Gibbon take: The high flyers of Laos

Journalism , Laos , Travel Oct 17, 2015 No Comments

It is probably the greatest shower in the world. Open to the elements, it looks on to Laos’s Nam Kan National Park, northwest of Luang Prabang near the Laos-Thai border. The park sprawls away from the wooden railing to the horizon, shrouded in mist. The water falls through the slats beneath my feet, at least forty metres to the forest floor. There’s no hot water, but after the three-hour uphill hike to get to this Swiss Family Robinson-style treehouse deep in the forest, accessible only by zip-line, such a luxury isn’t exactly a prerequisite to enjoyment. My impulse is to shout, Tarzan-like, into the void. But to do so might scare away the gibbons.

These creatures are why we are here. Nam Kan is one of the only places in Laos where the long-limbed ape population isn’t in decline, in part thanks to the work of the Gibbon Experience, which offers treehouse accommodation and uses tourist dollars like ours to fund conservation efforts. We strike it lucky on this front, catching four gibbons mid-frolic—mid-air, it seems—within five minutes of our arrival. But it’s the shower, on the lowest of the treehouse’s three levels, that we can’t stop going on about. The hike has predisposed us all—three Brits, two Israelis, two Australians and an Irishwoman—to being overly enthusiastic about a good wash. The water is piped in while a solar-powered generator provides enough electricity for us to charge our phones, though why anyone should feel the need to is beyond me.

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Read the full article in The Weekend Australian.

Matthew Clayfield

Matthew Clayfield is a journalist, critic and screenwriter.

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