Bokeo Province - The Gibbon Experience - Bokeo, Northern Laos

Bokeo Province (Laos)

N 20'29", E 100' 45" - Special Relativity

The Waterfall Gibbon Experience:

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The Waterfall Gibbon Experience takes you deeper into the reserve, trekking for two to three hours per day along the Nam Nga River.

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The waterfall tree house has a fresh-water swimming hole at the bottom, the other shows sunsets overlooking several valleys. Two groups of 4 people depart on alternate days at 7.30am for two nights in Bokeo reserve, swapping tree houses on the second night.

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My, how quaint it all sounds. A leisurely stroll through the Lao jungle, amongst the birds, gibbons, Disney cartoon like faeries, surrounded by the overwhelming perfume of lilacs and frangipanis. Dipping your feet into the cool, Mt.Franklin like spring water just bubbling up from the depths of the pristine limestone caves just metres below the golden Lao earth upon which you tread. That my friends was the Gibbon Experience sell, it was the special relativity sales pitch of modality, wonder and acceptance within a utopian frame of reference, but I digress!

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We had bunkered down in tree house # 5 for the night after walking, zipping and ‘blaking’ (The Lao versio of breaking) for somewhere close to five hours. The accommodation itself was kind of surreal, it takes a moment for you to check yourself and then you realise, it's a bloody tree house in the middle of the Lao jungle! Soaring above the jungle and jutting out of the canopy, it’s basically a large wooden platform with I guess brush or bamboo type thatched roofing. Stairs led down from the main platform to a smaller space which was a semi private bathroom area, totally open to the elements. In the main housing area we were equipped with non transparent canopies, (aka white sheets), which hung above the soft foam mattresses and bed sheets that we had laid out on the floors. This was to be our sleeping quarters for the evening.

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Having the sun dip on us and the jungle awaken with the onset of nightfall was fascinating. Hearing bizarre calls of what we thought were gibbons way off in the distance was incredible but hearing the rustle of branches about 5mtrs from your head with what sounded like a creature of large-ish proportions was a little unnerving. As the group settled in and did their best to tuck in their sheets under the mattresses so as to avoid the approaching army of Lao jungle critters, it felt as though that we were getting pulled deeper into the web of all things nocturnal and the later it got, the more sounds that you heard, each closer to your own personal space than the previous sound. Smaller creatures and then larger ones made their way amongst our bags, making sounds that most of us chose not to follow up with actual wildlife sightings. I guess the thinking was ‘well if I don’t acknowledge that they're there then they're not and hence they wont do jackshit to me’. I do recall during the middle of the night that some type of creature flew into the house, (I assume a bat), and carried off another creature squealing for its measly life. That’s the Lao jungle however, you can't mess with it because it's hardcore and badass, carried off into the middle of the night like some right wing political hit carried out by the Argentine junta. The next time you’re seen it will be at the bottom of a river, disembowelled, entrails lingering at the scene of the crime,gruesome.

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On a much brighter note howeve the sun brought with it a magical and mystical sight. The deep forest mist within the valley was pierced by an orange-reddish ball of light, creating with it an image that you wouldn’t dream could be possible outside of constructed works of fantasy.

Outside of the experiences that you gain on a journey it’s those unique images that stick with you, (or with me rather), that in turn push me along on to my next adventure and have me becoming the ever increasing travelaholic.

Sunrise over the Lao Jungle - Bokeo Province - Northern Laos

Somewhere about 7am the buzz or whir on the zipline signalled the arrival of our breakfast and the start of day 2 at the Experience. This was to be our ‘zipping’ day, something that I’d been looking forward to for sometime. As the group got ready and slowly filed up onto the platform, readying themselves to get online and step off into the abyss, you could see the levels of anxiety starting to rise and the mental preparations that people were going through in order to find that ‘ziplining safety file’ that they’d stored in their mental H:Drive. I was last to leave tree house #5 that morning, a little disconcerting in that our Lao ninja guides weren’t there to offer their final assessment on whether my equipment was ‘good to go’ or whether my fall from the tree house was going to be ‘good to go’. One thing I knew that I had have right was the safety clip, so ‘hey stuff it’, ‘zip on my friends’ , out of T5 and above the trees – AWESOME.

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This morning, in the words of the all inspiring king of the understatement, Ja Lee, was going to go something like this, ‘Maybe we walk 30 mins, then we zipping, then up 20 mins, then zip and then down 30 mins’. As I mentioned briefly in my last write up, when he said it in that comfortable Lao accent, well it sounded like a stroll in the par and whilst today was not to be ‘Hell Day’ the bullshit assessment that he’d always provide in regards to the degree of difficulty meant that by the end of the Experience I could have ripped his nuts off!

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Zip # 3 for the day was a damn beauty. A few steps off the dirt runway and then a launch into the air. Flying above the valley, appreciating how picturesque and how unique the experience was in turn just imparted a unique sense of freedom, if only for a moment, and then you slowdown, realising that you won’t make the end of the zipline and that you’ll need to drag yourself in  to the end point hanging 60mtrs above the ground virtually upside down but again, what to say other than AWESOME!

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On this day however the journey to tree house 6 wasn’t particularly pleasant for some. As the sun got higher in the sky and we exerted ourselves with uphill climbs, our energy levels were depleting dramatically leaving us weary, worn and exhausted. A gentle, soothing stroll in the wilds of Lao? I’d say for half the team they’d give me the big f*** you for saying such a thing. The photo of JJ below tells the story, even taking a photo of her in this situation meant that I was going to have hell to pay at some time in the near future (meh, still, I took my chances, lol). In any case a long while after our guides had estimated that we'd  arrive at our port of call for the afternoon/night, we actually did, bloody hell, someone should really buy them a clue! When it comes to estimating the duration of a walk they were off by such margins that the use of their information caused more ill feeling and frustration than anything.

Henry you bastard! Taking a photo of me now means that I kill you tomorrow~

The walk continues...on to tree house #6

Now tree house 6 was a gem. It kind of stood out on its lonesome with the zip approaches coming from deep within the jungle and then breaking out in open air before making its way into the house. Inevitably, well for most people, you’d get caught a few metres short of the end of the zip and you’d need to turn around and pull yourself in hand over hand. Again, doing that, realising that you’re clipped onto the line by a harness and safety line, then looking 60-80 mtrs down to the forest floor, was (to use a word other than surreal), phantasmagoric.

Jase zipping in to treehouse #6

Much like the tree house of the previous night, tree house #6 was built in much the same manner/style. Two zip lines in and one out, all dangling well above the canopy and providing dramatic viewing whichever way you were going. Most of us just chilled for an hour or two on our arrival, relaxing and taking in our surrounds. Ja Lee had offered to take us for a zip line tour later in the afternoon, but until that time, it was rest, recuperation and a spot of lunch,(oh dear…lunch), what evils that food had lurking for us beneath its inviting aroma and warmly goodness ,evil, evil Lao delights, how you mocked me, how you treated me like your tree house bitch! This however will be a story to be told on another day.

Treehouse #6 - Bokeo Province - Northern Laos