The border crossing at Chiang Khong / Huay Xia was so easy it almost felt like we did something wrong. Apparently, a lot of people get scammed into hiring people to "help" them across, but we hadn't done enough research to even know that was a possibility, so we just wandered around the dock until we saw something that resembled passport control, got our exit stamps, hung out by the river until a boatman offered us a ride across the Mekong and then stumbled up the Laos side and upon the only official looking counter in site. $30, two photos and a stamp later, we were officially Laos tourists.

Coming into Laos, we didn't really know what to expect. We had heard mixed reviews from other travelers - some loved it, some said we'd be begging to be back in Thailand. Feedback tended to boil down to two simple observations - infrastructure and communication are crap but the land and people are beautiful. Not too bad. Plus, we were up for a little adventure. We decided to keep it simple, stick to a somewhat limited geography and get out in nature as much as possible.

It worked. By our second day in-country, we were trekking through the jungle, flying over the canopy of the tallest trees in Laos and sleeping in a treehouse 90 ft above the ground that you could only get into or out of via zip line. We spent three days in Bokeo Nature Reserve living out our childhood "Swiss Family Robinson" fantasies, left mostly to our own devises in the jungle with harnesses, carabiners and full reign of the zip lines. But it wasn't all play... We had to work for it! The hiking was serious - long, steep, muddy and sweaty. Our guide, Neu, kept taking us off trail, so we were literally bushwhacking through the jungle. It worked out well for us because we got a trek and a zip line experience for the price of one! The only problem was that there were creepy crawlies, mainly leeches that were very attracted to Brendan. Everyone in our group had one or two over the three days, but they seemed to specifically target Brendan - at one point, he had six on his foot at one time.

Neu, our Ninja guide, with a pot of Tea for the treehouse.

We got really lucky and ended up in a treehouse with great people, five Dutch and two other Americans (some of the few we've met along the way). We all agreed to make the most of our days, so we were up at dawn and in at dark or even after, which meant night zip lining! We were a treehouse family for the three days, with Nue, our jungle mama zipping in food and tea three times a day and indulging us in our never ending desire to zip and search for the elusive Gibbon, the reason we were all there in the first place.

The Gibbon is a monkey thought to be extinct in Laos until about 10 years ago, when scientists rediscovered the species in the Bokeo area. Since then, the Gibbon Experience has been using eco-tourism to help protect the natural jungle in Northwest Laos and repopulate the Gibbon. The zip lining and treehouse apartments are supposed to give you the full experience of living in the canopy, just like the Gibbons who often never touch the ground in their lifetime. They live in families and every morning, the male sings to his mate and children to keep the family close.

And, the very last day after hearing the Gibbons whale-like cries every morning, we finally got our first glimpse of a family high in the trees. After learning more about the very human-like Gibbons and spending time in their world, we're glad someone like the Gibbon Experience is around to help them out.