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Published: April 9th 2010
Leaving Thailand and crossing the river to Laos actually takes about 5 minutes in a very dodgy long boat but when you arrive it’s like stepping back in time. The small town of Houei Xay or Huay Xai or Huayxai or Houy Xhai, well however you spell it, it’s your point of entry into Laos. 5 minutes spent filling in the arrival forms and hurrying to avoid the after 4pm ‘overtime fee’ ($1) you pay your visa on arrival fee and head off to find some accommodation. The town is well set up, actually almost entirely, to cope with visitors stopping for 1 night before heading onwards into Laos and either up north for some trekking or catching the slow boat down the Mekong to Luang Praban. Or some, like us, heading off to the mysterious Gibbon Experience, an activity whose French owner shuns any entry in Lonely Planet, Rough Guide or the like, relying solely on word of mouth to attract the right custom. It’s not easy to get to, so it won’t make its way onto any package holiday itinerary, and thank goodness for that.
We checked in at a guest house then strolled across and registered at
the GE office in the town, all done, a bit of time to explore the town, that took 15 minutes and settle in for a meal overlooking the Mekong River. The following morning we deposited our bags at the office, watched the safety/information DVD and then hopped on the transport for the 2 hr trip to the jungle. What they didn’t warn you was that the journey would include a compulsory spine massage kindly provided by the distinct lack of shock absorbers on the truck. The first part of the journey is on tarmac, well probably 60% of the road has some tarmac on it, then we go off road. After about an hour on a dirt road the team building exercise appeared in the shape of a large tree that had fallen across the road the previous evening. Luckily for us the other group, (in the posh Land Rover) turned up and the mix of German, Aussie, Brit & Thai muscle and a cable & 4x4 made light work of the obstacle. We finally arrived in the village, greeted by exiting adventurers, smirking and refusing to answer questions beyond knowing smiles and discreet nods. The website did warn of
the steep climb to the Experience headquarters and they weren’t joking. Our guides pointed the right way and a wiry German, Wolfgang, set the pace. Unfortunately for us (and his wife who was struggling to breathe in the intense humidity) he was a very fit mountain climber who was very focussed on arriving at the HQ as soon as possible.
Well arrive we did and rarely has a wooden bench looked so inviting. Drew, an American volunteer, appeared and explained how everything was going to work for our upcoming ‘Classic’ Gibbon Experience. The 16 of us would be split into 4 groups, each off to different accommodation. An Aussie couple, Shayne & Jacinta had booked the exclusive ‘couples retreat’, the 5 Germans decided that they would have the best hut, 4 very fit Brits wanted the hut that was farthest away, they thought they had booked into the Waterfall Experience, a slightly different option. The five of us that remained by default were allocated Hut 1. The closest and as it turned out we feel probably the best option of the lot. We got really lucky with our roommates for the next few days, Mel, a Kiwi graphic designer
now living in Sydney, and Erik, a French furniture designer from Paris (does everyone in France live in Paris?). They both proved fantastic company, enjoyable, positive and a real delight to spend time with. Off the 5 of us trekked with Ya & Nouson, our guides for the next few days, for about another 20 minutes until we arrived at our home. When I say arrived, I actually mean we could see our home but getting to it required us to attach ourselves to a piece of steel cable, via a very flimsy looking harness, and throw ourselves out over a drop of about 100 ft and then, using a cut up bike tyre on the harness, brake before you flattened yourself into the tree that was central to our home. Yeehaaaaaaaa. Now this is adventure. Chris manned up (Matt’s phrase) and offered to go first and successfully made it across, never has a rickety wooden structure been so welcome, then everyone realised that if the cable held Chris all of them would have no problem!! That folks is the basis of the Gibbon Experience, a 3 day, 2 night adventure in the jungle where you ‘fly’ around the jungle
using zip lines and live in tree houses, only coming to Earth when you want to explore.
A review on Travelfish explained it better than we can “Situated in Bokeo province in northern Laos, the Gibbon Experience is a conservation project which allows visitors access to the rainforest at canopy level. With an ingenious system of zip-lines and tree houses visitors scour the landscape in search of a once thought extinct species, the Black Gibbon, Nomascus concolor lu, which were only re-discovered in the area in 1997. The project's grand aim is to conserve the vast Bokeo nature reserve and raise funds to protect the wildlife whilst alleviating poverty.”
