Le Gibbon Experience

---

Standing on the platform with my safety line attached and my zip line thingey ready to go, I had thoghts in my mind. Maybe my dad was right, maybe you only get so many close calls in life. Maybe my nine lives are running out. Ahh what the hell just jump!!!

Flying effortlessly over the forest for over 400 meteres I felt the cloest to free that I had in a really long time.

I couldn't get a flight out of Chang Mai so I decided take a little detour and head to Huay Xai, Laos, to have "the gibbon experience." This is a project in Laos set up by a frenchman with a dream. Basically "Jeff" (who I never met) has set up a course of tree houses that are only reachable via ZIP LINES. This sounds crazy, and iressponsible but it completely makes sense. Basically there is this huge forest called the Bokeo Nature Preserve. It is "proteceted" by the Laos government but untill recently there was no one enforcing this protection. What the giboon experience does is bring "guests" in and charge them money to stay in the tree houses and get fed. The money is in turn taken to pay 15 forest guards to catch poachers, and protect the surrounding area. The project is probably the most eccofriendly trip I have been on, and they are constantly looking for new ways to make it even better.

I decide to do "the original experience" which consists of short hikes and a whole lot of zip linning. The second option was to go out to the fourth tree house, but because of my foot I didin't do that, and by the sounds of it I'm glad I didn't. The guys who did it were exhausted.

Gibbons are in the ape family and are bipedals, meaning that they walk on two feet. Didn't see any, but I did hear them singing in the morning. The adult males and females sing to eachother in the morning. It's a beautiful song.

I'm off to Burma today. I'm actually in Mae Sai on the border and because I couldn't get a flight i'm just gonna walk over and take a flight. I hope. I can't recieve emails in burma so message me on travelblog.

peace
adam

---