Toun was nice enough to shack up with me for the night since I was staying on my own in Tree House 2. He woke me at 5am so he could get the French family and we could try to get an earlier start on spotting the Gibbons.
It was still dark and when I zip lined out of the tree house and I had to carry a flashlight so I can see my landing instead of slamming into a tree. Upon spotting my landing I went to grab the break too quickly and slammed the flashlight into my head. This cause the back to fall off and batteries to fall out leaving me with a semi-blind landing. Fortunately I was ok and stopped to early, needing to pull myself the rest of the way.
When Toun arrived with the French family, we immediately trekked in the direction of the singing. The sound is very distinct and with all them singing together, it makes it very easy to figure out where they are. We ended up not seeing any Gibbons again but we were so close. They were just below the path and down a very steep face so it was very inaccessible. I would like to blame in on Marc the giant for his big clopping foot steps that sounded as if a horse was following us. Though no Gibbons, we were all still very happy because today we at least got to hear them sing.
We returned to Tree House 1 for breakfast and we all relaxed for the few hours remaining in our tour. I would have left happily until the cat jumped onto my chest while I was sitting on a hammock. Not only did he get his hair all over me, but dug its claws into my chest and stomach as I jumped out of the hammock. So now I leave with mosquito bites everywhere, cuts on my feet, leech bites, and claw marks from my chest to my stomach.
The walk back to the main village was nice and quiet minus my sneezing and I shot amazing photos of the village folk. Then our ride backt o town was delayed an hour because a tree fell in the middle of the road. Finally, we left and it was a bumpy/almost reckless ride back to Huay Xai.
The Gibbon Experience was definitely an integral part to my trip and I'm so happy I got to do it. But now its time for a big meal, hot shower, and soft bed.
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