The Gibbon Chronicles: Day 2

{Its important to this story that I also explain there are two tours at the Gibbon Experience, the Classic and the Waterfall. The Classic (the tour I was on) only covers a small section of the jungle where you do a few zip lines, hike for only 2 or 3 hours, and spend the rest of the day chilling in the tree house. The Waterfall experience takes you deep into the jungle to a waterfall and back and is broken up into 2 days.}

Toun woke us up at 5:30am to get us up into the mountains so we can try and spot some Gibbons. Gibbons are a type of monkey that was thought to be extinct until a large colony was found in the Bokeo Provence, here in this part of the Laos jungle. The best time to spot them is in the early morning because when the sun comes up, they "sing" for about 20-30 minutes and then climb down from the trees where they are virtually impossible to find. So by 6am, the five of us zip lined across the valley and began hiking in an attempt to track down the gibbons. Unfortunately we were too late and after hiking for an hour and already sweating through our clothes, we sadly had to turn back.

Jeff, the founder, had invited us to meet him out at Tree House 7, which is very deep in the jungle, to have breakfast with him. During our breakfast he told us we are the smallest group to ever come to the Gibbon Experience and at that very moment we were the only guests in the jungle. This was where I saw a window to get away from the French family. I asked Jeff if Toun could take me alone through the jungle to do every zip line, see every tree house, and even venture out to the waterfall. With a slight hesitation, he said ok since we were the only ones there and he could see that I was very eager to see the rest of the reserve.

Like I said the Waterfall experience is broken up into 2 days....we did it in 1! We hiked for just over 11 hours! I haven't worked that hard since high school football (WIN EVERYDAY!)

Now extremely happy and excited, Toun and I zip lined out of Tree House 7 and ventured into the jungle. Toun kept telling me how no one gets to do this and that I am the "very special guest." Along the way, we climbed over small mountains, zip lined through and across valley's, crossed rivers that were waist deep, trudged through mud over our ankles, and occasionally strolling through rice paddies or plantation. Everything was going great minus one thing.... the leeches. They were everywhere and somehow always managed to get on our feet. After you pull them off they still stick to you and you have to fling them like a freshly picked booger. One leech had been hiding under one of my straps around my ankle and ended up being on me for maybe 30 minutes. Over that length of time they grow from 1/8" thick and 1" long, to nearly double the size. Now my feet are covered in mosquito bites, cuts, and leech bites. Toun being totally adjusted unphased by the leeches was funny about it and said, "it ok leech, I will donate my blood to you."

When we finally made it to the waterfall, a new group had just entered the jungle and we all had a good time talking and had a cliff jumping contest. Well, more like me and Toun because no one else could climb up the rocks more than 3ft. I won with my infamous gainer and we moved on for the last 3 hours of trekking. During those 3 hours Toun gave me new nick-name, Deelie. Pronounced "Dee-Lie" and meaning "very nice" in Lao.

By the end of the day, I got to see all seven tree houses. Each one raised 120ft or more feet off the ground and looking over the valley that create spectacular views. I also got to do every zip line, the biggest being over 600ft off the ground and nearly 1,300ft long.

When I returned to the guesthouse, I decided I would sleep in a different house with no French family and especially, NO CAT! I ate dinner, showered up and then hiked/zip lined another 30 minutes in the dark to my own tree house.