People & Culture

Jan 2, 2019
A Trip of a Lifetime to Laos and Myanmar

Bagan

We’re proud to offer our employees a company-funded Trip of a Lifetime to the destination of their choice for every five years of employment. Senior Test Engineer Hans Dahlin recently returned from his five-year trip and shared some unforgettable highlights:

“I want to thank Arthrex for an amazing trip to Southeast Asia! My wife Helena and I have been backpacking for more than 20 years with our children, especially in Asia, but this was our first trip to Laos and Myanmar. We wanted to visit these two countries in part because they aren’t as touristy as Thailand and Vietnam.

One of many places we visited in Laos was Luang Prabang in northern Laos. This small town is located on the countryside by the Mekong River and it had a very different atmosphere than the capital, Vientiane. We took an excursion outside of Luang Prabang to visit 'Kuang Si,' a stunningly beautiful waterfall, and even took a dip in the lagoon.

We then went by slow boat for two days on the Mekong River before the highlight of our time in Laos: the Gibbon Experience, which is a wildlife adventure where you explore the jungle. We decided to do a three-day tour where we spent two nights in a treehouse more than 100 feet off the ground.

Treehouse

We started the trip driving into the jungle in a Jeep and then, after hours, we continued to travel by foot. We hiked with two guides and used some zip lines along the route. It was an amazing experience to sleep in a treehouse and listen to the sound of gibbons. We were also lucky to see some gibbons!

BananaLeafWe traveled during the rainy season, which meant that the roads were very muddy and slippery, so we had to walk more than usual. On the way back, after hiking in the mud for eight hours, we were so exhausted that we laid down on a huge banana leaf in the mud to relax!

When we returned to civilization again we flew to Myanmar. Due to civil wars and military regimes, Myanmar hasn’t been open to tourists for that long. The main purpose of the visit to Myanmar was to see the 1,000-year-old temples in the old town of Bagan, which is an enormous area with over 2,000 temples.

We also visited Inle Lake and Mandalay, the former royal capital in northern Myanmar, which were other interesting destinations.

On the way back, we had layover in Singapore and visited the rooftop restaurant and lounge CE LA VIE in the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, which offered a spectacular sunset view. It was an extraordinary end to our four-week Asia trip!

Thank you again, Arthrex, for this trip of a lifetime!”

Look for more Trip of a Lifetime highlights from Arthrex employees on our FacebookTwitter and Instagram!

Singapore