Day 42: Hanging around

What a strange hotel. We headed slowly down for "breakfast" at around 10:30 this morning (fully expecting not to get breakfast here) and found no one in the dining room or kitchen. We were not surprised. We went back up to the front desk and the manager whom we met last night asked us how our breakfast was. He was shocked that the kitchen seemed closed! He insisted we go down for our free breakfast and made a few calls. Sure enough, the spider remover / bellhop / greeter / waiter was there and took our order. I ordered local and got what I asked for (noodle soup). The three girls tried ordering a club sandwich with no eggs and no cheese. Ten minutes later, Beth got one order of bread with tomatoes, lettuce, ketchup and mayo.... Not good, but kind of funny. The kids didn't get their order at all, so we walked out and felt guilt free for now getting the "shuttle" to town to get our real food!

We basically spent the afternoon eating and loading up on food, as we had no intentions of eating dinner and breakfast back at the hotel! We played a bunch of cards, then the girls got some math homework done while Beth caught some zzzzs....

 

Every little detail

Yesterday we discovered  what it fells like to live in a tree house (as mom would call it a town house, because she is so used to the city).

By going to the gibbon experience:

The tree house its self: 

Okay, so when we first got in to this amazingly high up tree house by ziplining in. Then we decided to agree where everyone was going to sleep, mommy and I wold take the first floor closest to the bathroom. Speaking of bathrooms, we walked to the bathrooms at about 2:30 pm, and we got in and there were thousands of red poisonous ants crawling up the toilet ( witch was a squat down, not a sit down) and there were also huge spiders in our sink, and cockroaches on the floor, and last but not least the hundreds of hornets and wasps. Ewe. The last thing  I am going to talk about is the view, the view from the outside and in the tree house was so stunning and to see the wild life, was so beautiful and amazing.     Overall rating: 4/5

The food in the tree house:

Okay, so the food was very good and pretty heathy. So first a lady would zipline into our tree house with sheets for our bed and a bag caring our food, so she dropped it of and we opened it up and it was some kind of vegetables dish and a huge thing of rice and some kind of beef, that was for dinner. The  breakfast was gross jam with bad toasted baguette. Our lunch was little curry and of corse rice...

       Overall rating: 4.8/5 

And last but not least the...

THE ZIPLINING: 

When we first got buckled up to the first zipline, mommy was so scared to go on the zipline because of her fear about heights, but it took the whole day to get over her fears. When I was ziplining it all most felt like you we're flying because the huge zipline was so high up and you were ZIPLINING over the valley with was also 150 meters above  ground so my...

      Overall rating: 5/5

And because we did the gibbon experience we decided to treat our selfs and go to a really nice clean big tacky hotel. It is really nice. 

Day 41: Back to reality?

We Woke up very early in the morning. The Gibbon Experience was never really about seeing Gibbons for me - they set your expectations fairly well. There simply are not many of the animals around, and it's more about protecting the Gibbons by visiting their habitat and funding the park. There is, however, a chance of hearing them sing in the morning. I started taking a video of the sounds of the morning, then caught the singing Gibbons near the end. The second video really captures their singing, which is quite beautiful.

After breakfast, we played some more cards and chilled. Everyone seemed very relaxed this morning, which was nice. Eventually, we got our gear on, packed up and were zip lining out of the treehouse. I have to say, Beth was looking very comfortable on the line - she is still full of surprises after all these years!

I took a little video of the end of our last zip line. You be the judge at who had the best form and who looked most relaxed!

We got to Houayxai in the early afternoon. I had arranged a pickup at the Gibbon office by our hotel, and eventually we did get picked up. Everything I'd read about our new hotel was correct. It's cheesy, in the middle of nowhere, huge and super clean. Our hotel suite is the biggest hotel room I've ever been in - it's probably 1500 square feet of aircon goodness, with a room for the kids, their own bathroom and a huge ensuite bedroom for us. The place is very odd though - we are pretty much the only guests in the whole hotel, the restaurant is manned by one woman who doesn't speak a lick of English, and most of the staff are Thai. It seems as though this is a Thai gambling retreat (we are just across the Friendship Bridge IV into Thailand) that during high season might attract Thai high rollers. Who knows - it serving it's purpose for us just fine.

