Flight of the Gibbons

June 25

Writing this literally almost a month later. Ha. Whoops. It's July 23 right now. 

This morning I had to get up pretty early to meet Kat for breakfast before we ventured out to find where we had to meet the group for our Flight of the Gibbons excursion. This is supposedly the largest attraction in Thailand. It was $100 and we were paying to basically zip line above the jungle. It's called Flight of the Gibbons because Gibbons are monkeys and they skim the trees of the jungle. Unfortunately, we did not see any gibbons while we were zip lining but we did see some in the zoo after our zip lining. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

When I went down for breakfast, Kat was already eating. We ate and left and decided that we should probably get a taxi. We hailed one on the street and they took us to the street. I think it was Soi 4 or something like that. Basically, taxis in Bangkok suck. There was so much traffic we thought we were going to be late. At one point we even considered getting out and walking the rest of the way. I'm just gonna add I'm glad we didn't because we wouldn't have found it. The taxi driver could barely find it. He got us to the street but had no idea where the hotel was where we were supposed to meet the group so he let us out and we walked around trying to find it. I think we ended up asking someone and it was all the way down the road. 

We shouldn't have been worried about being late. I think once we got there we waited for an hour and a half for everyone else to show up. Of course. Thai time. Should have known.

While we were waiting we met this Australian named John. He was cool to talk to at first but the more he talked and told us about his life the more I was like well, maybe I should stay away from you. Originally I was thinking he would be cool to walk around Bangkok with one of the days I was alone because he likes to travel and we like the same music and he was easy to talk to. But yea, he basically got kicked out of his home and is traveling. I can't remember what he did but it was something strange enough that I ended up thinking he was a shady character. 

Finally, we got in a van (not the same one as John although we didn't get to choose). There were 2 other girls there and they were also from Australia. They didn't really seem to want to talk though and they were clearly there as a couple. A few Indian people joined our group as well. There were 7 of us total. Kat and I were a little disappointed. No one in our group was exciting or energetic. But don't worry, we took over that role for the day.

Kat and I talked most of the ride to the adventure center. It was about 2 hours outside of Bangkok, although we were caught in a lot of traffic. And, we stopped off for gas at one point as well. The journey felt like it took forever.

When we arrived, we saw monkeys on the side of the road on the way in. So cute!!! They were babies. And then we had to sign a waiver form. So I signed away my life. Luckily it was in English so I could read what exactly I was signing away. We then hoped back into the van and it took us a ways away. When we got out there was an archway we walked under and we started climbing upward through the jungle. 

We came to a hut area where we were fitted with gear and given a safety talk, much if which I honestly just couldn't understand. It was written out for us in English though on a sheet of paper so that was smart of them. And helpful. Basically you do what your guides tell you to do and you don't put your hand on the wire because you'll either burn it or lose a finger. 

Kat and I took some silly photos of us with our gear and then we watched another small training thing on attaching the carabeeners and getting around safely when we were up in the trees. Then we were off! Kinda... We had to climb up the jungle for another 10 or 15 minutes before we made it to the first point we could zip line. 

When we got there, we went up a spiral, wooden staircase that spiraled around a tree. At the top, everyone started getting clipped on. Then, it was time to zip line.

I actually wasn't ever scared which surprised me since usually when I am dealing with heights I get nervous. You could go really fast on the lines! 

Kat and I joked around a lot and were basically really silly. There were a few times when there were "couples" things and we did them together. One was a photo with a leaf heart. At the last second I turned and kissed Kat's cheek which in retrospect wasn't great since we were drenched in sweat. It was a very sweaty kiss. There was also a zip line where 2 people got to go at the same time. We linked arms. I had given my camera to one of our guides and he actually videoed it but we thought he was taking a photo.

Off topic- let me just say I have a lot of good video from this trip.

Back on track. Most of the time we just zip lined from tree top to tree top. One time we had a professional photo taken. Normally I wouldn't buy that stuff but the photo was really cute and only &9... So it wasn't crack USA prices aha. 

Kat and I switched on and off taking photos for each other as well. There was one time when we crossed a bridge and got to pose. That was funny. Kat was scared and not balanced enough to take her hands off and have a good photo. There wer also a few times when we had to "abseil" but it actually wasn't abseiling. It was more just a pulley system allowing us to be lowered down on a rope. Sometimes we had to climb stairs as well.

We laughed through the entire thing. There were 22 stations I believe. It took about 2 hours. And, when you actually took time to stop and look out at the jungle around you, oh my goodness. It was breathtaking. A lot of the time we were above the tree tops so it was beautiful. I don't remember exactly how high up we were. 

I think one of the funniest things for me was when we did our last zip line. It was pretty long which meant you built up a lot of speed and could go really fast. But, if you went too fast you would get bounced back off the platform and be stuck hanging. For most of the people they told them if they wanted to go fast to keep their legs together but to go slower they needed to spread their legs. They told Kat and I to spread them. We hadn't heard why and when we asked they basically said because you're a little bigger and you'll go too fast. Essentially, we were both called fat and yet we laughed about it and still tipped them. 

It was really fun and we had a good time. I think the guides enjoyed having us as well because we were goofy and no one else talked. 

We then we fed lunch which Kat and I chewed down on. It was funny to watch everyone else though because they had just arrived in Asia and seemed a bit skeptical about the food. My philosophy, if tour groups eat here regularly it's safe applied. It wasn't an amazing meal but it was good enough. 

