrees and I didn't have any warm clothes with me so I shivered. I stupidly put my travel clock on top of the eski which was our source of time for the past 7months and also alarm clock because neither Sam or I travel with phones. It also showed the temperature which has always been a cool feature. I remembered looking at it on the eski which was leaning against the wooden railing and thinking someone could very easily sit on there or lift the lid and knock it off. why I ignored these thoughts and did nothing is beyond me because sure enough, Mikkel goes into the eski, not seeing it at all and off it slides, down into the pit of darkness and rain, never to be seen again. I've always had travel clocks  my whole life as I use them alot and I've gone through many over the years, accidentally leaving them on trains, or breaking them in some way.  This one I had managed to hold onto since 2010, which is definitely a record. Sadly that record came to an end haha..

Loo with a view :P

I was amazed that my travel clock was the only thing dropped off those tree houses because it would be so easy to accidentally kick or drop something off the edge. Luckily that's all we lost :)

The next morning once again we are woken by our guides zip lining in. I found it much harder to get up this time. I was so tired! Too many late nights, early mornings and very active days which I am not use to. It was very sad packing up as we knew we would not be at another tree house that night. The Gibbon Experience was almost over. We began our morning with 7 zip lines in a row, some of the coolest yet! The views were definitely the best and once again I was itching so bad to be able to take pictures. Two zip lines were in a row, meeting up in the middle on a very skinny tree with some wooden stairs, kind of like a mini tree house. You had to stay attached to a safety wire at all times while swapping to the next zip line. I never got any photos dammit!

Mikkel enjoying his surroundings on a break

We left our harnesses at another kitchen before walking 3hrs back to the village we started it all in and then the 2.5hr drive back to Houey Xai. Everyone exhausted and sad at the same time that barely a word was spoken the whole way.

Sam and I were hoping to get an overnight bus that night back to Luang Prabang as we only had a few days to make our flight from Vientiane to Hanoi, Vietnam. We went straight to the first open travel agent and a lovely man greeted us outside in a really really good mood. He told us about the different options of either going straight to Vientiane or Luang Prabang to break it up. He said we couldn't go that night as it was full so we should just chill and have fun. He said chill man alot. The next second he is opening his office doors and revealing about 7 of his friends all sitting around a table drinking many beer Lao's and eating lots of different foods. He grabs us chairs, chucks beer lao in our hands and soon enough we are part of the party! This guy was hilarious, the stuff that was coming out of his mouth made us laugh so hard. He was extremely drunk, obviously, and he continued to tell us that for the rest of the day as we did stay there and drink and eat all afternoon with these people. Half of them were Thai and had to leave before the border closed by 6pm. The border only 20mins away. After a few drinks some tourists arrive wanted to ask about travel and guess who it is - Liede and Mikkel! Haha. They see us and soon enough are also pulling up chairs and drinking beer lao. Then some time later the two Danish girls arrive also asking about buses! haha.The party just kept growing as every tourist that came past would end up joining in. We ended up continuing out to dinner with these Canadians who we met there. Our drunken travel agent friend was meant to join us but he drove off home for a shower completely out of this world drunk and we didn't even think he would survive the drive!

Th drunk manager is on the left

He never did meet us for dinner but we were all nicely drunk with our new friends so we kept partying on anyway. Somehow we accidentally ordered those cook your own BBQ things which I hate because I don't want to pay to cook my own dinner! Mikkel and I were on one together and had no idea what we were doing. We were laughing at our disaster but I barely got any food in the end. We continued on back at Sabaidy guesthouse by smoking as much weed as possible on that balcony area on the top floor. A massive storm rolled in which drove us to the other side of the building. The huge undercover area was not safe because the rain was crazy sideways! Before the rain hit we were almost getting blown away by the intense wind but the lightening was soo cool we were loving it! Great storm to smoke weed during.

Having dinner with our new friends

We were staying in a different room this time to, it was on the opposite corner and one floor down, so basically it was exactly below the massive balcony we were sitting on. I had opened all four windows as we had no air con again to air the room out. When the rain started upstairs and we had to flee to the other side of the building it didn't even click that our room was completely open to it. It wasn't til after I took many photos of the extreme heavy sideways rain for 40mins that it finally clicked! Oh SHIT! I raced downstairs to our room and sure enough it was completely flooded. Luckily none of our stuff was really in the firing line and only the floor got flooded and half our bed completely drenched. The head of the bed was the worst offended so our pillows were soaked. It was really bad. By this stage it's about 2am and we had to uncomfortably wake up the night duty man who came out of his room in the grumpiest mood ever. He didn't speak any English so we are trying to explain with our hands that the rain came in and our room is wet and we need new bedding. At first he's trying to give us towels but finally gives us a new blanket. We ended up stripping the bed, flipping the mattress over, using our blanket as a sheet and our other blanket which was only wet on the bottom as our cover. We just had to deal with the wet pillows, we put towels over them which helped. But seriously you would think after living in a tropical climate with these kind of storms for my whole life I would've learned to close the fucking windows! haha some a dumb arse.

My failure at trying to capture the lightening storm - I was very drunk & stoned

The main street during the sideways rain

The next day we were on our way back to Luang Prabang with Liede and the Danish girls. We said our goodbyes to Mikkel who was heading to Bangkok. Sadly our group was breaking up after 3 awesome days in the jungle together.

Even though we never actually saw any Gibbons, The Gibbon Experience was one of the best experiences of my entire life and definitely on this 8month trip through South East Asia. If you go to Laos don't miss it!