We barely had time to catch our breath before our guides said “OK time to go zipping”. What this actually meant was climbing the tree in the middle of our house, attaching our harness & safety line to the cable and launching ourselves over the huge drop toward the jungle in the distance. Unfortunately Chris forgot the basics, swung too hard and managed to hit the cable with his head while suspended over a rather large drop, only later we saw that it missed taking his eye out by
a few mm. Not the best start. Everyone else showed him how it’s done, all gracefully launching and landing like the Flying Fratellis. At the end of this first zip is a rather steep climb, a recurring theme over the next few days, up to continue the jungle trek. The experience is based in a part of the jungle that is a series of tree covered valleys and escarpments that would take days to traverse on foot. Through the hair-raising zip lines you are able to cover large distances in no time a la Johnny Weissmuller. We spent a couple of hours learning to ‘fly’ and visited our Aussie ‘neighbours’ (about ½ hour away) before learning the route back home. One of the particularly nerve racking parts of the system is the interchange platform, a small wooden structure that acts as entry and exit point to 4 separate lines with small steps leading between the difference platforms. It is especially here that the reminder to make sure the safety line is attached first makes perfect sense. Our guides safely delivered us back to our home then left us to our own devices. The huts are really well stocked with plenty
of snacks, Oranges, Mangos, Tamarinds, Peanuts, sweet sticky stuff wrapped in Banana leaves and a large stock of tea and coffee. Sleeping arrangements sorted, snacks tested, very ‘interesting’ toilet arrangements inspected, there was no getting away from it, it was time to venture out on our own.
Cautiously we all exited the hut and very carefully negotiated our way across to see the Shayne & Jacinta. This time we climbed the hill to their entrance zip and swung over to inspect the ‘posh hut’. What a lovely home it was as well. Perfect for an intimate getaway, as long as you don’t mind sharing with numerous jungle creatures, but it was a lovely retreat. Visiting over we were eager to continue our flying lessons so completed the 5 zip trip home, everyone becoming more competent with each journey. When we got back to our hut our 1st meal had arrived, a veritable feast of loads of steamed rice (naturally) and 4 main dishes - lovely. And most welcome it was as the long day trekking, flying and the almost constant adrenaline rush really takes it out of you. After dinner we settled down with Mida, hut no. 1’s mouse
trap, a cute little ginger kitten that we all fell in love with, and got to know each other a bit better. Just listening to the changing sounds in the jungle at the different times of the day is amazing. As the sun sets a whole new chorus comes alive, the nocturnal inhabitants rise for their turn. By 9 we were all exhausted and retired to our ‘quarters’ or rather under our mozzie nets, all ready for sleep which would prove a very long time coming, the jungle orchestra was louder than a city centre zone. About 1am the whole tree shook, very brief but very strong, thinking that this may be either something on the entrance cable or the possible storm that we had been warned about sleep was going to prove even more elusive. Later we found out that a number of the other houses had felt it and it turned out to be a mini earthquake, sooo glad we didn’t know that last night.
We rose at 5am because we had been told that the best chance to see the elusive Black Gibbon was around dawn, all tired and bleary eyed, except Matt who had his
best sleep in weeks, we wondered what we had let ourselves in for. Nouson turned up at 6am to lead us out, we zipped across a couple of valleys to the interchange platform, stopping to listen every now and then when the gibbons could be heard in the distance. Nouson then told Lisa to attach herself to the ‘in’ zip line to the platform and then attached himself to her harness, not giving her a chance to think about what he was doing he launched off across the valley, only to stop mid line and dangle. After wondering nervously what was going on, all became clear when he pointed to a tree below absolutely covered in gibbons. What brilliant luck as sightings are quite rare. Lisa was returned safely to the platform, a little shaken it has to be said, and he repeated the operation with Chris but unfortunately by this time the gibbons had moved on into the jungle. Very, very keen not to dangle too long it was sadness mixed with relief when Nouson suggested not hanging around any longer, literally.
We all swung back to the hut for a filling brekkie, then went off for a
trek, to look at the jungle from the floor as well as above the canopy. The trek was yet another great part of the experience, the guides telling us about the flora and fauna, the bears and tigers that inhabit the jungle, not that you’ll ever see them, the monkeys and deer, showing us fruit we can eat and vines we can drink from. We visited a lot of the other huts, luckily really because there was a huge amount of uphill involved, so each hut offered the chance to fill up with water. After visiting the other huts, we were definitely pleased that we had hut 1, it seemed to offer the best combination of size and views. The exit from Hut 5 was particularly hairy, a small platform over a huge drop that takes a significant amount of courage and trust to throw yourself out, definitely the worst zip. After about 5 hours trekking & zipping we exhaustedly returned to our hut for lunch, again most welcome. Then, whilst almost blasphemy, it was generally agreed that despite being in a beautiful jungle at the heart of a wonderful adventure the heat and tiredness had caught up and only
a siesta would do for now.