After dinner, we got back to the room and Beth let out an ear piercing scream, which had Abby and Robin screaming! A huge spider (same size as the first one we saw in the Gibbon Experience) surprised her in the bathroom. I tried to smack it with my shoe but it was bloody fast. So we got the hotel staff to take care of it! Minutes later, a couple of the staff came in, saw the spider and laughed, and took care of it. I guess you don't need to venture into the deep forest to find scary critters here but I'm pretty sure THIS spider will not help make this hotel more memorable ;-)!

We survived. Family bonding!

Craig's blog posts will no doubt include all the details including some insight into my brain over the past few days. Overall this was a trip of a lifetime! Truly a unique experience that is unforgettable and indescribable. And I'm glad it's over. 

It was every bit as scary as I had imagined and Abby going backwards on her zip line over a huge valley was a low point. For me, not her. She was fine! Another low point was jumping out of the window on the morning of day two as that is where the cable hooked up. I needed to go first or else I'm not sure I would have gone at all. Sleeping that high up with only a cable over a huge valley connecting you to land was not my idea of relaxation! Abby kept referring to it as a "vacation in a vacation" but I was struggling to find the vacation elements in it all. 

However...despite my nerves and the sheer terror of it all, I also had a blast and am glad I went (but am not signing up for another one). Talk about a family bonding experience and shared memories! We've had some laughs about various moments on the trip and I expect the stories will become a big part of what stands out on this whole journey. 

The best moments for me were:

1. Waking up on day two - stunning view and also relieved that one night was over

2. A zip line day 2 about halfway through the morning where I finally had enough courage to look around and really take it all in. I was actually smiling as I landed. 

3. Arriving at our second treehouse and seeing the toilet didn't have 300 wasps on it

4. Sharing a quiet moment with Craig looking over the valley from our treehouse and reflecting on how truly lucky we were to be able to do this trip

5.  Sharing a mosquito net bed with Robin and having a good chat about the trip and how much she is enjoying spending time with her family "24/7"

6. Seeing the kids zip line with total confidence and exuberance 

7. Hearing the gibbons sing on the 2nd morning. It literally brought tears to my eyes. 

8. My final zip line was my favourite. I finally felt confident and really enjoyed it!

We are checked into the strangest and tackiest hotel ever, but in a huge two bedroom suite which is the size of our first bungalow! We splurged a bit for cleanliness but are isolated from everything. No one really cares though since the sheets and bathrooms are clean. We leave tomorrow morning for a two day host ride down the Mekong River to Luang Prabang. 

Enjoy the videos Craig is posting!

Day 40: Zip Lining to TH 1

Our little team has surprised me. Just a few hours ago we were terrorized by the night creatures, and our treehouse 5 toilet was still full of wasps. However, just after sunrise, when the zzzzzziiiippppp sound of coffee and tea arriving got everyone else up, it almost seemed that nothing had happened. I half expected a mutiny but even Beth greeted me with a kiss, smile and "good morning!". Wow.

As soon as we were up and had a tea, the girls, the Dutch couple and I got our harnesses on and zipped out of the treehouse. I'm not sure why Beth didn't want to go - it was either because she wanted to do some extra house keeping or because she was scared shitless (unfortunately not literally, you know, because of the wasps!) of the crazy mode of departure from our Popsicle shaped house in the sky.

After coming back into the treehouse we got a flying delivery of breakfast. It was fantastic! There's something about being in the fresh air - it makes food taste so good. We recalled other moments like this -trekking in Myanmar, rafting in Nepal, camping and more - hmmm... This breakfast was good!

After breakfast, we packed up and were off. The girls and I did one more out and in circuit of the zip 

lines, then it was time to get Beth hooked up. With a little push, she zipped down to the relative safety of the forest (that also features snakes and leopards) - she was terrified of this one, but she is a trooper (and terrible at scaling down 100 foot tall trees with no branches).

