Meet upon
arrival, you are welcome to Luang Prabang, the ancient first capital of
Lane Xang kingdom, the center of religious life in Laos and today the
World Heritage City. Transfer to your hotel for check-in.
In the
afternoon, we take a sightseeing tour of the sacred city of temples, of
which nearly fifty temples still remain in the town and surrounding
areas.
Day 1. Arrival - Luang Prabang
Meet upon
arrival, you are welcome to Luang Prabang, the ancient first capital of
Lane Xang kingdom, the center of religious life in Laos and today the
World Heritage City. Transfer to your hotel for check-in.
In the
afternoon, we take a sightseeing tour of the sacred city of temples, of
which nearly fifty temples still remain in the town and surrounding
areas. Visit Wat Visoun, the 16th century temple served as a small
museum for religious artifacts; Wat Aham, the early 19th century
temple, whose two guardian figures at the foot of the steps which
represent two characters from the Ramayana – Hanuman, the Monkey God
and a fierce Yaksa; Wat Xiengthong, the 16th century temple which, more
than any temples in Luang Prabang, epitomizes all the elegance and
grace of Luang Prabang architecture; Phousi Hill, the 328 steps leads
to the summit of Phousi hill that dominates the sky-line of Luang
Prabang overlooking the finest panoramic view in the whole Luang
Prabang.Overnight at hotel in Luangprabang
Day 2. Luang Prabang - Pak Ou Cave (B,L)
Following
breakfast, we depart hotel to the boat landing, and take an excursion
(a few hours) by boat, upstream on the Mekong to visit Pak Ou cave in
the side of a lime stone cliff and opposite of the mouth of the Mekong
and Ou rivers. The sanctuaries at Pak Ou consist of two large caves,
both repositories for thousands of Buddha images, which range from mere
centimeter to two meters in height.
En route, Lao typical villages
are barely visible behind a screen of foliage. Slender canoes bobbing
by the shore, bamboo poles and floats mark the location of nets and
fish traps. Our first stop will be at Ban Muangkeo, a well-known
village for Lao traditional rice whisky, namely Laoh-Khao to be
distilled. We are welcome to taste and also take it away. We have lunch
at a riverside restaurant.
We arrive back at Luang Prabang in late
afternoon, and continue to drive outskirt of town to visit Ban
Xangkhong, a well-known village for its wood paper making and also Lao
silk weavings with natural dyes. Overnight at hotel in Luangprabang
Day 3. Luang Prabang - Kuangsi Waterfall (B,L)
An
morning breakfast, we visit the National Museum, the former Royal
Palace which houses the collection of valuables including the famous
Prabang Buddha statue, gifts received from foreign dignitaries…etc.
Just before we take a drive (30 km South) to visit Kuangsi Waterfall,
which, though not very high, is spectacular and really beautiful with
its green surroundings as the preserved National park. We stop
en-route, stop to visit a fresh produced market namely Talad Phosy, and
also visit Ban Na Oune, a small village of a hill-tribe group “Hmong”,
probably the best-known minority group in Laos. Just before arriving at
Kuangsi waterfall, there is another village of Khmu minority group,
namely Ban Tha Pane that we will visit. Our picnic lunch is served at
the shady park nearby Kuangsi waterfall. There is plenty of time for
relaxing and a swim in the cool water, before we head back to Luang
Prabang in the late afternoon. The rest of the day is spent by visiting
various craft-shops, including silver smiths’ and also Hmong market in
town, where some skilled embroidery-works of Hmong ladies can be seen.
Overnight at hotel in Luangprabang
Day 4. Luang Prabang -
After
breakfast, we take our long trip by road about 8-9 hours from Luang
Prabang over the high land through beautiful nature and scenic views to
Xiengkhouang, the province which is best-known for having been heavily
bombed during Indochina War, apart from the famous historic Plain of
Jars.
Arrive in Phonesavanh (Xiengkhouang), transfer to our hotel for check-in. Overnight at hotel in XiengKhouang.
Day 5. XiengKhouang (B)
After
breakfast, we drive (10 km SE of Phonesavanh) to visit the Plain of
Jars, the archaeological stone Jars, which dated back at least 2000
years ago and also continue to visit the Plain of Jars (site 2). We
en-route visit villages of Hmong minority group, where we can learn
more about their housing, living and working conditions which are
completely different from others. In the afternoon, we drive to Muang
Khoune, the old capital of Xiengkhouang, which was heavily damaged
during the war, but there are still some former French settlement and
hospital to be seen as well as the damaged famous temple of Wat Phia
Wat. Overnight at hotel in XiengKhouang.
Day 6. XiengKhouang - Vientaine (B)
Breakfast
at hotel, before waving good bye to Xiengkhouang, it is also
interesting to visit both food and central markets in town.
