{"id":2554,"date":"2026-02-27T10:52:56","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T10:52:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aerowalsh.com\/cr\/?p=2554"},"modified":"2026-02-27T13:54:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T13:54:07","slug":"tue-thur-24th-26th-feb-gibbon-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/?p=2554","title":{"rendered":"Tue-Thur 24th-26th Feb – Gibbon Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

CR: Gibbon Experience was a two night, three day affair. It had the benefit of being established by a white Western man so broadly followed the scaffold of what we expect a tourist experience to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The jungle is about two and a half hours away. One and a half hours of ‘main road’ that is about the worst quality road you could feasibly imagine while still being paved. Then the final hour is on unpaved jungle road. It’s bumpy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are three types of tour operating. There’s a 1 night option where you do the whole course in 24 hours. This one is the cheapest and is popular with your classic backpacker type: 20-30 year olds, literal backpacks as luggage, fit. Declan comments that all men on this option try to out-alpha each other while the few women idle about silently (DW: I hear them discussing contemporary right wing European politics during lunch just enough) Then there’s the two night tour, split into two branches. Declan had booked a slightly different, more expensive two night option where we get our own tree house and guides. The other group of five sleep in the same tree house. Cultural stereotypes are abided by: the Americans are loud and obnoxious; the Dutch are upmarket and keep to themselves; the German is friendly and extremely process-oriented; the British are foppish and a bit frazzled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s actually a fair amount of Trek involved in Zip. There’s about six main zip lines ranging from 200-400 meters in length. Then there are ancillary lines that are the access points to the tree houses. I find Trek pretty hard, especially on the first day where it is uphill and with our bags. It is, for a change, hot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the second day there’s a fair amount of Trek between lines as well. At lunch time we have the option to continue Zipping or to have Break. I strongly suggest Break. This proves to be a good decision as the rain settles in for the afternoon. Everyone retires to have an afternoon nap. I think our two guides are pleased to have half a day off. They hang out in a hut close by to our tree house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zipping itself is plenty of fun. First few were very scary because you don’t really go with that much safety equipment or training relative to the risk. After a few goes I ease into it. Now all I need is a harness and a cable and I’m good to Zip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spoiler: Declan and I see no Gibbons. When we arrive we’re informed there are a total of three Gibbons in the area. Not three families. Three Gibbons total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DW: Our guides (Pormue and Amouagh) were really good. The Gibbon enterprise is mainly run from a small village and employs a number of staff from the village, but it is very well run. Pormue, now 40, only finished the equivalent of primary school and learnt English through the Gibbon enterprise and was pretty good. He made me a flute of bamboo and I impressed everyone with my skills. He was sad when we tried to explain biosecurity laws and that we couldn’t bring it home. Apparently I need to play it to girls to get a wife…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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CR: “Lao Breakfast”. Baguette, beef and onion stirfry, eggs and a little bit of salad. It costs three times as much as anything else so I’m not convinced it’s as local as they want you to believe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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DW: Laos doesn’t really have a road network, it just has road. There is a single road between each of the nearby cities in the north and an assortment of towns along this road. There are not really any backroads, as there is just the one road for each route.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: The drive to the jungle takes us through small villages. I can only take photos when there is a smooth patch of road, for fear of dropping my phone out of the tuk-tuk otherwise. So I don’t take many photos…
I’m shocked at the sparseness and poverty in Laos, despite being aware of it on paper before we left. From the moment you enter it is clear that this country has no money. In Thailand things are clearly not as well maintained as the West but many layers of society are visible at all times – and therefore there is the chance, even if theoretically, to ‘move up’ in life. Laos is the only country I have been to where that is not the case. There isn’t a middle class. In subsequent days we learn there are 8 million people in the country and 70-80% of them are farmers (DW: the specific statistic was from the early 2010s and was specifically for subsistence farming). It is an empty country that feels doomed to survive only through plundering of land and submission to the great powers around it (China).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: Turn off from the ‘Main Road’ is a water crossing. While the Gibbon Experience is still run during the wet season, the tuk-tuk can’t get in as close and there’s subsequently a much bigger hike to the start. Reminder to self: never let Declan book a Trek in wet season anywhere, ever. If you’re wondering why this little Dutch man has a facemask on…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: It’s because the drive in has been a victim of some dry season dust. Good luck seeing any traffic around you…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: We’re almost there but then there is a little bit of last minute rebuilding of the track. As we wait we watch a local and his wife walk calmly past with a shotgun. That might explain why there are only three Gibbons left.