We started on the walk back towards Treehouse 1 (I still feel like writing "townhouse" instead of "treehouse" as Beth kept calling them throughout the 3 days - I'm sure a psychologist would have a field day with that one!). We did two of the longest zip lines which were stupendous. Bungleung even took these videos of the girls as they zip lined...

Here's Abby...

We crossed paths with the other group (that was heading to Treehouse 5) and it sounded like they'd had a quieter night than us, with perhaps better bathroom accommodations. Fingers crossed.

Our guides took us for brief stops at Treehouse 3 and Treehouse 7 - both with amazing views and tons of wind. At this point we were really hot and sweaty and feeling a bit of wind was heavenly. 

Luckily throughout the trip we had clean running water as they had rigged up a system of pumping fresh river water into a cistern on top of a mountain that pressurized the water pipes to the tree houses. We tried to keep well hydrated, but it was always going to be a losing battle.

We got to Treehouse 1 at about 1:00pm, just in time for lunch. We were famished! The girls and I had done 18 zip lines so far and we'd had a great, though exhausting morning. Lunch was another delicious meal.

After lunch we all paired off and chilled. Beth and I laid on a mattress and just sat and talked... And then sat and stared into the trees.... And then slept. It was so chill. I woke up in the same position some time later.

Abby came up and gestured for me to come with her down to the main floor of the treehouse, and presented me with this for Father's Day:

Then we had an awesome group chill in the same spot which was the best gift I could have...

Townhouse 1 was luxury compared to #5 - the toilet was waspless, the shower was a little bit colder, the area was more spacious (three levels) and it was a little cooler as we were inside a massive tree. We played a lot of cards that afternoon - even our second guide who was a local hill tribesman and who didn't speak a lick of English joined us at cards, and he was quite good!

I took a little video at dusk to capture some of the sounds.

Day 39: The Gibbon Experience

"And here... We.... Go...!", as the Joker famously said. We have had a lot of anticipation in our little group regarding this Gibbon Experience adventure - some with excited anticipation, some with nerves.... Ok, Beth has been just a tad freaked out, but in my humble opinion, we have been extremely supportive!

And we're off! We met in the Gibbon Experience office in Houayxai at around 8:30. We met the other travellers briefly and went through a pretty good training video on how to use zip lines. I have to admit, I didn't really remember too much about what the whole adventure entailed - that is, usually when I find something I like, I do the research, check it out, book it, then forget about it. I had booked the thing about a year ago, and the details are long forgotten! Luckily, Beth has been, I may be selling this short, "well versed" in absolutely every detail of the Gibbon Experience. If there is a photo of someone's journal from Litchenstein who once mused about the trip, SHE HAS READ IT!

 

So, zip lines are a major feature! Cool! Or frightening if you're the matriarch of our gang.

 

After orientation, we got in the back of a covered pickup with 2 benches along each side of the back. There were six of us - we were with a nice couple from the Netherlan.... Sorry....Holland, Paul and Nadine. We zipped along the well paved main road towards the Bokeo Nature Reserve. It took about an hour and a half to get to the real start of our drive. The truck careened off the left side of the road, down a steep clay and rock path and across a river! For the next thirty minutes or so, we were tossed and turned, going up and down steep hills and sharp bends, right through some increasingly spectacular scenery.

 

The Gibbon Experience was created when some previously thought extinct gibbons were discovered. They designated the entire area as the Bokeo Nature Reserve both to create an area of protection for the gibbons, but also so stop the logging of the area by Chinese interests. The Experience created an income generator and employment opportunity for the surrounding villages - quite a cool model.

 

We stopped along the main road to drop some people off the for the Express option (1 night instead of the Classic we were doing that was two nights. At most stops, Robin quickly disappears to the washroom (she is quite the Asian washroom expert by now!) and by the time I found the washroom, she was nowhere to be seen. An English woman waiting in line turned to me and said "so is your wife the one that's afraid of heights?". I burst out laughing - I figured out later Robin had been chatting her up (something Robin is also expert at!).

