The Gibbon Experience, November 2016

So basically I've decided to create a separate section for the Gibbon Experience tour we were on in November 2016, although it was just one part of an amazing journey through Laos, Cambodia and northern Thailand.

We (Suse and I) started the journey in a small town in the northwest of Laos, called Ban Houayxay (pronounced Ban-why-sigh), located right at the border to Thailand. We got there by slow boat from Luang Prabang on a relaxing two-day journey. We stayed in a small and cheap hotel, just 5 minutes by foot from the Gibbon Experience's office and starting point, so in the morning of the 26th of November 2016 we packed our belongings, checked out and walked down to the office. We were a bit early so while Suse waited and guarded our luggage I took off to get some breakfast and some sandwiches for the drive. With that done and the GE's staff and other participants arriving we were ready for the introduction. We were shown a video of what to expect and how to behave as well as an introduction to safety.

We locked up our big backpacks and took care of the legal issue (signing some forms, saying that no one is to be held reliable in case of death, injury or anything else..) - and off we went!

The trip started with an approximately 2 hour ride to the northeast, heading to Bokéo Nature Reserve. There were 15 of us (if I remember correctly) in a car made for 10 people - 5 in the cabin in the front and 10 in the back of the pick-up-like truck. And don't forget that we all had some luggage and they brought lots of supplies. All in all it was highly uncomfortable but great to get to know the people you'd spend the next few days with. Apart from Suse and me our group were Ryan and Sarah from New Zealand, Bernardo and Marta from Portugal, Silvie from France, Ben from South Africa and the two guides Thong Chan and Bidi, who were locals.

After one short stop in a small village (where we were handed a beer.. at 10am.. before going on a long and hot hike..) we left the paved road and drove down a dirty track, through a river, down muddy and slippery steep hills and finally reached the point where the real challenge would start: A small village in the middle of nowhere.

So here's my first impression:

I was pretty excited to get started, that video in the morning and the information I got from David (he had been on the tour a few years earlier) got my going and I was keen on getting into the jungle. The first thing I saw when disembarking the vehicle was an old guy, sitting in front of a hut, smoking and beside him, a machine gun, leaning on the wall. Uhmm.. okay. The second thing I saw was a mother with her child, which was about three years old. The little kid was carrying a little stuffed animal in its hand and held her mothers hand with the other. Suddenly I noticed: that's not a stuffed animal - that's a huge dead rat, which the kid had grabbed by the tail and carried it around.. Well, okay?! A toy's a toy.. I guess.

So off we went! First obstacle: Crossing a river. Well.. a stream. Just a few centimeters deep but enough to get your shoes soaked if you didn't take them off. So we took off our shoes, walked through the river, put our shoes back on. So far so good. I'll sum things up a little, as the first two hours of hiking weren't anything special. This wasn't a jungle. We walked past rice fields, occasionally an old tractor-like machine passed us.. this wasn't what I expected. We crossed a few more rivers (shoes off, walk through, shoes on... repeat.) and finally got to a terrain, that looked like what I expected. Thick lush jungle. We passed by huge bamboo plants and enjoyed the hike. At some point we reached a table and two benches: our resting point. The guides left to organize our harnesses and told us there was a pool nearby where we could freshen up. A few people from the group did go for a small dive but we decided just to have a look and then just hang out for a bit and reapply some sunscreen and mosquito repellent. After about half an hour the guides were back and gave us the instructions on how to wear the harnesses properly. They went on checking everyone and then we continued walking - just for a few minutes. The time had come: Our first zip line was to be tackled. We had great fun and following the instructions we managed to get across easily and safely. Except for Marta. She did not quite reach the end of the zip line (which happens occasionally and isn't a problem as you just grab the wire as soon as the ride stops and pull yourself up the last few meters) and was a little overwhelmed - she forgot to grab the wire and went straight back towards the middle of the zip line. And there she hang. The guides shouted commands on what to do: Just grab the wire and pull yourself towards us. She did pull herself for quite a few meters but at some point said she was too exhausted to continue. So Thong Chan, our main guide, clipped on and went in for the rescue, he slowly floated don towards her and told her to grab on to his harness, which she did. He then continued grabbing the wire and pulling them both up.

Let me explain: Marta was in no danger. The harness was safe and she could have hung there for hours (which just would have been a little uncomfortable..). So after this incident we had a short rest and let Marta calm down - she was pumped with adrenaline but still in a good mood and ready to go on soon.

