Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Bear with me guys, this will be a long post but stick with it because the ending is a cracker.
I crossed the border into Laos and headed from Huay Xi to Bokeo Nature Reserve for the Gibbon Experience. Our group (nine in total, all fantastic people) were guided through the mud and vertical hills for six hours into the jungle (we love the wet season!) The Gibbon Experience is an ecotourist project set up to provide a livelihood for local villages. They've constructed these incredible treehouses above the canopy, accessed only by ziplines! There's an entire network of these ziplines criss-crossing the jungle, all for us to play on for two days. I can't describe how ridiculously fun this was. You clip yourself on and launch yourself into the air and then whizz down or across the ziplines. You've the jungle 50-70ft below you, mountains all around and a lot of adrenalin flowing! It was hands down the highlight so far and we were woken each morning by the gibbons singing far off in the jungle (despite searching we never found any!) When this bloody blog lets me download photos, you can see the evidence. The nine hour trek back nearly destroyed us, but it was a great experience. The only downside was the leeches, but you get used to them munching on your legs and stomach. One half of our group was suddenly grateful that the other half were smokers, with lighters handy to burn the suckers off! We made it back to Huay Xi for rounds of Beer Laos.
I then took the slow boat (2 days) down the Mekong River to Luang Prabang which is a stunning city, very sleepy. I met up with Paul and Lee from the Gibbons and we lazed around and checked out a stunning waterfall with some great swimming holes. I then went back north to a tiny village called Muang Ngoi Neua. It sits by the river and there wasn't another tourist in sight. Lots of lying around in hammocks by the river and getting used to electricity for only three hours a day. And the roosters start screaming at 3am... The restaurant I ate dinner at was run by a terrific family who kept bringing me free shots of potent lao lao whisky to 'aid my digestion.' I think it worked...
Today I caught a truck back to Luang Prabang (4-5 hours on bumpy road.) The truck has a roof on the back, no windows and two wooden rows of seats. They then cram too many people in, along with sacks of rice, laundry, live chickens, dead furry animals (no joke), the kitchen sink etc... It makes for a very entertaining trip, especially as the only westerner on board. We were 10km outside Luang Prabang when a woman near me started wailing. She was perched on a sack of rice (she'd boarded when I'd been asleep.) She then started giving birth. The truck pulled over and we cleared room and within thirty seconds a baby boy was born in the back of the truck. All the women rushed to help, all the men dived off the truck (I wasn't completely useless, I had plenty of water to provide.) The baby seemed healthy, the mother looked in a pretty bad state but we made it to LP soon after and they whisked off to hospital. It was unbelievable, especially as everyone was very calm, whilst token tourist sits there looking a bit stunned. So for my two brothers and my sister expecting babies in the next few months, please leave plenty of time to make it to the hospital...
I've earned a Beer Laos after all that! At least I'll know what to expect if I ever have kids... I'll either be heading to Phonsavan or Vang Vieng next.
Look after yourselves,
Lerve
Jonny
- comments