 

We got to the end of the line - a small village with pigs, chickens and little naked and half naked kids running all over the place. We met our guides and started walking. At first we walked along a wide valley floor, part of the village's farmland I guess, but then we headed into the forest, gradually climbing steeper and steeper. After about a half hour, we were all pretty drenched, when we abruptly halted in a clearing with some benches. A guide came up and handed everyone chicken and vegetable baguettes wrapped in banana leaves (that you discarded). We destroyed those!

 

Another half hour of hiking, mainly up, and we arrived at a couple of wooden structures. The eleven of us were divided into two groups and asked what we wanted to do - start at treehouse 5 and walk three more hours today, or start at treehouse 1, walk 2 more hours tomorrow to TH5, then 2 hours back to this spot before walking home on day 3. I used my riding experience (always start a ride uphill and/or against the wind so the ride home is easier) and "influenced" our group to choose option 1. We were so glad we did!

 

Next, it was time to try out our harnesses - the guides helped us all out and the zip line equipment seemed to be in very good condition. I learned that Beth had done a ton of research into canvas thread count and stitching patterns (I assume) because she wasn't asking too many questions. I was trying to act like this was going to be a walk in the park for her, so I just kept watch on her out of the corner of my eye.

 

We started walking again, and were soon at the first zip line. Beth said she should probably go first (after the guide). She got clipped in, and quicker than I thought, she disappeared into the forest! Next up was Abby...

 

The kids were cool, calm and collected. Abby had quite a few questions on the purpose of the "brake" on the back, as she didn't get the gist of when to use it. The guide tried to explain to her that it was mainly to stop you from going backward if your forward progress near the end of the line stops - ie if you don't make it to the end because you are too light (the end of the line usually slopes up for safety), then you don't want to slide backwards. I thought it was a language barrier, but then she couldn't understand me either! Oh well, she would have to learn.... And learn she did! The next zip line, I was last to go, and Abby went before me... I heard some frantic calls (not quite screams) from the other side, but these lines always zip through the jungle so it's impossible to see! Turns out she hadn't made the other side, and slipped back to the middle of the line (about 100 meters from the platform), and she was dangling about 100 meters over the valley floor! All good in the end - a guide zipped down to her, grappled her with his legs and helped her hand bomb herself to the platform. This girl has no fear - she was back on the horse pretty quickly!

Ah, the platform.... This was not Beth's favourite. After the first two zips, we were in the middle of a small platform on a lone tree that connected about 6 zip lines in various directions. She was not very comfortable, though I felt if was pretty safe as there was a safety cable that you would attach your safety line to before unlatching your roller wheels. But it was still way up in the air!

We continued to walk up and down paths for another couple of hours on our way to Treehouse 5. The terrain was pretty tough - while we were always on a thin path, there was a lot of steep up and down. Along the way we rode several more zip lines - a couple that were over 300 meters long and what must have been over 100 meters above the valley below.

Eventfully, we got to a zip line and our guide Bungleung said it was the last one to get in to TH5. It was weird because we were in the middle of the forest and there was a hole where the zip line went. Ok, here we go - wham - the view below (I had to get a google pic as I could only get a guide to take a pic with my real camera later in the day) was what we saw as we emerged from the dense growth - I will never forget that image and the feeling of sliding towards this awesome house in the clouds.

Treehouse 5 was certainly picturesque. The views from the camera do not do it justice.

After checking the place out, we realized the toilet was a bit of disaster as it was surrounded by wasps. There was a wasp nest as big as 3 king size pillows abut 50 meters from the tree house. Yikes. I grabbed a quick shower (wasps didn't really bother me, and I was really hot and sweaty after three hours in the forest). The shower experience was amazing. You stand on the far edge of the treehouse, with a low railing guarding against a fall and you look out onto a huge expansive valley and rolling mountains covered in dense growth. So refreshing!

We were served a fruit snack and then were essentialy left on our own for the afternoon. None of us felt like zip lining in the heat, so we taught the Dutch duo how to play A$$hole. We had a nice afternoon, taking in the view and chilling out.

Shortly after 5pm, we heard the buzz of an incoming zip liner, and a local woman arrived, flying through a window with our dinner! It was delicious as you can see....

