Huay Xai

I made it to Laos! This part of my journey was never part of the original plan. I should be in Nepal right now volunteering with orphan novice monks. Sadly, the massive earthquake that shook Nepal on April 25 interfered with those plans and the volunteer organization I was meant to be working with has suspended operations until July. I was really looking forward to the project in Nepal, but I guess I'll just have to go another time. With three weeks before my flight back to London, I decided to spend two of them in Laos and end my trip on the beaches of Indonesia. I crossed the border into Laos from Chiang Khong to the town of Huay Xai. Huay Xai is a miserable little town on the Mekong River that is known for little more than being the place to catch a boat to Luang Prabang and home of the Gibbon Experience. All that I cared about was the Gibbon Experience. What is that, you say? A dream come true! That is if you dream of flying through the jungle on zip lines suspended 140 m above the ground and sleeping in treehouses for three days. I certainly do! I opted for the Waterfall version of the Gibbon Experience where you also get to swim in a pretty awesome waterfall for a while. The other options include a 2 day express trek and a 3 day classic trek where you are more likely to see gibbons. Monkeys are cool and all, but I like swimming in waterfalls more. Especially in this heat! 

The hiking was a bit more than I bargained for, but I'm always down for some exercise. A few weeks ago when Sarah and I were in Khao Sok and went trekking, our biggest fear was leeches. We had been warned that they could be lurking in the shallow water we waded through in streams and in the caves. Nobody warned me before coming on the Gibbon Experience that there could be leeches so I was in an ignorant bliss until a leech lodged itself in between Lauren's toes. The little British girl handled it surprisingly well, allowing the guide to detach it and light it on fire with his lighter. It bled quite a bit, but overall seemed like a pretty minor incident. I felt much better about the presence of leeches after that - and it's a good thing - because only ten minutes later, I slipped on a rock while crossing s stream and two leeches found their way to my ankle. One of them didn't have much of a chance to latch on, but the other little bugger got a nice lunch out of my ankle. Aside from a weird looking purple spot, I'm not much worse for the ware. Result: I'm no longer afraid of leeches! How's that for conquering your fears? I don't particularly want another one to snack on me any time soon, but if he did, I'd be happier than if, say, a mosquito carrying malaria bit me (which let's be honest, is pretty likely where I am). I probably should have picked up some malaria tablets before I came. 

We had some visitors to the treehouse on the last night. I heard some rustling and thought there was some sort of critter nearby. I woke up Lauren who didn't seem to care much and rolled over and went back to sleep. I, on the other hand, was on high alert. My backpack was already safely inside our tent-fort-mosquito net, so I figured all that the little critter could be after was the trash or our leftover dinner which we'd tried to put away as well as one can when living in a treehouse. Turns out, he was also safely inside our fort which I discovered this morning based on the hole chewed through my backpack pocket where a bit of peanut brittle had been. So happy I didn't turn on the flashlight to check things out to find a rat in my tent! A couple of leeches and a tree rat were totally worth the rest of the exhilarating experience. I'll put up some better pictures once I have a chance to pull them off my camera. 

Like all good things, the Gibbon Experience had to end. Fortunately for me, I made a few friends who were carrying on in my direction on the overnight bus to Luang Prabang. This bus experience was even worse than the last from Inle Lake to Yangon. I traded one puker for three this time - all in the sleeper bed right above mine! These poor children couldn't stop barfing all night long - for twelve hours straight. At one point, something wet dripped down onto my arm and the bed where Monty (pictures in the center above) was sitting. I'd like to believe it was just water, but am pretty sure that's just wishful thinking. All I know is I am glad that is my last overnight bus!