Up In The Air

I'm not usually the uber-adventurous type - I've never been bungee jumping or skydiving (I blame Reeves and my time in Namibia for that) but on my last day in Chiang Mai I decided to try my hand at abseiling and zip-lining through the forests of northern Thailand. Nell, Emily, Amy and I signed up with Jungle Flight for a 3 hour "treetop eco adventure" in the Doi Langka jungle.

Upon arrival we strapped into our harness and learned which ropes would be responsible for keeping us tethered to the zip line and not dropping 50+ meters into the forest below.  I definitely felt a little bit nervous when we stepped up to the first platform, but upon receiving assurance from our guide, Hero, I strapped on and conquered the first flight flawlessly (if I do say so myself.)

The jungle flight involved 22 zip-lines, some well over 100 meters in length, and 4 abseils - where you're attached to a rope and just do a straight drop unto a platform below. The final abseil was 40 meters to the ground and definitely induced a minor panic - but it was all good and Hero took great care not to drop any of us.

photo courtesy of Nell. 

It was so much fun to try something new, enjoy the beautiful trees and mountains in the distance, and fly through the air.  Once we all relaxed we were able to have a lot of fun with it, letting go and waving our arms and kicking up our feet.  The final flight we were strapped on from our backs instead of on our waist so we were able to fly "superman" style across the jungle - it was a lot of fun but it certainly caused for some awkward pictures with the harness! : )