Flying high over Huay Xai

The town of Huay Xai, (pronounced hway see) is little more than a sleepy border town enroute to Thailand populated by a strangely large population of short legged dogs. I think a fast talking Corgi passed through town several years ago to spread some love. It is also the base for The Gibbon Experience, a unique enterprise started by a Frenchman to show the Lao people they need not burn down forests to make a living but instead use the forest to provide foreigners a chance to see rare Gibbons in their natural habitat.

So we set off for three days in that forest for what is one of the most fun adventures to date. After a three hour drive by 4WD we hiked an hour into the forest before encountering the first in a network of ziplines. For the next two hours we alternated flying over and hiking through the jungle to our accommodation. We soon discovered what fantastic accommodation it was, as we emerged from the trees and flew across a valley ,landing inside our two storey treehouse nestled 150 feet above the forest floor. Click here to experience our first landing or scroll to the bottom to experience an aerial view of one of the treehouse as we fly across one of the valleys. With beds for eight, running water and a bathroom with spectacular views of the valley, we felt like the Swiss Family Robinson!

Day two got even better with an early morning walk to look for the elusive Gibbons followed by swimming at a nearby waterfall and some incredibly long and fast “flights” (400m at 63kmh) through the forest to yet another tree house for the night. Despite the handicap of no alcohol we drew on all the old school games to pass the evenings. A few rounds of home-made pictionary, charades, poker, limbo and some card tricks managed to break the ice and turn strangers into friends. In fact, the seven of us got on so well that we elected to spend yet another night hanging out together when we arrived back in Huay Xai, of course this time we had the luxury of libations. One of the volunteers for the project thought this a small miracle, telling us how most groups separate at the earliest opportunity, having just spent 72 solid hours in the woods together.

Other than some leeches a few birds and a mouse that stored nuts in my shoe, we didn’t experience too much wildlife and certainly no Gibbons, but we did meet some met some great people and had a truly unforgettable experience.