France to go

We’ve got our gear, now where do we jump?

Today Evan and I went on the Flight of the Gibbon treetop zip-line adventure. We got picked up at 8:30 a.m. and driven out of Chiang Mai, up a windy mountain road. We got outfitted with harnesses, helmets and “brakes” — V-shaped pieces of bamboo. Then our group of 8 was driven to our starting point — a platform by a tree on one side of a gorge.

After some brief instruction, which included pretty little — basically, you just hold on to the rope, keep your feet up and brake when told — we were clipped in, then sent off, one by one, hanging from a steel cable, to a platform on a tree maybe 10-seconds’ journey on the line away. When we got there, we were clipped to a safety line while we waited for the rest of the group to cross, swaying the tree each time they hopped off the platform and put their weight on the line.

Oh, I jump now? Here I go…

The day continued with us leaping between the trees, past streams and by plenty of lush greenery. There were also a few rope bridges to cross as well as 3 points where our instructors belayed us down to lower platforms — sometimes as frighteningly fast speeds for parts of the journey.

We were constantly reminded, “Legs Up!” to keep them from smashing into the landing platforms, and of course to “Braaaake!” Some group members did better than others with taking directions, but everyone ultimately got across safely, including a little kid who one the longest line got stuck halfway across because she wasn’t heavy enough to make the journey. The instructor went out and met her, the pulled her to meet the rest of us. One of our guides, Jabu, liked to cross the gaps upside down, which was quite a sight. I don’t think we could have done that in the harnesses we had, though.

Post-lunch activity: waterfall hike

When we were done with the tree course, which lasted about 2 hours, we had some lunch up by the main office. Then we were driven to a pretty waterfall that we hiked up (well, climbed the stairs to) as a group but sans guide.

Sadly, that was the last stop on our mountain adventure. We drove back to town, had some food, and shopped at the outdoor market by Tha Pae Gate. Then I got all caught up on my blogging (whew!).

Check out all of our high-flying photos (they’re quite funny) in Evan’s Facebook album.

July 6, we went to Hammamat Ma’in and the Dead Sea.

Going under the hot waterfall at Hammamat Ma’in

Hammamat Ma’in is a hot spring complex off a windy road with views of the Dead Sea. We got past the gates, where there’s a hotel and spa (which are both closed and apparently everything by them is off limits), parked, and were directed to the main attraction — a hot waterfall.

We walked up the steps to the caves behind the waterfall and found two men sitting in the steam who told us that the water up there is too hot to go in. On the lower tiers, under the falling water, the temperature was a bit cooler, but not much. We were only able to stay in the water for a few minutes before getting too hot.

I went in wearing my shirt and Evan’s shorts since there were some families also in the water, and the women were just going in wearing all their clothing, veils included.

There was also another waterfall we had access to, but nobody was swimming in it because it was even hotter than the one we went in. Our guidebook promised nice walks through the gorge, which we were hoping to do, but we were turned back by guards every time we tried to explore farther than the main waterfall, which was a bit disappointing.

Evan covered in Dead Sea mud

After the hot springs, we drove on a winding road down to the lowest place on earth — the Dead Sea. We got day passes to the Marriott resort, and went down to the beach to slather ourselves in dead sea mud, bake in the heat, and float around in the seriously salty water, which didn’t feel as slimy as I remembered from my trip to Israel 10 years ago.

When we were done by the sea, we had some lunch at a Champion’s sports bar, which felt eerily like being back in the U.S., then hung out by one of the three pools.

If you’ve been following my Twitter or Facebook updates, you should know that this is the day that my dehydration problems started — a rather uncomfortable combo of a stomach bug and not being able to absorb enough water, which resulted in spending the afternoon in a clinic getting IV fluids and antibiotics two days later… on both Evan’s and my birthday. More on that soon.

To check out more photos of us at Hammamat Ma’in and the Dead Sea, check out Evan’s Facebook gallery.