Ok........ hello everyone a very tired Jo is checking in!

I will quickly recap on my last day in Chiang rai and in the border town of laos (cant remember the damn name of where i am... oh dear) then tell you about the experience that is The Gibbon Experience..... i use the word experience twice for good reason.

Chaing rai really was lovely, after writing my last blog lucie, Taan and i went to check out the night market and buy some goodies! had a bite to eat and then went to play some pool! was a cracking night and some funny sights! was amusing! Then woke up the next day to find i was sick as a dog! im thinking oh no... i have to travel to laos today. so dosed myself up on some drugs and spent the morning in my room. decided to brave it and go for it and hope i was better. so managed to con a lift to the bus station and was hoping for one of those air con coaches with toilets!!!! oh no... proper old school 40year bus. im thinking perhaps not such a good idea! so i jumped on the bus and fell asleep, only way i was going to get through 3 hours!!!!!!! of it!!!!! luckily i was so tired so it wasnt to bad. grabbed a tuk tuk to the border and crossed the mekong to laos with no problemo.

In Laos, still not remembering the border town.... hhmmmmmm i got collared in to this room and i arrived to find pee on the floor, i was out of their sharpish! so this guy was hanging out the window of a GH and hes said the rooms were ok so bobs your uncle, one nice room! met a few more people from all over and we went to grab a bite to eat. all i ate was sticky rice! then went to grab an early night for the Gibbon experience.

THE GIBBON EXPERIENCE

Day 1

ok so i woke up fealing okish so thought il go and give it a bash. trekked on down to the office, with Sofia a girl travelling from sweeden. we soon met the other 4 (2 didint turn up) Amy and Evan from the US travelling together and Thereas and Constance from Austria. We all bundled in to this mini bus and drove to the mountains. we only had a small day pack with us. we were told to buy gloves and this rubber shoes they are hilarious. one of the brands was called candams so as you can imagine there were lots of jokes about condoms uuummm i mean candams on your feet hehe. so we trekked off all full of excitement, they said the first day would take 5 hours to trek there!

ok........ I have never pushed myself as much as this in my life, it was the most gruelling, intense, painful, exhausting, sweaty, tiring but one of the best achievements ever! We were trekking up 45 degree mud slopes for miles! It was the hardest thing iv ever had to do! it was mentally draining. Team A consisted of Constance Theresa and Evan and Amy, Sofia and me made up team B. we took a little longer but not to bad! It just never ended! I have swetaed my body weight im sure and lost more pounds than a year at the gym! so we arrive at the village, to be told its an hour away, woohooo you think and so did i. oh no where we had just walked up the muddy slopes we were now walking through mud. up to our ankles and now in the rain forest. seriously i have absoloutly no idea how i made it. you could have pushed me off a cliff at one point and i wouldnt have stopped you! it was vertical climbing in the forest in thick mud with only tree roots to act as stairs! and it didnt stop! my legs were shaking, i have never been so exhausted!

we finally got there :-) and iv never been so happy! we had to put harnesses on and trek again.... oh no i hear u say... oh yes!!! 5 mins hhhhmmmm we soon realised never believe what they tell you! haha so we made it up to this wooden platform and he said we are going to zip to our treehouse! well im to tired to complain or be scared, nervous or anything! so im buckled up and pushed out.... it was wicked!!!!!! the treehouse was gorgeous. we all clambered in and dinner was given to us and they said see you tomorrow! we were all to happy to shower and chill out! The view was spectacular about 120m up and above the forest canopy! it was out of this world! the shower was heaven and for a second there i was expecting hot water before relaising im in a bloody tree! so we all sat round and chatted while eating rice and veggies. Evan made some coffee. it was such a mixed bag of emotions. releaved was one and a sence of pride another, couldnt belive i made it! me and sofia grabbed one mattress and she debugged it! very very very funny! however the night critters didnt leave us alone.....

Day 2

on awaking the next day the rats had been at my flip flops boohoo - my only pair! they had chewed sofias bag, theresas shoes and they had even gnawed through the string that was holding evans wooden cross on his bag and took it! we think it must have been holy mice! It was about another 2 hours before i realised they had chewed something else, the crotch out of my bikini, what was worse was that i was wearing it! hahahah i didnt even realise, oh dear! im putting it down to lack of sleep. so at 6 in the morning we are all up and harnessed up to go zipping! we went to find the gibbons, but the gibbons didnt want to play so we headed back to the treehouse for brekky ! i then felt so ill i thought i was going to be sick! panicking a bit in a tree 120m up and im going to chuck!!! oh dear. so after lots of breathing and water i started to feel ok, By the way did i mention we had rice and vegetables for brekky! so we zipped off again and spent a couple of hours zipping around the forest, it was incredible. what is even more amazing is that you dont think for a second about hurling yourself out of a tree 200m up so you can fly along the tops of the trees! it so beautiful and the feeling is magical! really was something special! you soon become an expert at all the gear and you are left on your own... health and safety in asia is a whole new board game! then back for lunch... can u guess yet? rice and vegtables. after lunch back on with the harnesses as we were trekking for a couple of hours to treehouse 5! trek was ok, its so mentally draining though as you have to watch every step! so with mud up to out knees and a few of us with leeches we zipped in to treehouse 5! was brilliant. a different layout but as much fun! we did some more zipping and i ventured out with the camera! then after showers we sat down for dinner, rice and vegetables and some cards!

Day 3

ok so while some of you were still dancing the night away i was being woken up at 6 this morning to tek for 2 hours in the most intense tropical heat up a vertical muddy slope in wet shoes and socks! boy was it hard going. we did a little zipping and had brekky at HQ. then we were off on the walk we had been dreading since we arrived! as we had to trek an extra 2hours more than the first day. so i was thinking car (to pick us up), shower, beer i repeated those three in my head all the way home! and i made it! wasnt so intense as the first day but i think we knew what to expect. team A held their position and team b were on full form!

so points.............

i have over a hundred bites on legs!! oh yeah baby!

Bob ( if you are reading this) i thought of you often. i had the socks and sandals look down to a tee, thankyou for teaching me so well, thought of you and chuckled many a time on my trek today! never again will i mock the power of socks and sandals

Actually the rice and veggies was really good! even though i was a little sick of them!

you never knew what was coming next as the guides spoke very little english! was very funny listening to theresa quizz them about times and lunch, their vague looks were hilarious

those guides are crazy and exceptionally fit! one guy zipped over with dinner, a boiling kettle of water in flipflops! madness!!!!!

I walked through genuine hill tribes and they are amazing places, its crazy to think how we live when there are people in the world who live life so simply!

I have never ached so much in so many places! this trip was the most amazing experience i have been on and was the most intense! i have covered so many emotions but im so proud i did it! at one point i really didnt think i was going to make it! the car was awesome, the shower was amazing.... now the beer.......

love u all millions

off to Luang Prabang tomorrow by slow boat as my cruise got cancelled! so email then love you mills

Jo xxxx