Explore the jungle from the tallest Laos treehouse system

Remember when you were little and loved to hang out in the treehouse and pretending you were in humid tropical heat of a jungle? Good news is we have found the perfect place to relive that childhood dream. Deep in a jungle, high in the trees and immersed in nature is The Gibbon Experience.

Lose yourself in a forest, surrounded by gibbons and other furry friends. Oh there’s an added bonus of being in the world’s highest tree house.

Found in Nam Kan National Park, these treehouses stand at an incredible 120 feet tall. So they’re not exactly like your childhood playhouses! As a result though, you can look down onto the canopy below and spy the gibbons from your lofty perspective.

As if the treehouses weren’t special enough, The Gibbon Experience have decided the best way to reach them was by ziplines. And we are big fans of this kind of thinking.

There are 15 kilometres of ziplines, some stretching up to 600 metres. You can really pretend you’re at one with the gibbons here. Since 2003, all the treehouses are accessible in this novel way. And they’re rather helpful in cutting down exploration times.

With 136,000 hectares of National Park to cover, you’ll be pleased to learn that eight hour treks have been cut down to two hours. Not to mention, made a zillion times more fun.

Wake up to a gibbons-singing-alarm-clock in your forest hideaway. Over breakfast, watch them swinging through the branches. But you have to keep your eyes peeled as the primates can reach speeds up to 35 mph as they zoom by. Their arms are twice the lengths of their bodies and one and half the lengths of their legs. Needless to say, these guys can really compete with the ziplines!

The population of black crested gibbons found here are part of an endangered species that only number 1,300-2000 globally. And the gibbons here are thought to be the only viable population outside of Yunnan.

When you stay here you’re helping to preserve the Bokeo Forest. In addition, the company aims to conserve and protect wildlife and habitat of this landscape. They work with the local community, now employing 130 people. The money is spent on forest patrols, planting 100,000 trees a year and local school engagement.

You have several options on how long and strenuous you want to make your stay. Your highest chance of seeing gibbons, with minimal effort, is the Classic Experience, which is three days and two nights. However, for explorers it’s best to book Waterfall which is the same length of time but you get taken into the National Park to waterfalls and pools. If you’re passing through the area only briefly, there’s Express which takes you on the whistle stop tour.

We can’t refuse an invitation to be a visitor into the gibbon’s home, and we’re sure we’ll feel right at home. After all, we do share 98% of our DNA with these cheeky primates.