Flying in the Air like a Gibbon

Whenever I travel to any new place, I always like to do a few hidden / not as known things / or things that you normally don’t associate with that place. So in Bangkok, apart from all the shopping and temples, a trip to the Khao San road and other touristy stuff we went for a flying fox eco adventure atop the rainforest.

Now the story of how we found out about this place is also very interesting. A friend of ours had researched quite a bit for her trip to Bangkok but for some reason had not been able to make it. So she had forgotten a lot of details but asked us to do the walk in the trees in Bangkok. I hunted all over the internet but was just not able to find any reference to any walk on the trees. Then by sheer luck / chance I was chatting just with a colleague who had just returned from Bangkok and happened to mention this and he told me that it’s called the “Flight of the Gibbon” and its super fun.

The Flight of the Gibbon, Bangkok

So we checked up a bit more on it and decided to book it. Now we haven;t done a lot of adventure sports, as my travel partner (i.e. my sister) is one scared goose. But for some reason she agreed to so we went ahead and booked it.

There were a couple of options available here and we had the option to customise it too –

Option 1 – Half a day tour – Includes a pick – up and drop from Bangkok / Pattaya (in an ac luxury van), flying fox adventure, a quick trip through the zoo, lunch, a bottle of water and a souvenir.

Option 2 – 2 day tour – Includes a pick – up and drop from Bangkok / Pattaya (in an ac luxury van), flying fox, open safari through the zoo (including tiger and monkey show), Tarzan Swing, Elephant Trek, Go Gibbon, all meals and a souvenir.

We just decided to go for option 1 and the all-inclusive cost was cost is 3299 Baht per person. Another thing to note here is that a certain percentage of this is utilised for gibbon conservation so it’s also for a good cause. 🙂

Though my scared sister was having second thoughts the previous night, we started the day very early at 6.30am to meet our driver at the pick-up point. We were a group of 3 and were joined by a solo German traveler.  The drive to this place took about 1.30 hours and was an enjoyable one. We also had fun amongst ourselves and chatted with our new traveler. On reaching Chonburi we met with the team that runs this and signed the required paperwork. We also got to choose 1 souvenir each and I chose a pink T-shirt with the flying gibbon over it.

We then donned our gear and got the required instructions from our guides, since this was the first time for all 4 of us. We then climbed a short way up a hill and started our zipping adventure along the ropeways. And this was super super fun and as close as I have ever come to actual flying. During the first 2 – 3 jumps we were a little scared but then we got the hang of things and loved the experience. And the best one is the last zipline which is over 300 metres long. Since this is so long you tend to go at a really fast speed and turn all around on the cable.

The Jump, Flight of the Gibbon

The Flying Fox

This whole experience is like you are flying at a high-speed over tree tops – like a tarzan with adrenaline pumping in you and fresh air rushing through you. It is like a world breezing by you and you are just free. It was super exciting and exhilarating and gave us an idea what a wild animals feel like in the open jungle environment and why they should be free. The views from the tree top is beautiful too with miles and miles of green trees all around and some very rare species too.

Views from the highest platform

The descent

The suspended bridges

I feel this is one thing that you actually have to experience and you just cant put words to how this feels.

The best parts / highlights about this flying fox / zipline are –

• There are 24 platform stations and 3 kms of ziplines that are carefully woven in the jungle ecosystem that gives an experience of being a free flying monkey in the jungle.
• They also have 2 suspended sky bridges and 2 abseil descents. This gives an all round experience.
• We had 2 really fun and amazing guides who made sure about our safety and also made this experience more fun with their jokes.

Post the flying fox, we had a quick and tasty Thai lunch which included a salad, rice, curry and fresh fruits for desert. We then went for a ride through the Khao Kheow Safari and saw some wild animals in the zoo including the Gibbons. They have some really nice animals and the zoo is worth a visit if you have kids. Though we loved it as adults too.

Deers in the open, Khao Kheow Safari

The Gibbons – White is Female and Black is a male

Giraffes – You can feed them too

 

A Happy Ostrich

 

Beautiful Birds, but I don’t know the name

Some variety of fox

Again, don’t know the name of this animal but seen it in numerous animation movies

Post this we returned to Bangkok. Though we spent half a day here, if you have the time and kids with you then you can spend a night here in the tent and wake up with deers all around you.

Tips for the Trip –

1. You can check out this link for additional information – http://www.treetopasia.com/
2. There is a 10% discount for students so be sure to carry your ids.
3. Since this is wild life sanctuary I suggest to all to be careful of the environment and littering.
4. In the zoo you are allowed to touch numerous animals but please be sure not to trouble them