The Gibbon Experience

To all you adrenaline junkies…listen up. I found just the adventure that not only had me high on life, but had me high in the sky dangling 100 meters above a canopy of forest. The view was magical and the rush never got old as I ventured into the Bokeo Forest to participate in the eco-friendly, backpackers escapade of trekking and zip lining ridiculousness. We shot out of Houi Xai, Lao at the ripe hour of 8am and piled into the back of a pick-up truck for the two hour journey ahead. We got there covered in dust and a little frazzled from the bumpy ride, but still ever so enthused about the next three days of what is called “Gibbon Experience”. We chose the Waterfall Experience which, we were told, included quite a bit more trekking that the Classic. We pulled into a tiny village with baby pigs, chickens, puppies and kids running amuck and soon followed out guides into the unknown.

In the village...parting ways with our pick-up truck.

Ahead of us was a three hour hike that made us even more joyful when we finally reached the waterfall. After a quick swim we strapped on our harnesses, hiked a bit more and were ready to zip. We made our way from one mountain to the next through a network of ziplines as our only means of transportation. We glided through the forest until we reached our tree house deep in the jungle. We slept, ate, and showered high in the trees with our new friends… a group of 8 of us. Four girls from New Zealand, a brother and sister pair of Aussies and Chey and I The views were absolutely magical and the rush just never got old. Here experience it for yourself:

Woo Hoo! Just watching that was fun. I have to say...the zip line gives a whole new meaning to heights and the harness gives a whole new meaning to camel toe. Proudly enough, Chey even conquered her lifelong fear of heights, but I wasn’t so lucky with the harness situation. Lol.

Each morning we got up before the sunrise to hike and zip in hopes of seeing some Gibbon. The experience is named after these shy little monkeys only because we are visitors in their territory. Sometimes hikers are lucky enough to hear them singing in the morning, but for us, they didn’t feel like making their debut appearance. Our morning treks consisted of us tiptoeing off the beaten track gathering up the leaches along the way or sometimes sitting quietly on the trail…just listening to the soundtrack of the forest. I found that so peaceful.

View...mid zip.

Our tree house crew

To wrap it up, the Gibbon Experience was sweet! It has been a great welcome into Laos and for any traveler passing through wanting to check out this adventure, make sure you book it early. The word is out and backpackers from all around the world are finding out what it feels like to swing like the Gibbons.