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Published: August 21st 2006
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Apologies for the delay in finishing of our blog but finally here’s the last leg of our trip to SE Asia:
Laos was an a slight detour that wasn’t originally part of our ‘itinerary‘. The reason we ended up there was due to a Canadian couple we met in Cambodia who enjoyed it so much and spoke so affectionately of it that they effectively talked us into going to see it for ourselves. A decision we are now very glad we made.
It wasn’t a great deal of hassle getting there as we would have had to have flown over Laos to get back to Bangkok anyway. First a quick flight from Ha Noi took us briefly to the capital Vientienne from where we boarded a small propellered number which rattled and shook us the rest of the way to Luang Prabang. This small town sits on the banks of the Mekong and is the main backpacker centre for the area.
A night was spent there before embarking on our trip to the Gibbon Experience; the principal reason for coming to Laos. In a nut shell it’s a conservation project established within the Bokeo National Park that looks
to provide tourists with a full-on jungle experience while at the same time providing work and a future for the locals, many of whom previously relied heavily on poaching the animals they now work to protect.
Before you get to experience any gibbons however, there is the small matter of getting there. Firstly we had to make our way to Huang Xao which due to the rainforest is only accessible from Luang Prabang via the Mekong. This takes TWO days on a boat and involves an over night stay in Pak Beng (which roughly translates as ‘backside of beyond‘). Once having eventually arrived in Huang Xao we reported to the GE office and were told to pack light and turn up early doors the next morning. 7:00am saw eight of us jump into the back of a 4X4 and shoot off into the national park for what was to be 3 hours of bone shaking, rally-style insanity on dirt tracks so bumpy that it was no surprise that the relatively new jeep was on it‘s last legs! (we also had an unscheduled two hour stop halfway there to remove a tree that had fallen across the track).
Dazed,
dusty and a bit giggly we all spilled from the back of the 4X4 to find ourselves in a small village which serves as a base camp to the ’experience’, and as home to the guides and cooks involved with the project. Where we were staying however was still a hours trek away deeper into the forest. Uphill.
It wasn’t until we arrived at our accommodation though that we eventually realised that everything that we had gone through to get there was now actually worth it. The Gibbon Experience certainly lives up to it’s name as for the whole time you are there your living 50 metres up in the forest canopy. Four Swiss-Family-Robinson-style tree houses are positioned and designed to provide you with shelter and relative comfort as well as amazing views out over mile upon mile of untouched Asian rainforest (the tree houses are all located so that none of them can see each other giving you the impression that yours is the only one there. We shared ours with a cool American couple). As if that wasn’t enough, because of the recognised damage that cutting pathways through the forest does, the trees houses are all interconnected
by way of zip-lines (death-slides), some off which are huge and take you over entire valleys (the longest being 400m long and 150mhigh).
Trekking is encouraged to fully ‘experience’ the jungle but because there are no paths the only way that the guides can navigate their way around is by using the streams that run down trough the valleys. This means to trek through the jungle involves walking down these streams which I have to say, leeches aside, is bloody good fun! Walking for 3 hours in the jungle with the heat and humidity really takes it out off you but to strap yourself on to the zip-line home makes you want to get of at the other end and start it all again.
Night time in the tree house brings a completely different experience; the insect experience! We have never seen so many bugs before in our lives. There being no electricity in the trees means you’re forced from time to time to pick up a torch which we discovered immediately alerts every winged insect for miles around, of your presence. You can imagine what a delight using the bathroom is when the sun goes down. At
night time we also become very aware of the dozens of enormous spiders that live hidden during the day within the thatched roof of the tree house. It’s a good thing that they give you industrial thickness mosquito nets to sleep under as I pretty sure we’d have been carried off by something had we been forced to sleep out in full view of the ‘neighbours’.
Waking up early morning in Bokeo isn’t a problem. It’s dawn that the gibbons get going with their bizarre ultra loud whooping which truly has to be heard to believed. The fact that animals can make such noises and at such a volume had us all staring out over the morning mist in bewilderment. You can’t see them but you sure as hell can hear them!
As well as meeting the great staff during our time there we were also introduced to their resident monkey, Sum-say, who was rescued from poachers and now lives a playful, care-free life at the camp kitchen. They also have a 5 month old Asiatic Black Bear (Pulau) with a similar story but he’s not so playful. A suitable home deep in the forest is currently being
Breakfast in treehouse kitchen with Alwyn and Kyle
(interesting fact: Kyle's actress sister played Ross' student girlfriend in 'Friends') sourced for him before he grows to his full height and eats somebody.
Anyway after three days and two nights it was time to leave the park and trek, drive and boat our way back to Luang Prabang from where we would fly out to Bangkok. The Gibbon Experience was definitely the best way to finish of our trip and if anybody is the area we couldn’t, like the Canadian couple, recommend it highly enough.
We have now been a month in Sydney, have found a nice flat and are getting to know the area. It’s winter here at the moment but it’s blue sky most days which is just what we were looking for. When we will get the opportunity to travel again is something that we think about and discuss often but conclude little from. Any chance to go back and spend some time in any of the areas we were during May and June this year, we would surely jump at (but obviously next time avoiding all Vietnamese public transport). If anybody thinks that they fancy a trip themselves to any of the areas we travelled through then obviously we’d be happy to pass on
all the advise we can.
Well that’s basically so all that's left for me to say is that Natalie and I hope you are all well and that we look forward to reading your messages as I’m sure you’ll all want to write something this time. Hopefully we will see some of you out here soon so that we can show you all 400 of our photographs and regale you with our many long-winded tales.
Anyway that’s our holiday over I suppose. Time to get a job.
Love Roy and Natalie.
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anonymous
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What a totally wonderful experience !! We travelled with you every step of the way - thanks for that. Loads of love, happiness and good luck for your new 'journey' in Australia. Mum and Dad (Galashiels)