Blogs from Bokèo Nature Reserve, West, Laos, Asia - page 3

This has to be the most scary thing we have done so far in the trip! A power cut in town meant no safety video could be shown and our new group of 9 climbed into the 4x4 a bit unsure what to expect. we headed off on a 2hr drive to reach the Laos rain forest. After a brief stop we turned off road and drove through a river and up a dusty unsealed road for another hour and a half and eventually into a small bamboo village in the heart of the jungle. we unloaded and embarked on a 2 hour trek, mostly uphill and in the sweltering midday heat. believe me you've never sweated until you've treked in the jungle!! Eventually we arrived at small platform with a zip line heading out into ... read more

Standing naked 80m up in the air, feeling cool spring water trickle over your skin and looking out over the valleys and ridges of Bokeo Nature Reserve at sunset is the most amazing shower you will ever have. The Gibbon Experience was an intense and at times unexpected experience. Our first morning included a 2hour drive squished in the back of a converted Land Rover and encountering some very frazzled and stressed out people who had just completed their three days and were waiting for our van to arrive to escort them out. When I say frazzled, I really mean crazed. There was an edge and stress to them that shocked most of us. RATS. That was the topic of conversation. To hear them speak, they were running rampant around the treeshouses, gnawing through bags and ... read more

After 2 days on a slow boat from Luang Prabang I was definitely ready for some action. We spent the night in Huay Xai which is a pretty sleepy town on the Thai-Lao border on the mighty Mekong River. The lights were definitely brighter on the other side as we had a couple of beers with the crew who we had shared the last two sleepy days with. Beer Lao was again my trusty companion as soon as the sun went down (although I didn’t always adhere to this rule that’s for sure). In the morning we all met at the travel office in town and jumped in the back of a truck for the 4hr journey to the Bokeo Nature Reserve. The last hour was spent on some really rough terrain and our guide for ... read more

We arrived in Chiang Khong on the Thai-Lao border after a relatively comfortable, karaoke filled, 6hr bus ride from Chiang Mai in Thailand. Getting to Huay Xai, Laos from Chiang Khong involves hopping on a small boat and taking a two minute trip across to the other shore. When we arrived in Huay Xai we checked in at the Gibbon head office so we could begin our trek the following day. After a 2.5hour drive we arrived in a small village on the edge of the jungle. We met our guides and our 8 member group started the long walk to our tree house for that evening. After about an hour long uphill climb we reached a base camp where we were given harnesses so that we could go zipping. Zipping involves clipping yourself onto steel ... read more

Since leaving Luang Nam Tha, in the far north western tip of Laos, Ashlee and I have been doing much to account for our previous time spent relaxing in Laos. This past week has been the ultimate in ecotourism adventures. The country, especially in the north is made up of mountainous jungles with white water rivers winding their ways through the valley bottoms. There is also an incredible diversity of flora and fauna even despite the increasing pressures of poaching and slash and burn agriculture practices. In addition, the population in Laos is relatively small compared to the surrounding population giants of Vietnam, Thailand and China. According to a man we met yesterday, there is an average of 7 people per square km in Laos, in Vietnam this figure is 268. As a result, the number ... read more