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.

Going to Laos

Day 45 (14/05/08): Chiang Khong, Thailand - Houay Xai, Laos

Just a brieft post here. I am currently in Chiang Khong in Thailand, doing some last bits of organisation before I cross the Mekong river this afternoon into Laos, the fourth country of my trip. Laos has no ATMs and so I need to cash some travellers cheques into US dollars, which are accepted all over Laos. There isn't much at all in Houay Xai, so I am spending most of my time on the Thai side. I've heard there is only one computer connected to the internet there available for public use. I will spend the night in Houay Xai, and then in the morning start my Gibbon Experience adventure for three days. After that I will take the two day slow boat down to Luang Prabang, which is quite a developed tourist destination. So don't expect any updates from me for a little while!

Long day in a minibus

Day 44 (13/05/08): Chiang Khong, Thailand

I had a very early start to the day, I have been having a lot of those recently. My minibus left at 8:30 in the morning and as I walked down the streets of Pai at this time, there was no one else to be seen. The minibus left about ten minutes late, and it was a very windy three hour trip back to Chiang Mai. Luckily, having driven most of the New Zealand, I am pretty used to windy mountain roads and spent most of my time reading my book, while some of the other passengers looked very green. I had a half hour layover in Chiang Mai before my next minibus left. In quite a coincidence, the travel agent I was dropped off at, was next door to the guest house I had stayed in, so I knew the area pretty well. I spent the time quickly sending off an important email to confirm my booking at the Gibbon Experience, and then getting some lunch.

The minibus to Chiang Mai was pretty packed, and we had bags down the aisles. I was last to be picked up, and sat next to a young english guy who had just started his travels. We chatted for a little while, and then settled down for the 5-6 hour trip to Chiang Mai. Once again I spent most of the time reading my book, occaisonally looking out the window to see all the barren rice paddies or small villages. The minibus stopped a couple of times, and so it was nice to get out and stretch legs and buy some snacks. The minibus also had a tendency to bounce a lot whenever it went over a bump, something that was quite annoying but sent a bunch of Austrians into fits of giggles whenever it happened.

At about 6pm we pulled into the small border town of Chiang Khong, with the country of Laos just across the Mekong river. Most people on the minibus had bought a package that included their night's accomodation at a guest house. I instead walked down the road, and at the suggestion of another couple on the bus, found a very nice little guest house overlooking the river. I had my own little bamboo hut again, although this one was a bit more modern with more solid walls and a lino floor. Once again the bed was just a mattress on the floor with a mosquito net. The bed was suprisingly comfortable though.

With not much of the evening left, and tired from a whole day of travel, I relaxed on the deck and looked over the Mekong river to Laos. It was the first time I had seen the Mekong, a river which I will be following for the next few weeks through Laos, Cambodia and finally Vietnam. For dinner I joined an Irish guy who was sitting by himself. He is working in Laos at a bear conservation project, and has to pop back to Thailand every month to get another visa. He works closely with the Gibbon Experience people, and so I will probably see him there. We went an explored the 'Tee Pee Bar' after dinner. Literally a wooden and thatch teepee hut on the side of the road. We had a few beers there, and then were joined by a large group of Irish guys. We shared a few beers, as I struggled to understand a whole bunch of Irish talking in heavy accents. I left before them, only to get a lot of ribbing about Kiwis from the collected Irish, but after such a long day I was ready for sleep.

Trekking to Caves

Day 43 (12/05/08): Hills North West of Pai, Thailand

Once again I awoke to the sounds of roosters, pigs, buffalo and the various other barnyard animals. Breakfast was rice soup with onions and lots of garlic. It takes a special kind of determination to eat such strong garlic that early in the morning, but I knew I would need my energy for the day. The trekking for the morning was pretty easy. We followed the river again, and then managed to convince Ray to take us up the hill path. Evidently, it hadn't been used in some time as the path was pretty overgrown and Ray had his machete out clearing the way. At one point we had to make a big detour; we were walking along a thin path around the side of a hill, and a large tree had fallen over, taking with it a very large clump of bamboo. The resulting blockade was very thick and high, and so we climbed down the hill into a dry rice paddy to get around. (Being the end of the dry season, the rice paddies are all dry and barren, although other crops have been planted in some).

Back to the river, sandals on, and we trudged through some brilliant boggy mud. The thicky oozy smelly mud that is very smooth. It didn't really matter, as we were walking through the river so much our feet were never muddy for long. I did spot a few leeches on the path, but none of them got us. At one point we came across a village, and right in the middle of it, by the river, was a huge concrete bridge being built. Apparently a few years ago a big flood came down the river and wiped out the bridge, so they were building the replacement. It was just very weird walking through the jungle, with no signs of habitation, and then turning a corner and finding a huge construction project with tonnes of concrete.

