I just returned from my first true holiday since being in Laos. It was long overdue, and I dare say lived up to all expectations. Due to work visa issues, I'm still unable to leave Laos without giving our National Officer heart palpitations (it would involve beginning the work visa process from scratch, a thus far, 6 month process). So I decided to take a Laos holiday and fall in with the backpacker crowd for a week long excursion.
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| Huay Xai on the Mekong. |
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| Takes a little pep talk to take that leap of faith |
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| Leaving the tree house. That first step is a doozy! |
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| Zipping into the tree house. |
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| Tree house from day 1. |
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| Can't beat the view. |
My adventure started with a short hour flight up to Huay Xai in Northwestern Laos. The town itself isn't much of a draw, although it is nicely seated along the Mekong. Most tourists find their way to Huay Xai either entering or leaving Laos via Thailand and Chang Mai. I chose to start my trip there due to the draw of something called the Gibbon Experience.
The Gibbon Experience is a zip line, trekking trip through Bokeo Nature Preserve, home to several families of Gibbons. I had heard mixed reviews, although leeches, rats and cockroaches seemed to be the biggest complaints....it is the jungle after all.
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| A long walk off a short plank. |
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| The crew - we're old pros by this point. |
So, we left Huay Xai Monday morning for a three hour ride into Bokeo. Our group consisted of six people, myself, a Canadian, Regan, a British couple, Richard & Amy, and a pair of Irish guys, Johnny & Colin. I think the group of people definitely made the experience in large part, after all, you do end up spending three full on days with these people with little privacy or time away.
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| Tree house for day 2 |
Lucky for us, it wasn't raining Monday morning and our truck was able to climb the horrible, muddy tracks into the nature preserve. We arrived at the trekking take off point around noon and headed out for our tree house.
Trekking in humidity and heat such as Laos makes for a trying adventure, especially when you're constantly watching your feet to try and head off any leeches who try to get a little too friendly. Having been warned about leeches I had expectations of those you see in "Stand By Me". Alas, these little suckers were only an inch or so long and about the size of a shoe string or smaller. So they could easily find their way into your shoes via the shoestring holes and then shimmy themselves up to find a nice spot to attach.
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| The waterfall, nothing to write home about, but at least it's cool and wet. |
So after an hour or so trekking, we reached our first zip line and got hooked on the feeling of flying over the jungle with a bird's eye view. So maybe the safety gear looked a little worn and the instructional videos were pretty short and lacked proper English. We tried not to think about this as we clipped our harnesses in and took off.
Day one ended at our tree house, an amazing little fort built 60 feet off the ground. A bit of a childhood fantasy for most of us! One large room, a semi private bath with a full on view of the jungle while you shower or use the toilet and a slatted floor through which the soap can easily fall.
Our meals were brought over by the guide via zip line and were nothing to write home about. Sleeping accommodations were likewise meager, a couple of mats on the floor and a mosquito net to deter creepy crawly visitors in the night. I did manage to squish a large spider with my barefoot when on a nighttime bathroom run...not one of the better experiences but better squished then crawling into my bed with me.
The next morning we awoke to hear the Gibbon's singing at dawn but rolled over for another couple hours to sleep. A late night of Uno and Laos wine made for a late start on day number 2.
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| Deluxe accommodations |
Day 2 we trekked for another couple hours, found some entrepreneurial locals selling BeerLaos at exorbitant prices (and happily spent all the kip we had), and made our way to tree house number two. Upon our arrival there I noticed a bloody stain running down the back of my pant leg. Upon inspection I had a gushing leech wound and upon further inspection, a fat little leech happily attached to my other thigh. Yuck!!!! A lighter made quick work of the little blood sucked, but non the less, not an enjoyable experience.
We spent the afternoon swimming and lounging by a local waterfall enjoying our warm BeerLaos (who knew tree houses lacked refrigeration). Day 3 found us trekking back out of the jungle, ridden with mosquito bits, harness rash, and oozing leech wounds. All in all, a successful jungle adventure and a good time.
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| Day 2 |
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| Amazing scenery |
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| Slow boats - seat about 80 people on old school airline style seats. |
From Huay Xai, I took a slow boat (2 days, 17 hours) down the Mekong to Luang Prabang for a couple nights of eating, shopping, and enjoying the cute french provincial town. The trip down the Mekong was beautiful and despite the longevity, was rather enjoyable. The scenery was stunning and I managed to finish my book, enjoy a cat nap or two and just relax.
In Luang Prabang I toured the Ock Pop Tock weaving facility and saw how all the Laos silk scarves are made. Makes you appreciate just how time consuming and difficult it is.
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| Laos loom |
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| The patterns are amazingly intricate | | | |
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| The various natural dyes the Laos use | | | | | | | |
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