DW: The barrel of his shotgun has a well blackened patina near its end.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: Beginning of Trek. At the front you can see the 1 night tour group setting a blistering pace. Then two Americans in front of Declan who overestimate their abilities – they look capable in this photo but by the end of the trip Sheryl limps this path back with a bamboo cane in each hand because she sprained her ankle when she hit the platform too hard coming into land from Zip. Couldn’t happen to a more considerate couple…
DW: Caitlin is not a fan of Americans generally when travelling.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: I am delirious half an hour in. I have Trekked too hard these holidays. Need break. Or else I break.
DW: Let the record show that this is not a hard trek holiday. The Flinders was a hard trek holiday. This just has jungle experiences.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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DW: Safety first! Caitlin was very diligent about following the instructions in our safety induction video and noted in her post activity survey that she felt 5 for safety.
CR: The German solo traveller takes what I can only describe as Great Contentment in the safety procedures we are expected to perform each Zip. He checks his carabiners with uninterrupted focus. He tightens his harness with purpose. He pats his handle-thing (a repurposed motorbike tyre) with the faith that he has performed a process well. And off he Zips. I do the same but with a much higher degree of trepidation and uncertainty.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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DW: A pro zipper at work. We were too cowardly to take any photos or videos during the actual zip. I could just see my phone slipping down 100m into the jungle to be stolen by a pack of macaques. You’ll just have to trust us that it was really high, long and cool. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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DW: All treehouses are only accessible by zip. Which is a cool way to get into them. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: A well deserved half-day break is my Luxe Unit for the trip. Declan shuts his eyes just for oooone minute. This private treehouse is called the ‘Honeymoon’ suite. The guides seemed disappointed that this wasn’t our actual honeymoon, just a high disposable income place to hang and read books and have just the smallest nap.
DW: The “honeymoon” suite was definitely the right option. It gave us space from everyone else and meant we could just read for a bit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: It is a literal tree house.
DW: There were multiple large bee hives (only active during the wet season, maybe, some details are lost in translation). See next photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: Treehouse life has a lot of warnings. When we finally make it here after a long, hot, uphill Trek in, the guides settle us in and show us around. They make us a tea and cut up some apple. They sit with us for a bit and chat. And then, just as I start to feel relaxed, they rapidly force us to do an Emergency Zip Drill where we have to get in our harness and safety gear and zip out of the treehouse in case of a Big Storm, which has a 20% chance of happening tonight. Bee swarms only start in April though. Phew.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: The threat of Big Storm puts me on edge but we make it through the night without having to do an Emergency Zip Exit. Food is great on the trip. Ingredients get taken in from a nearby village on horse and then ziplined in by the lady workers to the kitchens near the tree houses. Lady workers are the daughters of the guides (who themselves are recruited from the nearest village as an employment alternative to illegally logging Redwood), speak no English and seem very cheeky.
DW: Prior to this point (one day in Huayxai) we were disappointed with food in Laos. It lacked any clear flavour and just seemed to be whatever they could find mixed together. That could be because of Huayxai’s weird mini border town vibe, but I hope the bigger cities have some nicer food. There is nothing like the street food in Vietnam yet unfortunately.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: Dec’s off to the toilet.
DW: It actually needs a bit of finesse to do. If you weren’t paying attention you could definitely have a trip.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: Looking for Boyfriend, last seen on platform.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: Found Boyfriend.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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DW: Zipping is interspersed with various jungle knowledge activities led by Pormue the guide. We eat various jungle foods (rattan, berry skin like but not papaya), make fire from dried up tree sap and drink water from various macheted bits of plants. All fun. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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DW: Waiting for Gibbon. We saw no gibbons (the other groups did though), but heard them close several times. I would have like to have seen the gibbons, but definitely got enough out of the experience that not seeing them didn’t impact it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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DW: This woman may never zip another line in her life. A shame, because she was the best damn zipper I ever knew in the biz. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: It rained a bit while we were Jungle. Trek out is muddy.
DW: On the plus side it meant the dust wasn’t as bad going back. You win some and you lose some.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: End of Trek, heading through a field of surprising beauty.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: After a shitty drive back where Declan vomits out the back of the tuk-tuk from motion sickness, we arrive back to the safety of Town.
DW: The German man is also unsurprisingly a victim of motion sickness. He has a firm regime of a little food to settle the belly and gazing determinedly forward through the grills of the tuk-tuk for 2 hours. I chose to just throw up over the back mid-drive and feel better afterwards rather than unnecessarily prolong the suffering.
CR: German man has picked his hotel in town specifically because it offers an overnight laundry turnaround service between returning from Gibbon Experience and departing via Boat to Luang Prabang the next day. This man has his shit together. He will not be impacted by the chaos of Laos through sheer willpower.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: Sunset. Rest. Slow boat tomorrow.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zip.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2556,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-thailand-laos-cambodia-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2554"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2621,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2554\/revisions\/2621"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}