We only walked for about two and a half hours, with only one stop halfway. At about lunchtime we one again emerged from the wild straight into a reasonably large tourist area at the site of a large cave complex, Tham Lot. Here we had a simple lunch at one of the eateries, part of our trek package. Also included was a guided tour of the cave. We followed an old Thai lady, who carried a large gas lantern, and she led us into the cave itself. The place is huge beyond imagination. At the entrance to the cave are thousands upon thousands of swallows, who were flying about. Apparently if you go there in the evening, you can watch the 50 000 birds leave the cave. It would have been a great site, but alas, we would not be there for it. Our little Thai guide spoke very little english, but had memorised the english names for the various things within the cave. We walked around inside the cave for close to an hour. The main chamber was so big, that the light from the gas lantern didn't reach to the far walls. It was quite eery walking along in total dark with nothing to see except the ground and your feet.

Running through the main cavern is a river, and we walked across a rickety bamboo bridge in the darkness, and then climbed various wooden stairs that had been built into the cave. I have been in quite a few caves before, but these ones were by far the most amazing. Apart from the very large stalactites and stalagmites, which were impressive enough on their own, there was also an abundance of other rock formations, some of which I didn't understand the geology of. There was a large rock formation that glittered with what looked like diamonds, little 'cups' that looked like small rimmed craters, a giant rock formation that very literally looked like it was covered in popcorn, giant hanging sheets of rock that looked like folded curtains, small ridges that ran along the ground, giant pillars and large sinkholes. There is also a small caveman painting of a deer, which they think is a few thousand years old. Overall, the caves were very very impressive.

We got back to the small village of Sappong by motorbike taxi. The trip was quite scenic, winding through the jungle and farmland, although that wasn't the most memorial part of the motorbike ride. Climbing up a steep hill quite slowly, a large SUV came straight down the middle of the road, forcing my driver to swerve into the grassy verge, and ever so lightly touch into the bamboo fence. It wasn't really an accident, as we were going so slow, but it didn't make my driver very happy. Ray stopped behind us, and we pulled the scooter out to continue the journey, although my driver went a lot slower! From Sappong back to Pai on the local bus, and I checked back into my same guesthouse, and got the same bamboo hut I had before! Unfortunately this time the electricity didn't work for some reason, but no big deal. The small remainder of the afternoon was spent doing laundry, updating this blog, and investigating transport to Laos. I only have a few days left on my visa, so need to get out of Thailand quickly. I booked a 9 hour minibus ride that will take me to Chiang Khong on the border, leaving early in the morning. In the evening I met the other person from my trek for dinner and a few beers, although we both had a reasonably early night after the last three days of activity.

Trekking in the Rain

Day 42 (11/08/05): Hills North West of Pai, Thailand

If there was one theme to this trek, it was food. We awoke to a huge breakfast put out for us, once again it was enough to serve four or five people. We started walking, and trekked up quite a few large hills, giving us amazing views from the top. One of the things I most enjoy about the landscape here are the enormous cliffs. Jutting straight out of the landscape are giant sheer cliffs, with any surface that is perfectly vertical covered in dense vegetation. They look magnificent, although they were offset against the gray skies that silhouetted them...

Shortly after we started walking, the rain came down. We had just reached the top a large hill, and there was a small bamboo shelter in there, under which we took cover as the first drops started falling. We were shortly greeted by a couple of local woman with a bunch of young kids in tow. They were all splashing around in the rain and the puddles and having a great time. A huge beetle flew past (it was literally the size of a small bird), which they all chased after and one of them managed to catch. All the other kids then chased him, trying to get the beetle for themselves. He turned the tables by chasing and scaring the smaller kids with the big beetle. And all this was taking part in the heavy tropical rain.

As the rain started thinning out we headed off again, with raincoats and hats on. Although the insulation from wearing a raincoat meant I was soon dripping wet on the inside with sweat, as well as the outside with rain, which seemed rather pointless. The raincoat was soon taken off. We reached the river, which we would be following for the rest of the day, and so we changed into our sandals, and spent the next hour or so, criss-crossing our way over the river. The water was nice and cool, and I think it was the first time my feet were clean in a long time. Unfortunately, being this close to the river, and with the rain, meant that my special little friend the leech was out again. Luckily they weren't many of them, nowhere near as many as Malaysia. Although I was in sandals, with no shoes between me and the leeches! I only got three of them on me, and I got them off quickly enough before any blood was flowing.

