On arrival at the Luang Prabang airport, you will be met and
transferred to check in the hotel.
Situated in the centre of northern Laos, Luang Prabang is
classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its outstanding cultural,
historic and architectural values and its harmonious relationship between the
natural and built environment.
You are free to stroll around the city for your own first
impression of this ancient city.
Late afternoon, join a private Baci ceremony at a local family.
The Baci ceremony as a traditional ritual of the Lao people to expresses the
spirituality of the country and is a highly memorable experience and a deep
insight into Lao culture for the participants.
Dinner will be served after that for you to share with the host
family. This is the best chance for you to have first experience of local life
and culture.
Overnight in Luang Prabang.
Meal: Dinner.
Tour included: Private transportation with English speaking guide,
entrance fee, Dinner with the host family, accommodation.
Breakfast at hotel.
You will first visit Royal Palace
Museum, which was built in 1904 during the French colonial era for King
Sisavang Vong and his family. We then embark on a leisure cruise upstream on
the Mekong River, which also gives us a breathtaking view of the tranquil
countryside, before reaching the mysterious Pak Ou Caves, two linked caves
crammed with thousands of gold lacquered Buddha statues of various shapes and
sizes left by pilgrims. Along the way,
we stop at the village of Ban Xanghai, where they make the local rice wine.
On arrival back in the city, we will
visit magnificent Wat Xiengthong a superb piece of Lao temple architecture,
which presents a sweeping two-tiered roof and ornate mosaics including a
beautiful ‘tree of life ‘glass montage on the rear temple wall. Afterwards, we will visit the Traditional Art
and Ethnology Center (closed on Monday) to learn about Laos’ many ethnic
cultures. From there, we will transfer to visit Wat Prabath to admire the
sunset; this is the really peaceful place to catch the last beauty of the day.
The tour ends after a visit to the famous Night Market, where you can find a
lovely collection of handmade textiles made by local and hill tribe people
surrounding Luang Prabang. Overnight in Luang Prabang.
Meal: Breakfast, Lunch.
Wake up as the sun rises, we will
prepare to join the most sacred tradition of Laos, the daily morning alms
giving, which dates to the 14th century. More than 200 Buddhist monks depart
from various temple to gather their daily meal from the faithful residents
sitting quietly on the streets.
From there, we will visit the temporary
morning market near the former Royal Palace. Just set on the ground, the local
people come here to barter their day’s catch from rice, to vegetable, to fish,
or chicken. This is the best way to experience the taste of local life.
After breakfast at the hotel, we ascend the 329 steps to the top
of Phousi Hill for a panoramic view of the city and the Mekong River. We then
transfer directly to the beautiful Kuang Si waterfalls which is the biggest in
the Luang Prabang area with three tiers leading to a 50-metre drop into
spectacular azure pools before flowing downstream. The pools also make great
swimming holes and are very popular with both tourists and locals
We will also take a short visit to the Bear Rescue Center, which
houses a couple of dozen animals rescued from the hands of poachers and
traffickers.
Before returning to Luang Prabang, we stop to visit the Kuang Si
Falls Butterfly Park (closed from 15 APR – 30 JUN; 01-14 SEP, & 01 JAN
every year), whose mission is to create a research centre studying and
publishing about Laos butterflies, host plants and preservation.
Laos is also known for its traditional crafts, we will take a
short visit to the Ock Pop Tock Living Craft Center, set serenely close to the
Mekong, this beautiful, traditionally styled workshop, where weavers, spinners
and batik makers produce top-quality fabrics, offers free tours every
half-hour. Overnight in Luang Prabang.
Meal: Breakfast, Lunch.
Tour
included: Private transportation with
English speaking guide for tour, lunch, entrance fee, accommodation.
Breakfast at hotel.
We will take the morning flight to Pakse, the biggest town of
southern Laos. Flight QV513 LPQ PKZ 10:40 12:20
Then depart for the Bolaven Plateau, a mountainous region home
to dozens of hill tribes, waterfalls and coffee and tea plantations.
The first stop is the visit of Tad Lo waterfalls, a beautiful
formation of three separate falls. From the bridge, you will first see Tad Hang
and then Tad Lo in the distance. The most impressive of the three, Tad Suong,
is located a further 10km upriver.
From there, we will drive to the small village of Ban Houay
Houn, famous for its Katu textiles. Here, you will have the chance to observe
the women weaving without a traditional loom but using their legs to stretch
the fabric.
