Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Welcome to the Jungle...Northern Laos

After my exhilarating experience zip lining in Chiang Mai, I decided I didn't have enough time in the jungle. I wanted to really experience the true jungle of Southeast Asia...and so I signed up for a 3 day/2 night Live and Learn the Jungle in the Bokeo Conservation Park. We were thrown together as a group of 8 (3 English, 2 Kiwis, 2 Germans, & me...the Yank) and our 2 Lao tour guides. After a 10 minute safety video, they were sure we were ready to zip line at 1000 meters high on the first go around...thank goodness I practised in Thailand. Anyway, it was incredible!!We ate strictly from the fruits and vegetables grown throughout the jungle and of course sticky rice 3 meals a day. The views, the trekking through the jungle, living in a tree house 950 meters high with all kinds of insects/rodents/animals (you name it I probably saw it), and using the zip lines as our form of transportation were all adventures that I will cherish (notice I didn't include details on the bathroom...you can use your imagination!). I've included a video of my last zip line through the jungle and some pictures.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lturnof/NorthernLaos

After 3 fun-filled days in the Jungle, I was very ready for some form of a shower (as I do not believe the waterfall that we swam in counts as a shower). And of course, upon my return to the guesthouse the water was shut off as it hasn't rained enough to keep it on all day. My English friends and I sat around counting down the minutes until we could shower. We figured we can only hang out with other sticky people as not to offend anyone. Finally, it was night time and the water was back on so we got squeeky clean for our 12 hour bus ride to Luang Prabang.

2 comments:

  1. This is THE most jealous I have been of your trip so far (even more so than the cooking classes in Thailand). I don't know how I feel about the riplines, but the jungle parts are AWESOME. Wow!

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  2. That zip line looks like fun!

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