Day 47 (16/05/08): Gibbon Experience, Bokeo Park, Laos
I woke up at a very early hour to the sound of Owen zipping out of our treehouse. Our guide would be coming around at 6am to take us on a walk to try and find gibbons, but in the meantime we still had half an hour, and so the rest of us guys threw on our harnesses and did the quick loop to Treehouse 2 and back again. It was brilliant zipping in the early hours of the morning, the air was crisp and dew covered all the ziplines. We got back just in time for our guide, Max, who then took us on a walk in the jungle. The best time to spot gibbons is in the early hours of the morning, when they sing. Gibbons literally do sing duets, the males and females each having different parts. Because the jungle is so dense, and the gibbons are so high up, it is impossible to spot them during the day, so the only way is to listen for their singing in the early morning. Alas, even though we walked very quietly through an area that Max said there are normally gibbons, we didn't spot or even hear any. It may have been because of all the noise we made in the night, oh well.
Another few zips on our own, then back to our treehouse for breakfast, consisting of steamed rice and vegetables. Being our full day in the jungle, we now had the choice of two treks we could do. One would take us down some ziplines to Treehouse 5, the newest and biggest treehouse overlooking a great valley, and then an 1.5 hour walk back. The other option was to walk for several hours to the waterfall, go on the really big ziplines there, and then walk back for several hours, overall a long day. The people in the other two treehouses decided on the easy walk, but we were all quite keen to go down to the waterfall, so shortly after breakfast, we stocked up on water (the tap water in the tree house was safe to drink), and we set off. The walk was actually quite easy, it was downhill for most of the way, and the Laos scenery is fantastic. Along the way Max also pointed out some of the more interesting plants and insects, and we even ate the stalk of one of the edible plants. It tasted like bland celery.
The Gibbon Experience has two different areas of operation, the 'classic' and the 'waterfall'. We were doing the classic, and staying in that area. But now we were getting the best of both, by walking all the way to the waterfall area. Personally I think the 'classic' area is a nicer place to stay, and the ziplines are more accesible, allowing for a lot of zipping. Howerver the ziplines at the waterfall area are huge. And when I say huge, I really mean huge! They were all at least 300m long, with the longest one touching 400m. The highest one went from one big hill/mountain, all the way over the valley and the river, to the hill on the other side. It is supposedly 1000 feet high, or just over 300m. You literally felt like you were flying. We did about 7 different zips in this area, they follow a big long circuit that takes about an hour to do, including all the walking between ziplines.
We came to the waterfall itself, and all the guys jumped in for a swim in the large swimming pond. There was a bamboo raft there that had seen better days, but it didn't stop us from all trying to sit on it and keep it upright. 'Bamboo submarine' is probably a better term for it, and much hilarity ensued as the raft lost all stability with 5 guys on it. Lunch was more sticky rice and vegetables, at one of the little village camps where the food is cooked for the 'waterfall' area. We then had the walk back, the first hour or so was flat, and then we got to the big hill that had taken us 40 minutes to walk down. We all split up at this point, everyone going their own pace. Joe and I soon were at the front, and decided it would be a lot easier if we just power walked and ran our way up the hill. This way we did the whole thing in less than half an hour. Joe and I got back to our treehouse, and had enough time to have a shower and a few hot chocolates before the others started arriving. Treehouse 2 and 3 came over as well, and the whole group sat and chatted while our Treehouse had our dinner. The others had to leave before dark, and having no whiskey for the night, we spent a quiet night chatting and listening to the jungle sounds.
I woke up at a very early hour to the sound of Owen zipping out of our treehouse. Our guide would be coming around at 6am to take us on a walk to try and find gibbons, but in the meantime we still had half an hour, and so the rest of us guys threw on our harnesses and did the quick loop to Treehouse 2 and back again. It was brilliant zipping in the early hours of the morning, the air was crisp and dew covered all the ziplines. We got back just in time for our guide, Max, who then took us on a walk in the jungle. The best time to spot gibbons is in the early hours of the morning, when they sing. Gibbons literally do sing duets, the males and females each having different parts. Because the jungle is so dense, and the gibbons are so high up, it is impossible to spot them during the day, so the only way is to listen for their singing in the early morning. Alas, even though we walked very quietly through an area that Max said there are normally gibbons, we didn't spot or even hear any. It may have been because of all the noise we made in the night, oh well.
Another few zips on our own, then back to our treehouse for breakfast, consisting of steamed rice and vegetables. Being our full day in the jungle, we now had the choice of two treks we could do. One would take us down some ziplines to Treehouse 5, the newest and biggest treehouse overlooking a great valley, and then an 1.5 hour walk back. The other option was to walk for several hours to the waterfall, go on the really big ziplines there, and then walk back for several hours, overall a long day. The people in the other two treehouses decided on the easy walk, but we were all quite keen to go down to the waterfall, so shortly after breakfast, we stocked up on water (the tap water in the tree house was safe to drink), and we set off. The walk was actually quite easy, it was downhill for most of the way, and the Laos scenery is fantastic. Along the way Max also pointed out some of the more interesting plants and insects, and we even ate the stalk of one of the edible plants. It tasted like bland celery.
The Gibbon Experience has two different areas of operation, the 'classic' and the 'waterfall'. We were doing the classic, and staying in that area. But now we were getting the best of both, by walking all the way to the waterfall area. Personally I think the 'classic' area is a nicer place to stay, and the ziplines are more accesible, allowing for a lot of zipping. Howerver the ziplines at the waterfall area are huge. And when I say huge, I really mean huge! They were all at least 300m long, with the longest one touching 400m. The highest one went from one big hill/mountain, all the way over the valley and the river, to the hill on the other side. It is supposedly 1000 feet high, or just over 300m. You literally felt like you were flying. We did about 7 different zips in this area, they follow a big long circuit that takes about an hour to do, including all the walking between ziplines.
We came to the waterfall itself, and all the guys jumped in for a swim in the large swimming pond. There was a bamboo raft there that had seen better days, but it didn't stop us from all trying to sit on it and keep it upright. 'Bamboo submarine' is probably a better term for it, and much hilarity ensued as the raft lost all stability with 5 guys on it. Lunch was more sticky rice and vegetables, at one of the little village camps where the food is cooked for the 'waterfall' area. We then had the walk back, the first hour or so was flat, and then we got to the big hill that had taken us 40 minutes to walk down. We all split up at this point, everyone going their own pace. Joe and I soon were at the front, and decided it would be a lot easier if we just power walked and ran our way up the hill. This way we did the whole thing in less than half an hour. Joe and I got back to our treehouse, and had enough time to have a shower and a few hot chocolates before the others started arriving. Treehouse 2 and 3 came over as well, and the whole group sat and chatted while our Treehouse had our dinner. The others had to leave before dark, and having no whiskey for the night, we spent a quiet night chatting and listening to the jungle sounds.
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