Company Trip: Peep's company, Savan Vegas, had an outing for some of its employees as a team building exercise. It was an overnight trip to a spot south of Savannakhet with ziplining tours, operated by the travel agency Green Discovery. The new general manager and the gentleman organizing the trip, both of whom know me, decided to invite me along as well, thinking it would be something I would enjoy. In total, there were twenty-three people in our group, the second of two scheduled to go.
The Ride South: We left early in the morning, meeting at Savan Vegas shortly before five a.m. While most of the group loaded into one of Savan Vegas's vans, Peep and I joined another two participants who drove down. We encountered a brief rainstorm in the middle of the three hour drive to Pakse Airport, where the main group switched to Green Discovery vans. After stopping at a local market for those who wished to purchase rain gear, we continued through thick fog along a pothole-infested dirt road until we reached the travel agency's office, located on a plateau at the edge of Dong Hua Sao National Park.
Starting Off: Once out of our car, we were handed a harness, helmet and assorted hardware, which we donned before setting off on our hike down into the valley below. The trek started off easy as we hiked some local roads before turning off on a jungle path. We made our way over a log bridge, eventually reaching a clearing about one hour into our trip. Here, we broke for lunch. After finishing our meal, we continued our hike downward along much steeper terrain. We eventually came upon a very unstable cable bridge crossing a stream and waterfall. There was a separate cable to which we attached one of our safety lines before crossing.
Ziplining: Continuing down the mountain, we came upon the first of eight ziplines we were to encounter that day. We each, in turn, stepped onto the take-off platform where a guide hooked up our trolley, containing three wheels which rolled along the zipline cable, and our safety lines. Once properly attached to the cable, we stepped off the platform and glided along the cable until we neared the other end. At this point, it was our responsibility to break ourselves using a hook made from the branch of a tree, which was given to us back at the agency's office. If we broke too much, we wouldn't reach the landing platform and we would have to either pull ourselves in or have a guide come out and rescue us. If we didn't brake enough, we would hit the knot at the end of the cable hard, jolting us to a stop. A guide at the end of the cable used hand signals and yelled instructions on when to brake and when not to, so we weren't left completely on our own. Besides braking, we also had to be sure to keep our feet up, especially on some of the lower platforms, to prevent our legs from slamming into the edge of the platform.
The Platforms: Once on the landing platform, the guide hooked one of our two safety lines to a safety cable before unhooking us from the zipline cable. We made our way around the platform by moving our safety lines from one cable to the next, always keeping at least one connected. The platforms were often located high up in the trees. Some of the landing platforms also served as take-off platforms, so we then simple connected to the next zipline cable and stepped off. On other platforms, we were connected to a rope and lowered buy one of the guides down to a secondary, take-off platform in the same tree, or all the way to the jungle floor. For the platforms located on the ground, we simple walked off and continued our hike to the next zipline station.
Enjoying the View: Our first zipline was the shortest of the day. On the longer ziplines we were able to get incredibly stunning views as we crisscrossed a valley carved out of the mountainside by a towering waterfall. They were views you could get in only a few places with your feet planted firmly on the ground. The ziplining itself was very easy, with a couple of the guys admittedly scared of heights stating it didn't bother them, the worst parts of the trip being the log and cable bridges we traversed earlier in the day.
Arriving at Camp: After completing our final zipline of the day, we took a much easier walk along a boardwalk until reaching the dining pavilion of our camp, known as Patong Jungle Hotel, where we all very quickly took off our backpacks and ziplining harness before sitting down and enjoying some well received rest. Being quite sweaty and dirty from the five-hour trip down the mountain, most of us made our way down a short path to the nearby stream where we washed off in the cold mountain water before heading back up to eat. Others used the two showers available in camp before joining the rest of the group for dinner. The meal was prepared by cooks who had arrived earlier in the day.
Sleeping Arrangements: There were two options available to us for sleeping. The first was to spend it in one of two large rooms, segregated by gender, in a newly constructed building. However, the rooms weren't big enough to hold everyone in our rather large group. The second option was to spend the night in one of the six tree houses on site, which we had to zipline into and then out of in the morning. Peep and I chose one of the two-person tree houses. Inside the tree house were two cots with mattresses and sleeping bags, covered with mosquito nets. There was also two chairs and a small table, as well as a small bathroom. At night, we could gaze out our open-air window and marvel at the stars in the sky and in the morning we were treated to a spectacular view of the valley below.