Boy was that a good idea, because we all slept soundly for an hour or so then woke up in a furnace, or that’s what it felt like. The little power nap gave us all the energy to get out there and zip some more. By this time everyone had lost 95% of their nerves and everyone began to ‘showboat’ a bit, fancy take-offs, no hands over the huge drops, last minute braking on landing, now we really were revelling in it. Being confident also gives you the time to really enjoy the wonderful scenery as you are whipping over the jungle canopy. It’s really difficult to describe what a wonderful feeling it is, at least one blog reader will know. A friend, Jo, recommended this so in print we would all again like to say a huge thank you to her for an absolutely blinding tip. Finally with the sun setting we returned to our hut, our moggie and settled in to a well earned, hearty dinner. Another wonderful evening was spent getting to know more about Mel & Erik, great housemates and simply enjoying tonight’s performance from the Jungle symphony.
5.15am and the jungle wake up call drags you from your bed, just time for a quick coffee then it’s time to strap on the harnesses (not the Amsterdam type for any of Chris’s mates reading) and head off to try to spot the elusive gibbons in the dawn light. Very soon after landing it was obvious that there were a number quite close, their very distinctive call seemed to be right above us. We then quietly, well as quietly as 5 townies could, followed the call down the peninsula and but to the gibbons it must have sounded like a herd of galloping Wildebeests following, so off they headed. Luckily we were able to stand quietly for a few moments, crouch down and then in the distance there they were swinging away with their majestic easy style - result. As we mentioned, spotting them is quite rare and Lisa had managed to see them twice. Feeling that the experience was now complete we headed off back to the hut for breakfast, oh and a bit more playing on zip lines. At the hut we packed up to leave and then our brekkie guests from hut 2 arrived. At that
exact moment Lisa, an absolutely brilliant nature spotter, called everyone over to the side of the treehouse and lo and behold a huge group of those elusive gibbons came swinging past the base of the tree. One minute the trees are shaking madly, the next moment these fantastic black monkeys are showing us how to really traverse the jungle canopy. Awesome. The babies sticking close to the big brown mum who was nearly pulling the branches off with each swing, this really was the stuff that dreams were made of. We all stood there spellbound for 15 minutes or so, and as the gibbons moved deeper into the jungle we realised how flipping lucky we were, in so many ways.
Still a bit gobsmacked we finally packed up, wished Mida (Yellow Cat) a fond farewell and made our final zip away from the hut to start the journey back. Almost all downhill this way, very soon we arrived at the experience HQ, said bye to our great guides and completed the trek down to the village. We waited, reunited with all the others and just couldn’t stop chattering, none of us really quite believing what we had just done.
The transport bringing the next bunch of unsuspecting innocents arrived and it was our turn to simply cast knowing smiles in response to their questions. All except for Erik that is, who delighted in telling the young ladies about the huge spider that had visited us the previous evening (French men will do anything to extract a scream from a pretty girl!).
At this point we will do something we haven’t done yet and give a deliberate plug. If you are in this part of the world and are looking for an experience unlike any other we’ve seen then http://www.gibbonx.org/ is well worth a look. We have seen a couple of negative reviews, ignore them. You do need a certain level of fitness but hey, anyone that knows us realises that level isn’t that high.
The return journey to Houx-what-ever-it-is was as painful as the outward but we were all too tired/overwhelmed to really notice. We collected our bags from the office, and after a too quick goodbye to our Jungle brothers and sisters, headed round the corner to immigration, paid the dollar Sunday ‘overtime’ fee, had our passport stamped with permission to leave Laos and made the
short trip back across the Mekong back to Thailand.
What a fantastic few days.
PS Hopefully we have manged to attach some video that gives a flavour of what we mean. Enjoy....
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Jo
non-member comment
Thanks guys....
... You've brought back some fab memories and you were soooooo lucky to see the gibbons too (we unfortunately didn't, but heard their calls in the morning). I may have forgotten to tell you about the muddy and bone shaking ride to the start point, sorry!! All part and parcel of the adventure. Rich and I absolutely loved it too, it's up there in the top 5 adventures of our trip. Don't think they'd get away with it in the UK, health and safety and all that...