We stopped for lunch at an old elephant camp. There were just a few burnt out bamboo huts left, but it was still a very picturesque place to eat. Once again there was no shortage of food, we had rice with chicken and vegetables. To keep with the jungle theme, we ate out of bamboo 'bowls', sections of bamboo that had been cut in half. It was very cool. Ray was looking for some dry bamboo to make a fire for tea, as everything was wet from the rain. But neither of us were too bothered, and so we didn't bother making another bamboo jungle teapot.

Another hour and a bit of walking, and we arrived at a Karen village, where we would be spending the night. This village was quite large, with over 300 families, and large fields of potato and corn (and rice in the wet season). Once again, we were staying with a family, although we stayed in a much more modern constructed wooden building. The family had solar panel, battery rack and inverter, so in the main part of their house, they even had a tv! I had a wonderfully refreshing bucket shower with some very cold water. Then while Clare had a nap, I helped Ray cook our food for the night. The Karen people use a small concrete brazier, in which they light a fire. A pot or wok can then sit on top of this brazier, and a gap in the concrete allows them to control the fire and hence the heat. In the kitchen hut were two of these braziers, and while I didn't prepare any of the food, I helped stir fry several of the dishes in the wok over the fire.

Dinner was quite early, and enough to feed an army. Once again we did our best, but there was plenty left afterwards. We then went on a tour of the village, visiting several different families. Ray's father was the schoolteacher here many years ago, and as such Ray knows a lot of the people in the village. The first person we visited was the oldest man in the village, at 100 years and 3 months! He was quite a little man, his legs about as thick as my arms. He had a huge smile, which showed that he was missing his front teeth. Most amazingly, his thighs and forearms were completely covered in traditional tattoos. He joked a lot, and using Ray as our interpreter, we found out about how he came to the village and about his family. It was very well done on Ray's part, considering that these people speak the Karen language, which is completely different to Thai. Ray told us that he can speak Thai, Lahu language, Karen Language, Burmese, Lisu Language and some English! Very impressive.

Later on in the village we met the old man's wife, who was 93, and just as friendly. We then visited a few of Ray's friends, each of whom was drinking the local whiskey. This 'whiskey' wasn't too bad, actually coming in labeled bottles and made by a local distillery. It tasted more of cheap vodka then anything else, but at 28% was rather smooth and easy to drink. I was passed many cups of it, and not wanting to be rude, finished them all. One large family we visited had just killed a wild pig, and had a large number of people over to celebrate. The meat was shared between everyone, and we arrived just as they started cooking it. We even tried a few pieces. One of the things they were making was a 'pork tartar' of sorts. The raw meat was chopped very finely and then a number of spices were added to it. It tasted pretty good. I also tried the pork soup, which was quite good and spicy as well. Some of the children had those giant bugs we had seen earlier, and Ray dropped one into the fire for a few seconds before eating it. He offered it to us, but we both kindly refused. One last stop at our neighbour's hut to drink some more whiskey, before we all collapsed into bed to sleep off the whiskey and the day's exertions.

Pai Trekking

Day 41 (10/05/08): Hills North West of Pai, Thailand

It was a very early start for a Saturday morning. There were only two of us going on the trek, myself and a lady named Clare from England, who had just spent the last few months doing community work in Borneo, Malaysia. Instead of taking the normal truck to the start of the trekking route, we took the local bus with our guide, Ray, to the small town of Sappong. Here Ray bought some food and supplies from the market. We then jumped onto three motorbike taxis to take us to the start of the walking trail.

The trekking itself was very nice. Unlike my trek from Chiang Mai, all three of us were very fit, and so managed to keep up a good pace, with only a few short water breaks. It was deathly hot though, and very shortly my whole shirt was dripping wet with sweat, and due to the humidity it never evaporates off you, leaving you constantly wet. It is in the middle of the hottest part of the year here, which is the reason it is low season, and no one else is out trekking. Although we did meet a small work group of men who were building a bamboo hut. It was pretty amazing to watch them work, they make everything out of bamboo, and about the only tool they use are machetes.

At lunchtime we stopped and Ray produced some bags of fried rice, biscuits and snacks which we tucked into with great gusto. There were even some orange type fruits, very similar to a mandarin, but with a green skin and pips. Ray then showed us how to make tea in the jungle. Using his machete he chopped down a section of bamboo, and then chipped a hole in the end, with a long pouring spout. The ridges along a piece of bamboo are actually internal walls, and so we had a waterproof cylinder with a hole in the top. This was filled with river water, and then placed on a small fire made of bamboo. Even though the outside of this bamboo kettle blackened, it never caught alight, and after half an hour or so, the water inside was boiling away. Using some leaves as oven gloves, it was removed from the fire, and some Jasmine tea added to it. Small tumblers were carved out of bamboo as well, and just like that we were drinking tea jungle style!

