Flight or Fright? …. BOTH! It’s JUNGLE FLIGHT!!!
On our first free day in Chiangmai, Thailand, nine of us World Racers and my new friend Jenny (who I met at a coffee shop on my first full day here) signed up for the Jungle Flight. It is a 22 platform, tree top to tree top zipline tour through the jungle. This was a first time experience for myself and most of the others.
After doing some searching for a good deal and then negotiating a good price with my new friend Sue, I was feeling pretty confident that things would go well and a great time would be had by all. We woke up early Saturday morning and were just waiting for our ride. And waiting… and waiting…. I was starting to get a little concerned. But after a quick phone call to Sue, she assured me that someone would be there right away. I can trust her “She is honest Chiang Mai woman.” Not fifteen minutes later, she shows up on her moto to save the day. I am a little perplexed by this as I am not sure how she plans to transport 10 people on her moto. But no, that was not the plan. She said “Sammie! Don’t worry! You come with me. Hold on! We go now.” And we were off to do I am not sure what. Fortunately within 30 minutes or so, I had given the receipt to the necessary party, switched motos once, found the lost van, and returned to my nine friends anxiously waiting for our Jungle Flight that was beginning about two hours late.
But no worries, once the transportation was sorted out, things went smoothly. When we arrived, were informed that we were their first customers ever and it was opening day, “don’t worry.” Fortunately, those comments were just jokes. We got a real 30-second safety talk and harnessed up; no questions asked, no papers signed. I must say though, the harnessed was a little akward and uncomfortable. Oh, did I mention my fear of heights? As the time came near for the first zipline, I was started to getting a little nervous. I don’t think that cup of caffeine, I mean coffee, helped matters much.
After the first few ziplines, it was not as scary and I was able to just enjoy it…. Until, I tried the superman. The typical zipline position is what you see below. You are hooked by the clips attached to your chest. Like this, you have the option to hold on to the rope you see in my left hand and use your right hand to brake with the bamboo stick. Superman on the other hand is when you are attached by your back. You have nothing to hold onto and no brake. VERY scary the first time. In fact, I was having second thoughts before the guide just shoved me off the platform and I screamed helplessly. It was SO much fun!!!
After a few ziplines and the fear has subsided, I was able to enjoy the scenery. We were in the jungle, but when there were breaks in the trees you could see the mountains. It was gorgeous!
Everyone had a great time: screaming, laughing, smiling until our faces hurt.
Our tour guides really made our zipline adventure fun. Between the jokes, the pranks, and the comments, they had us laughing non-stop.