Then we weren't even done! We got to board this little tram with wheels thing that took us around the zoo! The zoo is obviously always an amazing experience but this one was pretty cool as well. There were a few animals I had never heard of before. We got to see hippos pretty close up as well and watched them be fed. The things are massive. And their teeth are gross. One hippo had a banana stuck at the front of his tooth between his lip. It was kind of funny. We also got to feed a giraffe. And, we saw gibbons. Gibbons are ridiculous! The noises they make do not even sound like monkey noises. It's like a high pitch yell sigh scream thing. And their arms are ridiculously long. To the point they drag on the ground. Gibbons are awesome actually. I took some photos of the signs that were explaining information about them but its on my other SIM card which is in my bag and I can't get it out (on the bus now) to look. But I remember thinking they were really cool. I think the people in the group were annoyed with Kat and I though because we were always the last ones back in the tram. But, we paid a lot to be there and we were going to get the most out of all of it so we didn't really care. We didn't go see the elephants because the Indians didn't want to get out because they have a lot of elephants in their country. Kat and I didn't feel the need to go see them either. 

We then got to get back on the bus and take a long ride back to Bangkok. Kat and I were exhausted from the day so we both passed out. I have no idea how long the ride ended up being. 

Then, the cluster fuck began. The van came to a stop and we could get out if we wanted. It was for the metro. We decided to stay in because we thought we were getting dropped off back where we met everyone that morning. Apparently, that was an incorrect assumption. A few minutes after the metro, they pulled over to the side of the road and made us get out. He said it was for the sky train. He wouldn't drop us back off at the hotel we had originally met at. Kat and I just stood on the side of the street in a daze. We had literally just woken up and then were dumped on the side of the street somewhere in Bangkok. 

We could see the sky train but we weren't sure how to get to it. We started trying to figure it out on the map and then gave up and started asking people on the street. The good part about Asian cities is there are always locals on the side of the road selling some shit that you can disregard and instead ask them for directions. Only problem, you have to hope they speak enough English to understand and respond.

We ended up getting directions and making our way to the sky train. Between looking at the map and the sky train route we thought we would be able to figure it out but we couldn't really. We were going to ask someone but then I remembered that I had had Matt write down a bunch of places and directions on how to get there and back around Bangkok for me for all my alone time later that week. Luckily, that told us exactly what station we needed to be at and we figured out the connections we needed to get from where we were. 

Unfortunately, we had earlier agreed to meet Cara and Sarah at the hostel between 6:30 and 7pm. We already knew that wasn't going to happen because we got back to Bangkok way later than we expected to. And then we got lost. We had agreed that if either party wasn't there by 7pm that we would try to meet up later on Khao San road. So at least we didn't have to feel bad about making them wait for us when we weren't close. We still had to go back to Bangkok Center Hotel to get Kat's bag out of my room and then get a taxi to her hostel which was near Khao San.

When we got to Khao San, Kat waited while I ran to see if the girls were still at Lucky Beer Bar. They weren't, so we continued to her hostel. On the way there, we spotted Cara and Sarah doing some shopping. They had already eaten and were looking a bit before heading back to the hostel. They were glad we were okay and we were glad they didn't wait too long for us.

We dropped Kat's stuff off at the hostel. I think she was really annoyed and flustered already and then the lady checking her in was so slow and old and confusing her and asking for her passport and doing things she thought was completely unnecessary. So, she became even more annoyed. After that was all sorted out, we headed back to Khao San to grab some dinner.

We just ate Thai food in a large cafe. It was not too exciting. We did however, find scorpion before we ate dinner. We took a photo and some video of both of us eating them. Kat wanted a small one but I convinced her that if we were going to eat a scorpion that we mine as well eat a big ass one. So we bought 2 big ass scorpions for 150 baht. It was pretty funny to see people's reactions when we were eating them. We did it where we bought them which was right in front of a restaurant. Not only were people pointing and watching and disturbed who were in the restaurant, but people walking by on the street were intrigued as well. Kat went first because I had already had scorpion before (tried some of Eds the first night on Khao San). Her reaction was terrible an hilarious. She hated it. It was pretty funny. She didn't eat the whole thing. And toward the end, one of the girls who had been watching from the restaurant came up and asked if she could use my scorpion on a stick to take a photo. She then was asking questions about the taste and Kat happily handed over her tail for the girl to try. Her boyfriend looked horrified but she didn't think it was too bad.

I ate my entire scorpion. Head to tail. It took a really long time to eat though. I really didn't think it was too bad and I thought it tasted better than the first time I had it. I still don't really know how to explain the taste or texture. The outside is obviously really crunchy and hard. The inside is kinda stringy but not really meaty. It takes forever to chew. In the video Kat took I think I look more bored with the chewing process than I look upset about eating scorpion. I was a little hesitant to eat the tail (because of the stinger), but I popped it in my mouth at the last moment and finished that off too. During this process a guy on the street is asking me how it is and giving me a thumbs up and I give him one back and tell him it's not too bad. A lady also comes up and tries to sell me stuff. Excuse me lady. Can you not see I have scorpion in my teeth!?!

After the scorpion and dinner, I went back to the hostel with Kat. She grabbed her bank card and made sure I got a taxi safely and got some water and headed back. I think at that point I was exhausted and probably passed out pretty close to getting back. The next morning we were meeting to go to the palace and I would have to get up early for that as well! Just packing things in for Bangkok!