THE GIBBON EXPERIENCE

It was Jesse who put us onto The Gibbon Experience, in Northern Laos, having done it last year on his travels. We had also met various other travellers on our trip who told us that it was an experience of a lifetime and we were all very excited about the 3 days/2 nights that we'd be spending in the Bokeo Nature Reserve.

The "Experience" began in Huay Xai, just a 5min boat ride across the Mekong River from Thailand. From there, 11 of us (the 4 of us, 4 Irish girls, one French-Canadian girl and a US/Canadian couple) were crammed into a 4x4 jeep and driven several hours to the rain-forest, via tarmac, dust track, mud and even through a river! If the rains had been any heavier we would have had to make this trip by foot (in fact, the trip was closed throughout September due to the unusually heavy monsoons). We were dropped in a village on the edge of the rain-forest and then we began an hour's hike to the start-point, where we were to be kitted out with our zip-line harnesses and meet our guides. At this point we were still relatively clean but, just as we were approaching, the heavens opened and from that point onwards the rain-forest was a mudbath for the whole 3 days!

Once the rain had stopped, the real experience began; we made our way to the first zip-line which took us through and above the forest canopy to Tree-house 1, where the Irish girls were to be staying for the 2 nights. The rest of us continued trekking through the jungle and took more ziplines to Treehouse 2, the honeymoon suite, where the we left the US/Canadian couple for a 'romantic' couple of nights. From there, thanks to Dave claiming Treehouse 3 for us at the start, we had another hour and half trek through the mud and on more slippery, fast, wet ziplines....but it was worth it! Treehouse 3 was spectacular, rising 150m high above the tree-tops, accessible only by a long zip ride with views across the whole reserve as far as the eye could see. Despite being open to the elements, it was equipped with 2 rat-chewed matresses, damp bed-linen, industrial-strength mosquito nets, and a natural cold water shower. There was even a toilet, through which you could see the forest floor, way way below!

We settled in, had a shower and then welcomed the first of our night visitors - one of the guides came zipping across carrying our dinner of rice and vegetables (which we ended up having for breakfast, lunch and dinner throughout our stay). But it was after dark that we realised we had more visitors.... big rats and even bigger spiders. Not exactly 5 star luxury but that's not what we went for! Although you may get some idea of the views we had from our photos, nothing can convey the noise of the jungle, especially at night, and the wonderful sense of isolation, away from absolutely everything.

We spent an incredible, muddy, wet, exciting, scary 3 days; zipping, trekking, falling over and looking for weird and wonderful wildlife. We heard the cries of the gibbons, mainly at dawn but we were not lucky enough to see any. Gibbons or not, it was an out-of-this-world experience.