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Published: September 20th 2008
View from the Zipline
Zipping into Treehouse 5So...where was I....ah yes the bus journey to Chang Kong..... Firstly I must point out that not being able to sleep on buses is something that I've become accustomed to over the years....but would the windy roads coupled with another mad driver change this? No, don't be silly.
I did however have a cunning plan at the halfway point and decided that by sitting in the front would give me a bit more space plus I could lean on the seat belt. I had however overlooked the effect that the driver's cd would have on me. I didn't have him down as a Celine Dion fan and after he played 'Unbreak my heart' by Toni Braxton I knew things couldnt get any worse. The good point was that we made good time and arrived in 'the kong' at 3am and whilst the border didnt open til 8am we could rent a few hours at a hotel (not like that) and get some shut eye.
The Gibbon Experience Firstly, this is not to be confusd with Ch Mai's cheap imitation called 'Flight of the Gibbon' where the zips are shorter, lower and you don't get to live
in tree house ie yep you've guessed it, a bit pants in comparison. Plus the GE is a conservation project and by visiting the park the money supports the local communities and provides an alternative to logging the forest (ie the natural habitat of the Gibbon). So thumbs up to the Gibbon Experience then.
As we crossed the river into Laos I was concerned that the GE minivan would only hang around for me til 9am so I whizzed thro passport control and headed to their offices pleased that I'd got there at 8.50am. However the bus had already gone.
The good news was that the lady at the GE office called the bus and got them to stop and then asked a guy to take me to the bus on his moped. This was the first time I'd been driven on a moped where the guy was driving with one hand and holding an umbrella (pink) with the other. Soon enough we caught up with the group and I said hello to the other 7: Bob & Alison (USA), Sascha, Patrick and Mattias (German) and Steve and Andy (Irish).
As my brand new white adidas trainers
Bathroom in Treehouse 1
Cracking view when having a shower were deemed unsuitable I was told to leave them at the office and buy some purpose built shoes at the place whee we would be dropped off. The good news was that this was infact true and these handy shoes not only had studs, wouldn't matter what state they got in and only cost 1 pound...the bad news was that most asian men have feet smaller than a size 9 and as a result I had to settle for a size 8.....so for the hardest hike of my life I would be alternating btwn these and my fake crocs that were 2 sizes too big....hmmmm
Doing the GE in wet season is a whole different ball game to doing it in dry season. Not only are the slopes in the jungle more slippery but you have to also walk an undulating mud road for 14.2 km to get TO the village whereas in the dry season you get droppped AT the village (I hadn't planned this very well). The searing heat and muggy humidity made the road a bit more 'challenging' and then we met the group coming back (their 3rd day) and were told it was another 3.5
hours... This is the sort of info you really don't need when you think you're nearly there trust me. We then reached the village and we were greated with confused and shy faces of children who lived there.
The uphill part (1.5 hours) after the village was the hardest part and on reaching the top we were told on the way back we would be treking 2 hours to get TO this point. The zips had better be f worth I thought to myself.
The zip to treehouse 1 (see my youtube) was short but pretty dam cool and so too was the treehouse and the ensuing views. It was over 3 levels and after our dinner was zipped in it was weird having a shower with a view over forest from 50m up. You just had to had careful not to think about the fact that the only thing stopping you falling to the forest floor was the wet wooden floor. It was cool watching the shower water fall thro the gaps in the floor tho.
After a few zips we hit the sack and settled for a restful night in the pitch black listening to
End of Day 2 - Treehouse 5
..snake behind me? yeah yeah the various sounds on the forest. At least that's how it should have been but these were overtaken by the sound of rats scuttling around the roof and floor (not in the brochure). Altho that night was worse for Steve who had a v bad case of the two bob bits as well as chunder city due to a bug he'd picked up 3 days prior.
The following day consisted of breakfast being zipped in by the locals (yep same food as the previous dinner yum yum) and then a day of zipping. For this the guides left us knowing that if we fell or injured ourself the disclaimer we'd signed would leave them in the clear! The longest we did on day 2 was the 340m one (again on you tube) this was by far the best one and I do believe you can hear my response to witnessing the height of it as this was my virgin voyage on it. The zipping was such good fun and despite the ordeal getting to the park, was well worth the effort.
The zipping had infact taken away the pain of my new jungle shoes. However on returning to
The Snake!
6ft, green and a 50% chance of being poisonous the treehouse a quiet moment of reflection allowed me to realise that two of my toenails had turned black, I had blisters on each heel and my adjusted walking stlye (to the pain) has resulted in sore hip. Something had to be done. This involved slicing the toes off (off the shoes, my toes didn't hurt that much) and also slice part of the heels off. I then ended up with some shoes that didn't hurt as much but looked a bit like open toed girls shoes with open backs which made them feel like slippers.
We then did the short 2 hr hike to treehouse 5. The zip into treehuse 5 was excellent as you could see it in all it's glory (see main pic) and the views were better than treehouse 1. On reaching this I posed for a photo which Andrew (aka Murph) was taking and during which he said 'oh my god there's a snake behind you'. I thought he was joking but in fact it was a 6 ft long green thing which our guides weren't sure if it was poisonous (one said yes one said no). So after they got rid of it
Bedroom view - Treehouse 5
..and hoping I don't sleepwalk we settled down for card games, more bland food and a night without rats.
On waking up on day 3 it was comforting to discover that we hadn't all had stuff nibbled by rats in the night however I did discover that I my harness was soaking wet as I had left it in an uncovered area overnigiht. So, on a near empty stomach, with a wet harness and in the rain I, along with the rest of the group set off. The good point was with my black poncho I looked a bit like batman (apart from the phyisque and open toe girls shoes) when doing the zips.
The next two hours was pretty tough and made more tough by the introduction of leeches and with my open toe shoes which served as a handy cat flap for leeeces (a sort of leech flap) I'm sure they thought it was xmas. Over the next 2 hours I must have encountered 20 leeches (i actually stopped counting afer 16) however 'only' 6 drew blood. It was during this part of the trek that I wished I'd known how hard it was gonna be as I'd got you buggers
Misty Morning - Day 3
and facing an 8hr hike... to sponsor me for the RSPCA or something.
Aftr we had done the descent to the village an stocked upon water, soft drinks and had some lunch (it wasn't 5 star or anyting, I built a crisp sandwich) I felt that we had broken the back of the journey and even tho the 14.2 km mud road was tough, I had a second wind (brought on by a can of coke and some biscuits) and I flew it.
We then got in the jeep for the journey back to Huay Xai and I booked into a hotel for my first (yes first) hot shower since leaving the UK - bliss
For those interested in this GE check out their website:
http://www.gibbonx.org/gibbon_important.php
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Andrew Egan
non-member comment
PIGS
Garth, you never did like food repackaged on the 2nd day did you ! I can't see any reference in your blogs to the procedure when you have to take a Krap (as they say in Thailand). You see when I did this Trek stuff, back in the dark ages, we were given a stick to go out to the bush with to Krap. I innocently assumed that this was the Krapper could infact dig a neat hole and cover the Krap, however it soon became apparent that it was to beat away Pot Bellied pigs from your hind quarters, wanting a warm meal !! The result was the Krapper ended up doing an impersonation of Frankie Detorri giving the whip to Bight Tuttocks in the 2.30 at Ascot with his kegs around his ankles......... We have now moved with internet so I am up to speed. Take it steady and pack a stick if I were you - the alternative is not appealing...........