We got settled in for the night before dusk so we could see what we were doing (there was just one light in the main area that ran off a solar charged battery). We took in an awesome sunset - the view is amazing like I said and even better around sundown. However, I did notice that the air was very still. I think we were in the lee of a larger mountain on one side that blocked the prevailing wind.

After sundown, we discovered a cockroach in the sink - we hadn't even thought of rinsing our dishes off (we didn't really know what the role was of the flying food delivery service). Ugh, I hate roaches. At that point, neither of the girls were willing to touch the floor... And it would get worse as the night went on.

Shortly after, Nadine shone her light up to the thatched roof and noticed a large spider staring back. The light reflected its eyes like bright white pinpoints. It's body was the size of a twonie and the legs were maybe 3 inches long and a little thick. I thought, hmmm, where there's one spider, there's probably more. So I shone my light around the ceiling and noticed hundreds of pairs of eyes staring back.... They were everywhere! Now, as a former arachnophobe (89% cured when I moved to Japan and learned the higher merits of becoming a cockroachaphobe), I can actually relate to the display of fear by the 3 women of my clan. So roaches, spiders and not being able to properly use the toilet because of wasps - Egad.

We headed to bed. Robin with Beth in a double, princess alone in what looked like the best setup (it wasn't) and I was alone in my double. The insect screens blocked out any cool air coming in, and with the lack of wind, the temperature in the little tent was probably above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. It was brutal - it took a long time to fall asleep.

In the middle of the night, I was woken up with what felt like a kick to the head....

"Craig! Robin and I have to go to the bathroom!!!"

"Ok, so go!"

"We can't! Help!"

Argh. So I flip up my mosquito net (I didn't tell them but a f$?@ing cockroach flew out!) and go wake Abby up for good measure to make it a true family trip to the bathroom! I of course had the toughest time (joke), but nobody else would go because of the wasps. Beth grabs my arm (I swear it reminded me of the scene from the Blair Witch Project where you see the selfie shot of the girl with tears dripping off her nose) and pleads "I haven't slept yet... OH MY GOD I HAVEN'T SLEPT YET!!!"... Thinking it must have been like 4am, I asked her what time it was and she said "MMMMMMIDNIGHT!!!". Now, Beth isn't exactly a night owl, so being up until midnight is pretty terrifying, but she obviously had a lot on her mind! I came up with an easier way for the three of them to pee which I probably shouldn't go into, and it was back to bed.

Miraculously, I did not hear from anyone until I rolled awake early the next morning. I pulled open the net and was staring out through the railings at a beautiful sight - the valley was filled with mist and the morning light gave everything a bit of haunted feel. Just what adventures would the next day bring us and would we get any more sleep :-)?

Day 38: Cannot wait for the Gibbon Experience

To the North! Beth had not had too much solid sleep the last couple of nights in Vientiane. The worries have been building up quite a bit for her...

- unknown small domestic airline - check

- potential for dengue fever and malaria in Laos - check

- rabies fears - check

- kids unable to swallow a malaria pill the size of a tic tac fears - check

- food and water quality fears - check

- Gibbon Experience worries (zip line, critters, all of the above) - check

She is a worrier :-). It's hard to relate for me, and for the kids? Well, they're too young to worry about too much for too long. Not being able to relate to the worries makes it harder for her, and harder for me, but Beth always underestimates her inner trooper and I never worry (that is apt!) that the nagging fears will actually overcome her. I do wish sometimes that the Internet was never invented.... For worriers, it tends to add more fuel to the fire rather than act as a comforting reassurance.

So the first fear to quash was our flight to Houayxai (there are about 5 spellings that I've seen, so that's the one I'm going with dammit!) in the Northern Bokeo province of Laos. There are really only two general reasons to go to Houayxai: those who are coming from Thailand via Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, and those who are interested in the Gibbon Experience.

