Gibbon Experience

Day 46 (15/05/08): Gibbon Experience, Bokeo Park, Laos

The previous night ended up being quite a good one. Walking out of my guesthouse, and the first person I walked into was Sian, who I had spent ten hours with on a third class train, and later met in Koh Phangan and Khaosan road. Yet another example of traveling being a very small world. She was with an English and Dutch guy, and so we went out for a great meal and finished the night having a few drinks on the roof of their guesthouse.

It was then an early start for me. I had to be at the Gibbon Experience early in the morning, and so after checking out, and having a banana pancake for breakfast, myself and twelve other travelers gathered in the small office. We were shown a safety instruction video, and then we all piled into two four wheel drives for the 2 hour journey to Bokeo Park. We all got to know each other very quickly and everyone in the group got on really well. We would be spending the next three days living in close proximity in tree huts, so that was a very good thing. We turned off the main road, drove through a river, and then had a very windy and bumpy trip down a muddy track. In the wet season, this can be too much for a vehicle, and instead you have to do a 5 hour trek. We were lucky, it had been dry and the vehicle managed fine, although the occupants got quite shaken up. At the local village we got out and had a 40 min trek into the jungle to the Gibbon Experience base camp. Here we were given our harnesses and split into three groups, one for each tree hut. There were 13 of us in total, I was in Treehouse 1 with 5 others, Treehouse 2 was the honeymoon suite with just one couple, and Treehouse 3 had the remaining 5.

For those readers who don't know, the Gibbon Experience is part of the Bokeo Conservation Project. Basically, for 2 nights and 3 days, you live in a treehouse and explore the jungle by zipping down giant ziplines. This was you are above the canopy level, and are treated to fantastic views.

Our first zip was quite a short one directly into our treehouse. One by one, we each clipped our harnesses onto the zipline, and tentatively threw ourselves off the launching platform to whizz through the trees and land in our treehouse, which was at least 60m above the ground. The treehouse was very nice. A small communal area with a sink, running water and a gas stove and kettle, a food box filled with snacks and fruit, an upstairs area with a double bed, and then a lower area with two more double beds and a small bathroom with shower. The bathroom itself had a slotted wooden floor, and the shower water just fell down to the ground, as did any other 'things' one would normally dispose of in a bathroom.

Our guide then took us around a few more ziplines, and after that we were allowed to go by ourselves. We immediately set off and spent the whole afternoon zipping around the forest. The main loop we did took us to treehouse 2, using 7 ziplines and taking about 20 mins. The ziplines are all obviously one way, and so a little bit of walking is needed to gain the necessary height to come back down another zipline in the opposite direction. These ziplines were very long and high, the longer 4 all being about 300m long, and getting close to 100m high, as they zipped from one ridge across the valley to another ridge. I will try and use words to describe it, but ultimately it is something that words will never do justice to. Imagine literally flying above a huge tropical rainforest, getting a birds eye view of the giant trees and dense bush, while in the distance is a stunning landscape of the Laos mountains covered in low cloud and further jungle. Above the high pitched whine of the zipline, you can hear the endless multitudes of insects and birds in the jungle below you. The wind rushes past you as you gather speed fly over the jungle, before the incline increases and you slowly come to a stop on the far side. Still buzzing with adrenalin, you quickly disconnect your harness and safety rope from the zipline, and very quickly walk up the hill to zip back across the same valley. It is unlike anything else I have ever done in my life, and it is something I will always remember.

After traveling the same ziplines a few times, we we knew them well enough and started taking videos and photos, which while they are fantastic, once again do not do any justice at all to the actual real event. A very early dinner was brought out to our treehouse by the guides, and we tucked into our meal of rice and vegetables, which is what we would be eating for the remained of our time here. It was still very early, and so we jumped back on the ziplines to visit Treehouse 2, where we stayed and chatted and had tea. All in a tree house 60m above the ground. Very surreal. Down we zipped and trekked down the hill to Treehouse 3, who were a bit secluded in their own little valley, and chatted to them for a while.

It was now getting close to sunset, and so we walked back up the hill, and did our final few zips for the day in the twilight. On one of the zips we could look over to the mountains, and see the sun setting in the distance. A magic moment. We made it back to our treehouse just before dark, which was very lucky as their are strict rules about not zipping at night (it is quite dangerous as you can't see where the zipline ends). The six of us from our Treehouse spent the night chatting, and drinking the bottle of whiskey that a very smart cunning person (such as myself) had brought in. We all got on very well and had a great night. Our Treehouse comprised of myself, two English guys (Joe and Justin), two French girls (Anna and Laurie), and another Kiwi (Owen). Owen and I actually found out that we both did Engineering at Canterbury Uni at the same time, and know a lot of the same people. In fact we probably passed each other in the hallways a hundred times. Another case of the world being very small.

While the French girls in the upstairs bed, and the two English guys worried about all the bugs, spiders and beetles in the forest, myself and Owen, being two Kiwis used to camping and living outdoors, didn't worry a bit, and we all retired to bed after a thoroughly amazing day and a great night.