Flight of the Gibbon
Huai Kaeo, Thailand - Day 5
We woke up early, ate some breakfast, and waited for our 'VIP transport' to our first excursion, the Flight of the Gibbon. The drive went almost directly east and took about an hour to reach the village of Mae Kampong. We checked in and then went to explore a beautiful old wooden temple. Suddenly, a low ringing filled the air and an old monk hopped out from behind a gong. He rubbed the bell of the gong and increased the volume. He smiled and invited me to try. At first I couldn't figure it out, but got it after a bit. You needed to let your palms bounce on the bell as you slid it across to build vibration. I bowed and thanked the monk, "kop kun krap," then boarded the van. Back at the office we harnessed up and met our group. Three local Thai's, an American from Los Angeles, and a couple from Germany. Our two 'sky rangers' were pretty funny, Aof and Lee. We zip lined for about 3 hours and then had a small meal were we ate and chatted with our group. Soon it was back to Chiang Mai. We rested up a bit before heading to a restaurant just a minutes walk from our hotel called the Swan. It was Burmese cuisine and the most delicious we have had so far. Katie got Gar Jii Gai (a chicken noodle dish) and I had Hin Lay Curry (a spicy chicken curry). We rounded off our meal with sticky sweet rice and mango. For that whole meal and a couple bottles of water we paid 261 baht. That is just over $7 USD!
