The Gibbon Experience (yes, we made it)

The golden brick road to the Gibbon Experience
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So, we found out at 8 AM that the last two people did not show up for the Gibbon Experience! No six hour slow boat for us and not another night waiting in vain in Houayxay! We ran back to our guesthouse and packed a daypack each for our 2 night/3 day trip into the jungles of Bokeo Reserve in northern Laos. By 10 AM, there were 12 of us crammed into an all-wheel drive vehicle, which would chauffeur us for the next 3 hours into the jungle. One of the volunteers at the Gibbon Experience gave me the special mission of transporting a box of baby formula to an infant bear very much in need of food up in the mountains, so I was very excited. Thank god, Kevin and I shared the front seat (blood clot card - cough, cough) so we could watch the winding road straight-on, rather than see it going whirring by from the side windows. It was an interesting ride up into the mountains. We passed small extremely poor villages with women showering along the side of the road and children waiting for cars to go by, as the highlight of their day. Everywhere you looked was clay. Red dusty clay on all the roads, clay covering the trees, clay covering animals, clay covering people. We left clay on everything behind us as we passed. I felt so bad, the people can't get away from it.

We fit 15 in this puppy, don't ask me how, but we did get the front seat, twice, damn Americans
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By 1:00, we reached the Bokeo Reserve, eager for our hour-long hike up the mountains to our destination. Ryan and Kelly were at the bottom of the trail waiting to leave (after the two nights we should have been there - haha) on the same vehicle we were transported in on. They looked exhausted, but were so ciked about the past few days. They told us it was a lot of trekking and there were spiders in the treehouses. We would keep that in mind.

You couldn't do this anywhere else in the world

Beginning of the hike
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The hike, led by two Lao men, was refreshing after the cramped car ride and brought us through beautiful bamboo forests and across small little streams through the jungle. The hike was completely vertical and just a glimpse of what was yet to come at our Gibbon Experience boot camp (haha). Once at the top of the mountain, we arrived in a small little hut (apparently the kitchen) with two crazy monkeys jumping all over the place and the baby bear! Mission accomplished. I handed over the formula and we got to feed the tiny little baby bear, Chew. Poor little Chew's mother had been killed by poachers and she was rescued by inhabitants of the Bokeo Reserve and brought here. I can't tell you how amazing it was to hold such a tiny black bear in my arms. She was so soft and cuddly, her nails were even soft and she loved licking and nuzzling me. I could have just stayed there for the next three days with Chew!

They fed us right before the hike went vertical... thanks
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At the little bear hut, we got our harnesses for the zip lines. Oh, no big deal, just throwing on these tiny little harnesses that would be supporting our lives for the next three days... I went first on the first zip line into Treehouse #1 and did it completely wrong. The Lao guides only have three phrases here: "Safety first" (meaning clip and unclip the safety harness first) "Same same but different" and "No brake." I did not listen to "No brake" and was braking the whole time, so I found myself almost in the middle of the zip line pulling myself into the treehouse 250 feet off the ground. It was a little shaky at first, but everyone got the hang of it very quickly. There are three treehouses at the Gibbon Experience, one a "honeymoon suite", one for five people and one for four. Ryan and Kelly told us that Treehouse #3 (for four people) was the best, so we were quick to jump on that one, along with a Dutch couple, Peter and Odeke. What our San Fran friends failed to tell us was that Treehouse #3 was a half an hour farther away than any of the other treehouses, which ended up being for the better anyway!

ya we look happy now
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For the next three days, we were basically all on our own zipping from zipline to zipline at heights up to 800 feet over the Bokeo forest! The concept of The Gibbon Experience is to provide a safe, protected environment for the once-thought extinct black gibbons (as well as bears, tigers, wild buffalo, elephants, birds,etc.) They built the ziplines hundreds of feet up from treehouse to treehouse, and these ziplines are used by (us and other tourists) to "scour the canopy in search of the Black Gibbon." It basically turns you into a Black Gibbon, in a sense, seeing through their eyes what the Bokeo Nature Reserve is like from so high up. The views were breathtaking. You couldn't do this anywhere else in the world.

