Well we have finally made it into Vietnam. It has been one hell of a trip and took a few days longer than we thought. But a lot has happened in the past week so I will start at the beginning with the Gibbon Experience. As we told you on the last blog the Gibbon Experience was the thing that we visited Laos for. We set off early on the first day 29th October for the two and a half hour drive to the village in the Bokeo Nature Reserve where we would start our trek from. We had hit the weather and the sun definatly had his hat on. After our trek in Ban Lung we didnt think that this trek would be any harder due to the fact that the amount of trekking that we would do within a day would be considerably less. We thought wrong and found the trekking even harder due to the heat and the route that was mainly up hill and it really took it out of your legs. After tekking and feeling like our legs were going to fall off for an hour, we arrived at the guides hut to be given out harness' and runners that we would use for zip lining. We ran through safety talk on how to break and tighten your harness then we were back into the jungle to trek on to our tree house. There was a group of 14 people that was broken up into three groups, one of two, one of four and one of eight. We were in the group of eight and would stay in tree house number seven. After a short trek we came to our first zip line. We all lined up a little nervous waiting our turn and one by one we took the plunge. I asked Ashleigh if she would like me to go first or second and she told me she wanted to go first to get over her nerves. As she attatched her saftey rope followed by her runner I asked a final "You alright love?" and "yyyyeeeaahh" was the answer with a bit of a pasty look on her face. She took a deep breath and she was off. Then it was my turn to clip onto the zipline, couple of checks of the gear, 1,2,3 and off! I could not get over the speed I was traveling at and within 30 seconds I had covered the large canopy opening of the jungle whilst being about 150 foot up in the air. What a feeling and as I approached the other side of the zip line I could see Ashleigh smilling like Gazza with 8 cans of lager and a bucket of KFC. "I PROPER LOVE IT!" was the first thing that left her mouth and I had to agree it was as cool as an eskimo's nose. I felt like James Bond with all this action hero stuff. After our first adrenalin rush wearing off we continued our trek toward the tree house we would be stopping in for the next few days. We arrived after about half an hour of up and down hill trekking that had really took it out of us. Seeing where we were staying though lifted us straight away and the tired legs were replaced with child like excietment. With the tree house, the only way to reach it was to zip line in and if you needed to leave you would zip line out. As we were in a group of eight we stayed in the largest tree house that was built into a tree 100 foot up. It was decked out with a rainwater shower and toilet overlooking the jungle, a small kitchen area, a small communal area and eight beds, six on the first floor and two on the second. As we were the only couple in the group we were given the second floor which was great and had amazing views. After A few cups of green tea and coffee, a few of us decided to hit the jungle again with our guide and do some more zip lining as the rest of the group stayed at the tree house and rested their legs.

We had walked down a large hill and many steps to get to our tree house but didnt think about walking back up them again to reach the zip lines. These stairs were quickly called the 'Stairs of Death!' We had to stop two times walking back up them as our legs were trembling with fatigue and the sweat was pouring out of us. When we finally made it to the zip lines we caught our breath, clipped onto the line and launched ourselves into the unknown. Ashleigh went first of course as she is now a new born adrenalin junkie and couldnt get enough. This zip line we were on turned out to be our favourite zip line of them all as you went fast, it lasted for about one minute but you glided above the triple canopy of the jungle 300 foot up with a view of the mountains and peaks and troffs of the jungle floor. As soon as you had finished this line you cliped straight onto another for more of the same. On this run there is four zip lines that go round in an L shape and you could complete three or four laps within 30 minuets. After zipping through and over the jungle for a while we were spent and took a very slow walk back to our tree house. Having a shower was most needed but very cold but the view made up for the lack of hot water. There is somthing funny about washing in the buff totally open to the jungle with nothing but a curtain inbetween the bathroom and the tree house stairs. Watching the water drip through the grid to the jungle floor below was great and it seemed like it took forever for the drops to get there. Feeling fresh, we were just in time for the grub that was brought over from the main kitchen that was only five minuets away from our tree house. As we ate the guides left us for the night and told us that they would be back in the morning around 6am.

Our group in the tree house was great, we had three Dutch, Rubin, Ivan and Tanya. One American called Danny, A girl from Finland called Vivi and a fellow brit called Nick. That night we chatted and played cards to the super late time of......9.30pm and we all hit the hay as we were all drained from the days trekking. As arranged with the guides, they zipped into our tree house at 6am the next morning with tea and coffee. It was a brilliant clear morning but there was a nip in the air. We also had a telescope in our tree house to use to try to spot gibbons. They start to sign between 6-7.30am and this helps with spotting them as they are really reclusive animals. Their song sounds like a broken police siren and is really unusual. The guides we had were once hunters of these animals and were persuaded to use their knowledge of the jungle and these animals for a greater good and now commit themselves to the conservation of the jungle and the safe keeping of the gibbons. As we looked into the distant jungle canopy from our tree house, without using the telescope Ashleigh spoted two black gibbons swinging through the trees and then a bright ginger one a few minutes later on in a different place. It was great for us to see them as most people dont get to see any gibbons and only hear their song. After breakfast we put on our harness' ready for another day of trekking and zipping. We visited the other tree houses and with the others in the group we started out with and hit the zip lines to get our adrenalin fix for the day. The day panned out pretty much like the previous day but with less trekking and more zip lining on new lines we hadnt visited. After a while we returned to our tree house for lunch and afterward we were told that we could continue zip lining untill our hearts were content. This time we all went and hit the stairs of death. It didnt matter how many times you climbed them you never got used to them. We counted 628 stairs and in the three days we climbed them 5 times. Thats 3140 stairs, each step was steep and were about 30cm high so we had also walked up stairs to the totall hight of 942 meters over the three days. No wonder our legs felt like they were going to fall off. After more hours of fun on the zips, we trekked back to the tree house for some food and a Uno marathon.

We woke early the next morning at 5am as we had arranged to go on a morning trek with the guide to see if we could spot any gibbons. The trek wasnt to bad but at five in the morning, it certainly woke you up. We trekked for around 30 minutes stopping in varoius spots where we could hear the gibbons singing and making noise but for the life of us couldnt spot a single one. Well you cant win them all! At least we had seen some the day before which is a lot more than most. We returned in time from our fruitless trek just in time for brekkie. After filling our bellies, we packed up our gear as it was time to trek back to the village from where we had started. This time though it was great as the majority was downhill and created a quick pace. It took about two hours to reach the village and the first thing we done when we got there was buy some bottles of beerlaos as no alcohol was allowed in the tree houses and frankly, we deserved them. After a while our trucks turned up to take us back to Huay Xai. After climbing off the trucks we had all arranged to meet up for some food and drinks after a well needed shower. We had also recieved news that Jace was back home and had been discharged from hospital. It was great to hear and a load off our minds. Im sure it wont be long till he is 100%. It was also the day of the big game, Newcastle Vs Sunderland, and after our food we returned to our guest house and switched on the TV and watched the magic happen!

We are getting a sleeper bus to Hanoi in an hour so I will have to tell you of our frustraiting 3 day trip to get to Vietnam on the next capter of Peter and Ashleighs travels. All I have to say is Newcastle 5, Sunderland 1.

Love Peter and Ashleigh x