Adrenaline meets conservation on this ecofriendly adventure into the 106 000 hectares of the Bokeo Nature Reserve wilderness. This 3 day trek is essentially a series of navigable 'ziplines' criss-crossing the canopy of some of Laos' most pristine forest, home to tigers, clouded leopards, black bears, wild elephants and the black crested gibbon, which unfortunately we saw none of.
We set off in the morning on a 2 hours drive through the villages surrounding Houai Xai before turning onto a dirt road and driving further into the forest. There were 15 of us altogether but we chose to stay in treehouse 3 which is based in the middle of the entire network of ziplines, not only the best location for accessing the longest and highest zips but the highest treehouse with the best view of the canopy and surrounding mountains. We stayed in a fantastical tree house perched 200 feet up. Our treehouse slept 5 (myself, Amy, Ak, Ollie and Rosa). The treehouses are equppied with cooking facilities and running rainwater showers and a personal zipline to access the house.Once we settled in our treehouse three after a couple hours of hiking basically up hill with a couple resting periods we relaxed and took in the amazing surrounding and views with a hot chocolate. We created homemade cards and played a few games before our guide ziplined into our treehouse with dinner. We set up little stools around the table overlooking the amazing view and ate our dinner.
The next morning our guide zipped into our house waaaay too early, but apparently it's the best time to side the Gibbons, we went searching for Gibbons, however could not spot any but heard them around...we went back to our treehouse for fresh fruit (pineapple, rambuten (my absolutely favourite fruit now and lychees etc) and tea. In Lao, with the limited English the guides have, we didn't ready understand the itinerary for the rest of the day....so our group (5 of us) set out exploring the numerous ziplines with our hopefully trusty map and our safety harness with a wheel on the end of a cable that attaches to the zip-line...all you need then is a little faith and an adventurous spirit. It's a heart-stopping, superhero experience....We found a zip about 500ft above the canopy that took approx 20 seconds to glide to the other side....it was a pretty surreal experience. We played there for a couple hours, hiking our way to the platform and zipping across to either side and the repeating. We made it back to our treehouse with our guide waiting there with our breakfast...I guess we all misunderstood when he said he's coming back with food. So we ate our breakfast to gather energy for another day in the forest hiking to see the rest of the treehouse, the kitchens that make our meals and the ziplines that connect this amazing ecofriendly adventure.
We spent the next 4 hours with our guide doing the zips we had previously discovered in the morning and more before heading to another treehouse for lunch. After an exhausting morning and afternoon we resorted back to number 3 for more cards and story telling. That evening after dinner the boys and I grabbed our safety harness and headlamps (just incase) to set out for a sunset zip across the long one about 15mins hike from our house. There were a few more clouds in the sky so the pink and orange sunset was spectacular. We made it back before dark and watched the rest of the sunset from our house up in the trees.
That night we got the tropical storm that usually happens in the rainy season throughout Asia. The entire sky was lit up by lightening and the rain didn't come until the early morning. We have an amazing weather up until now, so I guess we deserve a bit of rain....we hiked out in the rain with our ponchos. The rain actually made the zipping faster which was cool try....we hiked out of the Gibbons canopy's and back to the village to be picked up. However the road we came in on was complete mud so we started to trek out which would have taken us 4 hours to the road....still in the rain with feet feeling like lead due to the amount of mud stuck to our shoes we just thought we are truly getting the Lao experience. After about 40 mins of straight up hiking in the mud, our 4wheeler truck arrived and saved the day :) We almost got bogged a couple times, but our drive was pro and managed to stay on the road without flipping the vehicle or going over the edge...eeek...
We made it back in once piece with a very memorable experience into the world of a Gibbon, although we didn't spot a black crested Gibbon, the experience in itself could not have been any better. Not only was the adventure of the ziplining and hiking through pristine forest amazing, the friendships and interaction with the local Lao people was very special. This country is a place I would love to come back to. It's an escape from the developed world where people live off the land and value family and friends rather than possessions.
No comments:
Post a Comment