Holls with the baby bear and the crazy monkey
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We had been hearing from people who had been there and through reviews that no one usually sees these mysterious Gibbons, which are the main idea behind this conservation project. No one can destroy their trees and we hardly disturb them as we view them from these zip lines hundreds of feet in the sky. Upon a sunset arrival at Treehouse #3, we were the lucky ones to see 5 gibbons in a nearby tree right away! Little did we know we would be woken up by these wonderful monkeys every morning and see them every evening before bed. Even the Lao guides were SO excited to see them, so I guess it must be rare.

Next item, our bag
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Our days were filled with zip lines and lots of hikes from each, spotting nature and hanging out with our new-found friends from all over the globe. We spent most of the time with our treemates, Odeke and Peter, as you had to be back at your treehouse around dusk (no nighttime ziplining - probably a good idea - gibbons sometimes play on the wire and you come pretty close to branches and trees). We started our nights with a freezing 250-foot high shower and then got creative with the dinner we were given. Peter busted out the bananas at one point and sauteed them in sugar (so yummy - much better than the food provided). The food was all the "same same but different" (well, not so much "different"). Rice rice and more rice with vegetables of some sort (lots of cauliflower) and sometimes a little meat. With all the hiking and lack of eating, they were really getting us into shape!

Bear getting the milk formula that Holls carried all the way from town
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I also think I overcame my fear of spiders. Our treehouse, upon being the best treehouse there with the biggest tree and best views, was infested with spiders. Big spiders. VERY big spiders. The pictures don't do them justice, but I think they should rename this place The Spider Experience because of our treehouse. In our mosquito netting (more of a tent) you could hear the spiders all above your head and just picture them jumping onto the tent. I was beside myself with horror, but as soon as morning would come, I felt like I had accomplished a great feat.

That's a cute couple
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The days went quickly and we were sad when Day 3 arrived. We'd gotten used to our spider-filled tree palace surrounded by singing gibbons and zipping to and fro. We were now one with nature. All the poisonous spiders and snakes and all. Haha. I can't tell you how much we were craving BEVERAGES though. Everyone there was fantasizing about a Diet Coke or lemonade or iced tea. They keep it very natural there, so all you get is water, tea and coffee. It's hard to guzzle coffee when you are really thirsty from hiking all day!

First zipline, wheeeee...
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We found out that we were part of a test group that was led by the Lao local guides (apparently they usually have foreigner volunteer guides leading people around) so that explained why we were basically on our own the whole time. We probably got the best experience though! There was such a language barrier, as the Lao guides only started learning English 2 years ago when this place opened, but we were able to have some good conversations. Kevin and I had a pack of cigarettes we got from Thailand (not to smoke, because of the grotesque picture of a man dying of lung failure on the box, we thought it was so interesting) and showed it to the 19-year old Lao guide. He didn't understand it at first, but we described to him the effects of smoking and what the picture meant. He picked up a box of his own cigarettes and said, "These are good" and pointed to our box and said, "These are bad" (because they had the bad picture) and we had to further explain they were all bad. It is amazing we were the first people to ever tell him this about cigarettes. He wanted to keep the pack to show to his Papa who had smoked his whole life and told us "No smoke" about himself. He took the dying thing very serously. I don't know if he'll keep up with his "No smoke" but hey, we got some sort of information through to a young Lao boy. What a different world... It was a blood (from pulling ourselves in on the wires so much) sweat (loads of hiking) and tears (didn't want to leave!!!!) experience filled with nature we would never be able to see in the wild anywhere but here with unforgettable Lao guides and a great group from all over, as well as the beginning and the end to my being scared of heights.

Tarzan?
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The bottom line is: the words can't decribe this place. But maybe our pictures and Kevin's comments can! We're trying to get some videos up too at some point, so enjoy! :)