Huay Xai serves as the less glamorous of two border towns, one in Laos, one on Thailand - of course in the former. It is little more than a couple of ferry landings, a customs office, a handful of sub-par guesthouses, and [most significantly to us] The Gibbon Experience headquarters. We checked in the day before our 'experience.' The next morning we woke up and drove with our guides about two hours south, then hiked another 3 hours to our camp (incl...

After arriving at 'Treetop Ecolodge' we rented a scooter to more quickly negotiate the Cambodian highlands. We rode an elephant to a waterfall, and wrapped up the day with a swim with the locals in a pristine crater lake. The next day we checked out and made our way to Don Det, Laos. The travel time was about 8 hours - including bribery and being charged American-Tax (cost of a westerner, especially American, to come into a communist country). We ar...