Our guide Lo started awkwardly introducing himself on the ride to Paksong. He sounded a bit like a robot, coming through in pieces, as if I had a bad Skype connection. As it turned out, this was just his style of talking and had nothing to do with nerves. He explained a bit about the great adventure we were embarking on. When we arrived in the small town where our journey would start, harnesses were already spread out on the ground. Around the property lay loads of big tarps on which coffee beans were drying. The harnesses looked strange in this setting. But we needed them for our ziplinging jungle adventure.
Our group consisted of myself and 2 other solo female travelers, an Italian family and some Korean men. Some carabiners and a pulley were attached to our harnesses, we got a helmet and were ready to go. We had a long walk through the coffee plantations to reach the nature. At the edge of the forest, after crossing a river, it was already time for lunch. Our guide found some big leaves and, together with the local guides, started spreading out the food: sticky rice, boiled eggs, dried beef, veggies and a spicy salsa. Lao style.
Once we entered the forest, the terrain got a lot rougher. Soon the first rope bridge presented itself. Lo explained the safety procedures and then we were allowed to enter the wobbly bridge. It was exciting and at times scary, but the walk itself, with all our equipment hanging on us, was perhaps the scariest part! And then there was the stick. Yes, we’d been given a stick with an upside down V at the end. This was our break on the ziplines… Having been a ziplining guide I was a little surprised by the simplicity of this break, but confident I would be able to use it.
The first line was short, to make sure we all got the hang of it. One of the guides would go first and started to shout and wave if you had to slow down or break hard. If you came in backwards you’d just hear “break, break breaaak!” I wondered what would happen if someone panicked and wouldn’t break on time. I let go of that thought really quickly. We had another 10 ziplines to go today! Most of them went right in front of a gorgeous waterfall. With every zipline a new piece of the waterfall was revealed to us.
There was some abseiling in between and we stopped for some incredible views! On one side I stared at a gigantic waterfall, falling down the rock face in layers like a big cake. On my other side was a wide valley covered with jungle. It was green as far as the eye could see. It was amazing to fly through the forest again and I felt right at home! I got flashbacks from my time in Canada. This adventure was such a special way to see an environment I wouldn’t be able to see any other way.
Slowly we hiked and flew all the way down the valley. I hadn’t even noticed there were some buildings hidden in the jungle. The biggest building housed the kitchen and a terrace. In the surrounding trees they’d built tree houses for the guests. We were in the middle of nowhere. This place had been built for this purpose and could only be reached by foot. We still had the view of the waterfall in walking distance and at night we watched the sun set from a nearby rock.
Even our sleeping arrangement was an adventure. I shared a tree house with another solo traveler. We took a zipline to our tree house, which was furnished with two beds, thick sleeping bags and a mosquito net. There was a small bathroom with toilet and sink. The space was pretty open and the wind blew right through. We really were outside in the jungle and at night it got chilly. When I woke up I caught a glimpse of the full moon, disappearing. When it got light I noticed a hole in my backpack. We had to carry all our stuff, including some snacks in and out. Being in an open jungle hut, a tree rat had found himself a nice little feast. It ate through my backpack, tore out my paper tissues and eventually nibbled on one of my muesli bars. Thank goodness I was asleep for this spectacle…
We zipped back out of our hut for breakfast. It was a big one, a big breakfast for a big day. 14 new ziplines were waiting for us, this time with a small river in the distance underneath us. In between the lines were some super fun wobbly cables, bridges and a ladder. The jungle was slowly taking over and occasionally hit you full in the face as you raced past branches. My break became some sort of sword to fend off the jungle. Our adventure looped back to the base, where we had lunch. After that we had to hike back out, uphill this time!
For about an hour we had to climb over the rocky bottom until we reached a rock face. Iron hooks were attached to the rock and we ascended on the via ferrata. The first part was tough. I was leaning slightly backwards and therefore had a lot of weight on my arms. Some people ahead of me were scared and it caused a bit of a traffic jam. My arms started shaking in protest, but just when I thought I couldn’t hold on any longer the people in front started moving again.
Lo helped us get around a small corner and we ended up on a ledge. It hadn’t taken that long to get up the via ferrata, but it sure was exciting. Standing on what felt like a tiny ledge I had the chance to look around me. The view was mind-blowing. After a 10 minutes hike we stood on top of the waterfall we’d been admiring all this time. I thought that would be the top of our hike today, but no… there was a lot more climbing to come, only we would do this part on foot. It was hot. It was humid. It was the only way out! This tour wasn’t your regular tourist attraction.
When the path became familiar, away from the jungle, we saw dark clouds approaching. We reached the village and our transportation back to the city, but we were soaking wet by the time we got there. It didn’t matter. This was a one of a kind adventure! I had had to think a lot about whether or not I wanted to spend the money, since it wasn’t cheap, but it was worth every cent! We had the jungle to ourself, did some amazing activities and slept in a tree house. I looked at the hole in my bag. The authentic experience with the wildlife came without an extra fee. But it wasn’t just the mystery rat. It was the sound of crickets at night, the butterflies during the hike, flying down an incredibly lush valley and being challenged mentally and physically. I felt like I’d experienced paradise on earth.
