On Christmas morning, Dave and I woke up bright and early and rode our motor scooter to the market. We picked up some little oranges, our new favorite snack, and had a cup of coffee at the usual stand. We weren’t feeling Thai food so we walked across the street to the café at the Backpacker Inn. The menu featured some American breakfast items like banana pancakes, eggs and toast. We ordered a variety of things and devoured them in no time. Then we rode back to the hotel to get ready for a day of zip lining.
The van picked us up right on time and we were surprised to see we were the only passengers. After a few turns and loops we picked up another older couple and then another middle-aged man from Sweden named Claus. Claus was a pretty interesting fellow. He is a chiropractor, but he practices an alternative kind of medicine that’s actually illegal in the United States. He works with athletes, dancers and even some Olympians. He was also on the national cross fit and kettle bell team last year. He was scheduled for a two-day excursion that included rock climbing and zip lining, but the company actually messed up his reservation so it was just by chance that we got to meet him. Dave and I ended up talking to him for most of the day; hopefully we will all meet up again sometime in Sweden for a hike or some other adventure.
After the really long van ride, which is how we learned so much about Claus, we arrived at The Flight of the Gibbon office. We all put on our zip lining harness, tied on our bandanas and strapped on our helmets. We got back in the van for a few minutes and then got dropped off on the side of a mountain. We hiked down a few rock stairs to the first wooden platform where Pom Pom, our guide, told us all the safety rules. After a couple minutes it was time for our first ride, it was just a short one to get us used to taking off and landing on the platforms. Dave went before me and then it was my turn. I stepped up to the platform and Pom Pom asked if I was ready in Thai, I said “Chai!” so he gave me a push and off I went flying over the treetops to the next platform. I kind of made a crash landing into Shy, the other guide. The whole day went like that, Pom Pom pushing me off and Shy catching me before I slammed into a tree or a net. After the first couple platforms we had to walk a ways up and around the mountain. We gathered at a water cooler for a drink and Pom Pom motioned us all over to try and spot some gibbons. He had me help call them, but I don’t think I really helped and I’m pretty sure I was awful at it. Sure enough though after a couple minutes we were able to spot two big gibbons and one baby. They were hard to see and I didn’t want to scare them so once I saw them I backed away from their trees. Once everyone caught a glimpse we hiked a little bit further to the longest zip line. I forget how far it was to the next platform, if I had to guess it was maybe a football field away. Since I’m light I was able to really fly on the long lines. It was so much fun to feel weightless, look around at all the green and spin forwards and backwards. You’re only traveling for a few seconds, but it’s so much fun. To spice things up a bit, the guides sometimes bounced us up and down or made the zip line zigzag back and forth as we were traveling on it. There were also a few vertical lines that we went down, on the very last one Dave and I went upside down, which was pretty cool. All in all we were up in the jungle canopy for about 3 hours. A lot of the time was spent standing on the platform waiting for others to go, but it wasn’t ever boring. We had fun talking to Claus and each other and messing around with all our cameras. We took some cool footage that will be made into a little movie at some point we just have to get our act together on that.
After all the zip lines were finished we piled back into the van and traveled to the office to eat lunch. We ate at a little restaurant by the water where we were serenaded by a hill tribe band while we ate. It was shady and cool and a nice break from the sunny treetops. We were served potatoes and chicken in a curry sauce, steamed vegetables and a cold vegetable salad with a spicy vinegar dressing. All the food was hearty and delicious and some of the best I’ve had in Thailand. After lunch we were taken to a nearby waterfall. Each time I thought I was at the top of the waterfall I saw another set of stairs peaking out near a turn in the trail. This thing was enormous. The middle of the falls was the most impressive, but it was definitely worth it to hike all the way to the top to see where everything started. After taking a bunch of pictures and holding up the entire crew it was finally time to end our awesome adventure. We got back in the van and said farewell to Claus because he was scheduled to sleep in the woods and then rock climb. We napped pretty hard in the van on the way back. At one point I woke up and I was sprawled on Dave’s lap and he was sprawled over me with his body and head on my back. We were pooped. After a good hour and half ride we were finally back at the Royal Guest House. We took showers, looked at our videos, slung on the backpack and headed out the door. It was time for Sunday Walking Street, the huge night market in Chiang Mai.
We spent a couple hours at the Saturday Night Market the previous night so after making a few purchases and shuffling our way through the crowds we decided to duck out of the market and find some dinner. We stopped at an open-air, empty restaurant and order two big Leos and dinner. It was the first time during the day that we had stopped, looked and each other, realized what day it was and wished each other a Merry Christmas. I think at that point we were both feeling pretty grateful that we were where we were with each other. We couldn’t stop smiling and I kept feeling positive energy and feelings radiating out of our clasped hands. We sat at the restaurant for a long while enjoying our dinners, drinking Leos and calling our family members to wish them a Merry Christmas. After dinner we stumbled into a tuk tuk and traveled back to our hotel. Dave was ridiculously entertained by the tuk tuk ride and he was recording the entire thing. It made me happy to see how much he loved his new camera and documenting his experiences. Once we got out though we realized the camera had died a few seconds after it started recording so he was a bit bummed about that. We vowed to take another drunken tuk tuk ride another night so he could recapture some of his lost footage. Once we made it back to room 215 we skyped the entire Schu family. They were all sitting around at Katie and Calder’s house among a mass of presents and discarded paper. Once they showed up on the screen it was like I was transported to a Schu Christmas. It was such a familiar scene, one that I had been apart of for 21 years, every single one, until now. It was great to talk to everyone and hear about their presents and what they were up to. Unfortunately part way through the call the Internet cut out and I didn’t even get a chance to say bye to anyone. I found out later that it was actually my friend Jill who disconnected the Internet. I couldn’t even be upset because Dave and I did the same thing the night before. We tried connecting a few more times to no avail so we decided to look at all the Christmas presents we had bought people at the markets. We got so much stuff for so little money. I’m sure all our loved ones will be more than happy with the cool things we found for them. I think Dave wanted to go back out to a bar, but by that time I was passed out. I felt pretty bad about it in the morning, but I just couldn’t wake up, I guess he should have shook me a little harder.