Transfer
to airport for departure by QV flight to Vientiane, the city of the
moon – an ancient city, situated on the bend on the left bank of the
Mekong as the largest city and the capital of Laos. Arrive in Vientiane
and transfer to hotel for check-in.
In the afternoon, we take a
sightseeing tour of Vientiane, to visit religious museums of Wat
Sisaket, the oldest temple to have been survived from the Siamese war
of 1828 and its cloister contains more than 8000 Buddha statues; Wat Ho
Prakeo, the former home-temple of the Emerald Buddha statue or Pra Keo,
but today it contains a collection of Buddha statues, antiques and all
artifacts found in around Vientiane; That Luang Stupa, the single most
important monument in Laos, which was built to cover the original small
stupa containing a piece of the chest bone of Buddha; Patouxay (Arch de
Triumph), built quite recently in commemoration of those who died
during the wars in the past and it is today as the land-mark of
Vientiane. Overnight at hotel in Vientiane.
Day 7. Ientiane - Pakse - Boloven Pleateu - Pakse (B,L)
An
early breakfast, we depart hotel to Wattay airport for departure to
Pakse, the provincial capital of Champasack at the confluence of the
Mekong and Sedon rivers and it is the center for trading between
Thailand and Vietnam. Arrive in Pakse, transfer to our hotel to leave
our bags and to freshen up before continuing the trip.
We continue
to drive about a few hours to Boloven Plateau, the fertile farmland for
a strong agricultural base, supporting coffee, tea and cardamom
plantations. It is also the home to number of ethnic minorities.
En-route, we stop to visit Ban Houei Houne, a village of ethnic
minority of Katou. We will learn more about traditional way of rural
life with their fascinating culture of people there. There are lots of
nice views of villages with tea and coffee plantations along the road
side. Lunch is at Tadlo restaurant in the forest overlooking a nice
view of Saset stream. After lunch, we continue to visit more villages
of ethnic Alak, Ngea, these minorities are very similar to the Katou.
Getting back to Pakse in late afternoon and take a nice rest of the
day.Overnight at hotel in Pakse.
Day 8. Vientiane - Pakse - Wat Phou - Khong Island (B,L)
Breakfast
at hotel, we take a short drive to the boat landing, and take an
morning boat ride about 1 ½ hours downstream on the Mekong river,
through beautiful scenery with mountains range and also local villages
along the Mekong valleys to Champasack, the nearest town to the
fantastic archaeological sight of Wat Phou.
Arrive in Champasack,
continue by car about 15mn drive to visit Wat Phou, a site of ancient
religious significance in one of the most spectacular regions of Laos.
Lunch is served at local restaurant in Champasack.
Continue by car
about 2hrs drive to get to Khong Island, the 4.000 Islands, where the
Mekong reaches up to 14km wide during the rainy season. Don Khong is
the largest of the Mekong Islands at 16 km long and 8 km wide and its
capital is Muang Khong, a small former French settlement.
We take a small ferry boat to cross to Khong Island and check-in at hotel.
Day 9. Kong Island (B,L)
Early
breakfast, we take another boat ride for 1 hour from Khong Island
downstream to Done Khone, another large island covered in coconut
palms, flame trees, stands of bamboo, kapok trees and hard woods.
En-route,
it is very picturesque of beautiful small green islands and also people
doing fishing with fish nets and traps. We pass the former port with
its steel rail jetty remained on the right bank before getting to Done
Khone.
We stroll to explore the peaceful island and to visit old
railway with old locomotive and boiler car, which the French ever built
in Laos.
After lunch at local restaurant, we take a boat ride to the
main land for continuing to drive to Khonephapheng, the most impressive
Mekong waterfall in Laos and it is reputed as the biggest waterfall in
Southeast Asia and the widest one in the world. We get back to our
hotel in late afternoon.
Day 10. Khong Island - Pakse - Ubon (Thailand) (B,L)
Breakfast
at hotel, it will be an optional walk to visit local morning which is
opened only a few hours in early morning. We wave good bye to Khong
Island by acrossing the Mekong to the main land and head back to Pakse.
It will take a bout 3 hours drive, but en-route, we also stop at Ban
Kiet Khong to have an elephant ride about 1-2 hours through the forest
up to the high land area where there is a ruined temple Asa, to be
visited. Lunch is at local restaurant. We arrive back to Pakse in the
afternoon and proceed to drive across the Mekong Bridge to Vang Tao -
Chongmek, the entry and exit point between Thailand and Laos.
After having checked through immigration and customs, we continue to drive to Ubon airport for departure to next destination.
End of service.
This tour can be customized as you wish!
As indicated: (A/C= Air-conditioning, O/N= Overnight, B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner
Rates are subjected to changed without prior notice