The rest of the day we spent hiking and zip lining through the Laotian jungle - having an amazing time. We wouldn't hear anything but ourselves and the sounds of the jungle: Birds, wind, water.. and we even heard ants (yeah, right. We actually did hear ants! Thousands of them walking in a thick line, it sounded like when you pour milk over your Rice Crispies.. a rustling sound).

In the afternoon we reached our 'home' for the first night: A tree house which was only reachable by zip line, about 50 meters above the ground. As my former colleague Claudia would say: 'How horny is that then?' (meaning: 'well how awesome is that?'). On arrival we were soon provided with some tea and local sweets. While the guides left we had a rest, decided where to sleep (there were mattresses, blankets, pillows and mosquito nets for everyone) and chatted. Then it was time for dinner: Rice with veggies mainly. Not quite tasty but good enough - I didn't expect a five star meal. After we finished eating we took care of the dishes and chilled for a bit while the guides built up the beds and putting up the mosquito nets. They told us to be aware not to keep food close to our beds as the rats would chew through anything to get the food. By the time they finished preparing everything it was dark, so we just sat around our tiny table and chatted for a bit, the only light being a little light bulb (couldn't have been more than 5W), powered by a small solar panel on the roof. We were all pretty exhausted so we all went to bed, although it wasn't even 8pm yet.

I'll explain the sounds we heard while trying to fall asleep: As soon as we all were underneath our nets the rats came out. You could hear the rustling sounds right beside your head on the other side of the net and the bats flying around with that incomparable flapping sound. Thinking about all the insects that are all around us this night was hardly enjoyable. Suse and I both didn't quite catch any sleep, probably due to those sounds, the knowledge of all those creepy crawlies and the thick air underneath the mosquito net.

Yet we got up in a good mood, ready for the new challenges!

The breakfast we were served was pretty similar to the dinner the night before, the only difference was that they added some eggs. Again: Not my favorite dish. We packed our stuff, put our harnesses back on and left the tree house. This day was pretty much like the last one: hiking (mainly up hill today!), zip lining, hiking, zip lining,... On a short break the guide crafted fans for us from big leaves, coolio!

At around 1pm we reached the next tree house and the guides told us we had the afternoon off to spend it however we wanted. So most of our group decided to rest.. do yoga.. read.. But I wasn't done for the day yet. The guide told me, that if I wanted to continue zip lining I could do so, there was an easy path to follow to kinda zip line in a triangle: Leave the treehouse by zip line, hike for a few minutes, zip line again, walk a few meters.. and zip line back to the tree house. So this is exactly what I did the rest of the day. Over and over again. One or twice I stopped myself in the middle of the zip line to take some decent shots - and had a great exercise pulling myself back to the end of the line.

In the evening we were served the same food again and some of those awesome Laotian snacks (pure sugar.. but delicious) while the guides built our beds. When everything was done we sat around the little table and the guide told us some stories about the Laotian culture (e.g. what the origin of the water festival was.. unfortunately I didn't write it down, so I forgot the story.. although it was pretty beautiful) and introduced us to some games - which I totally nailed as far as I remember.

Then it was time for bed. This night we took a Valium to be able to sleep properly. Worked out nicely - falling asleep while hearing the rats and bats all around you..

The last day had come and I was the first one awake. So I crawled out of my little bed and looked outside. What I saw was a grey wall. It was really foggy, you could hardly see further than ten meters. So.. what did I think of first? Of course.. let's zip through this awesome fog! Said and done - I got dressed and put my harness and helmet on and yalla!

VIDEO of me zip lining through the fog // VIDEO of the fog clearing in the valley (my view while showering)

This. Was. Awesome. I would fly down the zip line, hardly seeing where I was going - no end in sight, just trees flying by and grey fog all around. Unfortunately the wire was really wet from the morning dew.. so I soaked myself doing this but it really was worth it.

I just managed to go once 'round my triangle as when I got back to the tree house everyone was up and starting to pack. So I got out of my harness and joined them. After that we had breakfast, then got our stuff (our shoes were completely full of ants.. but a gallon of mosquito repellent solved this problem..) and off we went once again.

Hike, zip line, hike, zip line.. hike. And soon we reached our starting point, the little village. The car was already there to pick us up, so we said good bye to Bidi and Thong Chan and off we went back to the Office in Ban Houayxay.

Three awesome days with a nice group of people!

This shall be repeated.. extendedly.