We continue our journey through the Paksong and Boloven Plateau.
The Boloven Plateau is known for its cooler temperature being located high
above the Mekong Valley. Rivers run off this high plateau in all directions and
then plunge out to lush forests along in a series of spectacular surging
waterfalls. Overnight in Bolaven Plateau.
Meal: Breakfast, Lunch.
Tour
included: Private transportation with
English speaking guide for tour, lunch, entrance fee, accommodation.
Breakfast at hote.
09:00am, we will meet the Jeep tour
specialist at Chai Coffee, and have some discussion with him there when
enjoying a cup of coffee.
After that, we will hop on the Jeep and
drive 30 minutes to Tad Moun waterfalls, where we can enjoy the fresh cool
water, and visit the nearby vegetable farm.
11:00 Am, we continue driving to the
Coffee Farm of Mr. Khamsone via the 10KM bumpy and muddy road, which will take
you 01 hour with your special Jeep car.
Upon arrival, Mr. Khamsone, the Coffee
farm’s owner will take 1 hour to demonstrate about coffee roasting step and
finishing by a coffee cupping to Savor the different kind of coffee (Robusta,
Arabica and Typica).
We will have the picnic lunch on the
farm at around 1:30PM before continue driving to Laven village to see their
daily life and their paddy field.
From there, we will drive to Suay
village, where we can find many traditional long houses made by bamboo, which
is shared by some generations of 01 family.
Finally, we will drive back to your
hotel. Free for the rest of the day. Overnight in Bolaven Plateau.
Meal: Breakfast, Lunch.
Tour
included: Private transportation with
English speaking guide for tour, lunch, entrance fee, accommodation.
After breakfast, transfer by road to Wat Phou.
Recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, Wat Phou
is a spectacular pre-Angkorian temple that sits amidst the rice fields and
waterways of southern Laos. The temple
was constructed in three levels: the bottom level is focused on the baray
(water reservoir) and promenade, the second level features quadrangular
pavilions and galleries of carvings, and the top level is the sanctuary
itself. The temple was built by the
rulers of the Khmer empire before the construction of Angkor Wat. The temple served as the most important
economic and political centre of the region and still is one of the Lao people’s
most revered temples.
Pass through the small town of Champasak, where French
colonial buildings offer a great contrast to Wat Phou. Continue south, stopping
at the wood carving village of Ban Nong Bune.
On arrival in the
small Lao village of Ban Kiet Ngong you will have lunch (your own account) in a
simple local restaurant.
In the afternoon,
you are free in the afternoon to relax and enjoy the view of the paddy field
surrounding the lodge.
There are some
choice of activities offered by the lodge if you want some.
Overnight at King
Fisher Eco-Lodge.
Meal: Breakfast.
Breakfast at hotel.
Saying goodbye to the village of Ban Khiet Ngong, we continue
driving to Khong Island, the biggest island of 4000-island area. Upon arrival,
we embark on a long tail boat for venturing into the widest reach of the Mekong
River, where during the dry season the waters recede and leave behind thousands
of islets, giving this area a lovely name” Si Phan Done”. Upon arrival, explore
the local peaceful villages of Ban Khone, where you will see an array of relics
from the French colonial era and retrace the old colonial past, including old
French colonial buildings and the remnants of the first Lao railway with its
locomotive. We continue to discover the 4000 islands area by tuktuk and visit
the marvelous Liphi waterfall, also called the "Corridor of the
Devil" one of the most beautiful waterfalls marking Lao border with
Cambodia. If we are lucky, we may even see the rare freshwater Irrawaddy Mekong
dolphin at Ban Hang Khone. We return to the mainland at the fishing village of
Ban Nakasang and drive further south to visit Khone Phapheng. Khone Phapheng is
considered the largest waterfall by volume in South East Asia; this is an
impressive spot near the Lao-Cambodian border, set within an area which is
teeming with wildlife, making this area one of the most breathtaking
destinations in Laos. Afterwards we drive back to Khong Island. Overnight in
Khong Island.
Meal: Breakfast, Lunch.
Tour
included: Private transportation with
English speaking guide for tour, lunch, entrance fee, accommodation.
From the island, you can choose to either continue via Dom
Kralor border to Cambodia, the Kingdom of Wonders; or back to Pakse to take the
departure flight for the next destination.
Tour included: Private transportation with English speaking guide
