Our last port of call before leaving Laos was Huay Xai, which is home to The gibbon experience ( a mixture of trekking, zip lining through the canopy of the jungle & overnight stays in 60m high tree houses! All profits go to preventing poaching & deforestation).
Before we even set off, we were warned our shoes (converse) weren't good enough and our only other option was the shop next door that sold plastic football boots and a choice of Milan or juventus football socks to stop the leeches sucking our legs.
Equipped in our new gear, a 4x4 took 6 of us deep into the jungle. We started off with a 2 hour trek and soon got to know our group, who were all good fun.

We soon realised health & safety didn't exist as after 2 or 3 zip lines our instructor left us at our treehouse to zip the jungle alone.
The longest zip line was 500m, reaching heights of 75m in places, the views around we're breath taking and the views down were bum clenching!
The tree house we stayed in was an engineering work of art. It had 2 story's and a bathroom that had panoramic views over the jungle. In the evening we played card tournaments and the winner would decide on there sleeping quarters. The second day was similar to the first except we were treated to a waterfall plunge and a different treehouse where Amy spotted gibbons swinging in the trees.The food we had was basic and consisted of sticky rice and mainly vegetables, d*** was dreaming of sausages as he ate! The evening meal came with a bottle of mallaca wine which looked like muddy river water but tasted like a Don Perrier of the jungle after a long day!

On the last day we zipped and trekked back to the start for the return journey, where we had a half an hour turn around before crossing the border to Chiang Mai.

Xx