Patient patients

Over 2000 patients were seen by the clinicians at the Hin Heup clinic over three days.  Waiting patiently was required.

Medical clinic

Just back from Hin Heup, about 2 hours from Vientiane, where I have spent the past three days with 9 amazing students who were translating for local villagers attending a medical clinic. Doctors and dentists and opticians and associates from Malaysia and Singapore were running the voluntary clinic. It was amazing, the logistics, the systems, the practice, the crowd and the VIS students

How did it get there?

 

Each morning we asked ourselves "How did they make these tree houses"  AMAZING, in the middle of the jungle in the middle of nowhere and up a VERY high tree.

Misty Jungle Morning

The mornings were cool and misty and magical in the treehouse.  Unbelievably I was awake at 6.30am.  Some in the group were out on the lines, but I thought it was safer to wait for the guide.  Zip lining before breakfast - WOW.

Zipping out of the Tree house

Accommodation on the Gibbon Experience was in tree houses.  Constructed near the canopy, 50 m + above the ground, they could only be accessed by zip lines.  Here is  our guide Khert, zipping out.  Yes, I had done the same thing 5 minutes prior to taking this photo.

Food and hot water were zipped in as well - totally amazing.

Life in a Tree House

Inside the tree house.  The group I was with were lovely- three backpackers,  Omri from Israeel, Bram (call me Sandy - or Bob Marley which the guide called him and Blair from Arizona) - and  a family from Tel Aviv.  Eran and his two daughters, Maya, 10 and Nette 14, and his father.  Our guides were great too. Here is La helping prepare fruit for dinner.  

Not the best photo, but between the huge branches you can see the loo with a view - or the toilet on the edge as Sandy called it.

Back From the Jungle

Back in Vientiane today after  a week's holiday for the "boat racing".  I spent the time in the north of Laos, especially in the far north -west corner, what was once part of the Golden Triangle, near the border with Thailand and Myanmar.  

A highlight was  "The Gibbon Experience".  I spent three days in the jungle, zip lining into tree houses in the jungle and trekking through the forest. It was amazing.  No Gibbons were spotted, but the views from the treehouses were magnificent.