Another short walk after lunch, through more amazing countryside brought us to a small village of about 30 families. The people were of the Lahu Hill-tribe, with their own language (Lahu) and customs different from the Thai culture. We were staying with a family, and very similar to my Chiang Mai trek from a few days ago, we were staying in a large bamboo hut, with several beds arranged on the floor. Even though we had just finished lunch a few hours before, snacks and drinks were brought out, and I tried some of the local moonshine whiskey, which I was only able to finish after mixing it with some coke.

Shortly after arriving and sitting down in our bamboo house for the night, the skies opened up and a great torrential rain came down. The dirt walkways of the village quickly turned to mud and even all the pigs, chickens and dogs went looking for cover. We thought we had timed things pretty well! An hour or so later it stopped raining, and we went for a short explore of the village, a process which resulted in our sandals being completely covered in mud. The kind of thick sticky red mud that clings to everything and congeals in huge globs around your feet and shoes.

Dinner followed shortly, and once again there was no lack of food. Clare and I did our best to eat as much of it as possible, but there was easily enough food for five people. Like always, it was fantastic, and included a few dishes made in the Lahu style. After dinner a small group of local school girls put on a little show for us. They were dressed in traditional costume, and sang a few songs for us, accompanied by some dancing. Afterwards we had to teach them a few songs ourselves, and so stuck to the classic nursery rhymes, of which they already knew the chorus to 'Old Macdonald'. We spent the rest of the quiet evening relaxing in our hut and chatting to our guide, before collapsing into bed. I fell asleep listening to the pigs, chickens and dogs, with the occasional cow and water buffalo throwing their voice into the melody. I woke up to the sound of the roosters, then fell back asleep to them, to be woken by them again, to fall back asleep again. I guess that is the nature of roosters.

Doing nothing in Pai

Day 40 (09/05/08): Pai, Thailand

Pai is quite famous for a town where you do nothing, they sell t-shirts on the street saying things like "doing nothing in Pai". It is a very relaxed sleepy town, and that is what I did all day. I managed to catch up on all my missed sleep, and woke up at the relaxed time of 11:30am, after spending nearly 14 hours asleep! Despite the heat and humidity outside, my little bamboo hut was relatively cool, with my little fan keeping a nice constant stream of cool air over me.

There are a number of pretty sights in the Pai area, several waterfalls, some cave systems and a hot water spring. The recommended way to get to these is to rent a scooter and head there yourself. I am very dubious about renting a scooter, I have seen way too many tourists walking around in bandages after having scooter accidents. And heard too many stories of travellers blowing their travel budgets after having to cover the cost of a wrecked scooter. Renting a bicycle is my prefered option, however I didn't really feel like cycling up and down all the local hills in the heat. You sweat enough just sitting in one place, let alone trying to grind your way up the steep hills on a rent-a-bike.

Instead I just spent what was left of the day walking around the town, investigating the different tour and trek companies. I would really like to do another 3 day trek in this area, even though I just did one in Chiang Mai. There are a lot of companies offering three day treks, in which you visit a number of different hill tribes and even do some jungle survival stuff. However, as it is just in the start of the low season, almost none of the companies had treks starting tomorrow. Typically you need at least 4 people for them to run a trek, and so because I am travelling by myself, I was a bit stuck. The best place I found looked really interesting. Not only do they take you on a three day trek, but you also get taught a number of jungle skills, such as cooking, hunting and some bamboo crafts. Unfortunately they needed a minimum group of four. I came back later in the afternoon, although no one else had booked. Continuing to look around, I did find one place that was willing to run the trek with just me, the guide said it would be me, him and his aunt. His english wasn't that good, and the trek route didn't look particularly good either, and so I decided against it. Eventually I found a decent looking trek company that is running a trek for tomorrow, they already had one other person signed up. I decided I might as well sign up with them, and so paid over my money. The treks here are a lot more expensive than the treks from Chiang Mai. I'm paying almost twice as much as I did for the trek from Chiang Mai, although it will be quite a different sort of trek, with a much bigger emphasis on visiting the local tribes and learning their customs. Apparently giving gifts is a nice thing to do, and so I went and got some pens and candles, which are the recommended gifts for the hill tribes.

It is now the early Friday evening in Pai, and the sleepy little town is holding up to its reputation. Shortly after this I will go and get some food, and then try and find if anything ever happens here, although I do have a bright and early start tomorrow to begin my trekking.