The flight had been a little tough to organize. Lao Skyway, a small domestic airline, is the only airline that flies to Houayxai. When I was trying to get the flight about 6 months ago, I was having a tough time. The airline had limited flights (I think two each week), the boat getting us out of Houayxai after only goes twice a week, and the Gibbon Experience required payment up front. Compound those challenges with the fact that no flights showed up online for a while, rumours were that the airport had been flooded out and when I finally saw the flights online, the system wouldn't accept online payments...... Argh! So I started calling this woman every few days for a week or so around midnight my time to try and figure things out. Eventually she made it so the flight was confirmed and I had until the day before departure to pay, which was great, but this was all just a verbal confirmation over the phone.

So when we arrived in Vientiane, I walked over to the domestic terminal (sounds like a heroic effort, but it was 50 meters next to the international terminal!), went to the Lao Skyway ticket desk, and by just saying "I have to pay for a flight" the woman behind the desk said "I remember you" and smiled. So awesome!

Back to Beth, she was just fine. She may have forced most of the blood from my right hand, but once we got on the plane and she realized it was just a regular turbo prop plane (with wicked little snacks by the way!) she was good. Worry #1 - scratch!

The cool chicks next us also seemed to enjoy the snacks!

The "airport" was kind of cute, as was the baggage offload procedure. Basically a pickup truck takes all of the bags, drives up to the terminal building and then everyone "has at it" like a bunch of North Americans ripping and tearing at a Thanksgiving turkey. When we got our bags, we walked around until a quiet local eventually informed us he would be our taxi service. Ok then!

The hotel is pretty shit, but we kind of knew that in advance (there's not much around, and most of the hotel inventory in town is rated very low). When we checked in, I had Beth and Abby go check the rooms before we accepted them - a process we used to do when checking out prospective hotels when we backpacked and which we hadn't done on this trip because of the level of the places we've been staying at. Abby came down and said they were both good but her and Beth would be taking the room with two single beds while Robin and I would be in the one with the master bed. When Robin and I checked our room out, we found a dozen big black carpenter ants in the sheets. Nope! I went downstairs and got another key from the mindless automaton behind the desk. Our new room has no sign of ants, but an hour later we found ants shooting out of the aircon in Abby's room.

You know, I'm impressed with Beth and the kids. We all just dealt with it - I sprayed bug spray all around the AC unit and killed the ants with tissues, while the kids reloaded me with fresh tissues and disposed of the dead bodies! Spraying the bug spray and seeing the ants pop out of the woodwork really reminded me of an overnight in Dhaka, Bangladesh 17 years ago... But I will NOT share that story right now!

Now part of what made Beth and I not care too too much about the ants was this. We were going to stay 2 nights here, then do the Gibbon Experience, then one night back in a Homestay that supports disadvantaged women to kill time until our boat trip. Luckily, we were able to move the Gibbon Experience up a day, book a 5 star hotel for the 2 nights after the trip (took 2 minutes on my phone and zero minutes of guilty conscience about losing 1 night's fee at the crap hotel that was already paid for). We did visit the women's Homestay and I told them we had to cancel (it didn't look great) - she offered to refund the 25 Euro donation I had given them (they don't charge for rooms, they just ask for a donation - smart, unless you have uber cheap backpackers, which we saw a few of lounging around) which was nice but unneccessary.

Our hotel does have a redeeming feature: a cool view across the mighty Mekong River to neighbouring Thailand.

We did a little housekeeping - got 4.5 kilos of laundry outsourced (I love paying for laundry by the kilo, I don't know why!), did our pre trip meeting at the Gibbon Experience headquarters (Beth was not happy that they were relaxed and seemingly fun loving and not one bit worried about the list mentioned above!) and played about 3 hours of Asshole President, a game that is becoming a family favourite.

We did have a couple of great meals - particularly dinner. I'm not sure why, but Beth has always had the worst luck when it comes to ordering the wrong thing at restaurants over the years. Tonight, we all ordered different chicken curries with rice and Beth ordered..... Muesli, fruit and yoghurt. Our meals were amazing - it would almost convince me to stay at the Ant-Stay Inn a couple of more nights. Beth tried to put on an "I'm loving this muesli for whatever f%$?ing reason I ordered it" face but she couldn't fool us and we let her have it. She laughed, and that was a great sound to hear and an awesome sight to see!