Best of Laos 11 days

Welcome to Luang Prabang. Upon arrival, tour guide and driver welcome you at the airport then take you to hotel to check-in.

After a soft rest, you will start the city tour with a visit to the magnificent Wat Xiengthong, a superb piece of Lao temple architecture, presenting a sweeping two-tiered roof and ornate mosaics including a beautiful ‘tree of life ‘glass montage on the rear temple wall. If we have enough time, we will take a short walk around the small streets of city center, watching the life of local people, and visiting the traditional house of Heuan Chan, the Chantal wooden house dating back to 100 years old. After that, we visit Royal Palace Museum, which was built in 1904 during the French colonial era for King Sisavang Vong and his family.

In the late afternoon, we climb up to the top of Mount Phousi for an enjoyable exploration of the sacred, gilded stupa as well as a panoramic sunset view of the city and the Mekong River. Nest, we join a private Baci ceremony at a local family. The Baci ceremony as a traditional ritual of the Lao people expresses the spirituality of the country and is a highly memorable experience and a deep insight into Lao culture for the participants.

Tonight, we will have dinner with the host family. This is a great chance to know more about Laos’s culture, customs.

• Luang Prabang

This morrning, we will wake up at around 05:30 am - 06:30 am depending on seasons to prepare for the most sacred tradition of Laos, the daily morning alms giving, which dates to the 14^th 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 chance to experience the taste of local life

After having breakfast at hotel, we will make a visit to the city’s oldest temple of Wat Sene. Next, we embark on the leisurely cruise upstream on the Mekong River, giving us a breathtaking view of the tranquil countryside, before reaching the mysterious Pak Ou Caves, a 16th century cave monastery filled with thousands of Buddha images, which locates 25 Kilometers North of Luang Prabang in the limestone cliffs overlooking the Mekong river. 

En route, you will stop at Ban Muang Keo, a well-known village for its traditional Lao rice whisky distilling. You will arrive back in Luang Prabang.
On the way back to Luang Prabang, we visit the magnificent Wat Xiengthonga 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. Our last stop is the Traditional Art and Ethnology Center(closed on Monday) to learn about Laos’ many ethnic cultures.

After tour, we come back to hotel and relax for the whole evening.

• Pak Ou Caves

After breakfast, tour guide and driver pick up you at lobby at 8:00 am to start today tour. We will have a closer look to the daily Laotian life by heading out for a morning at a community-based living rice farm in the idyllic countryside outside Luang Prabang. Surrounded by mountains and rice paddies, it’s a great chance to experience rural life as a Laotian farmer would, trying your hand at various farm activities – or observing them from a traditional Lao rice house balcony, set amidst rice terraces and an organic vegetable farm. You'll have time to check out nearby workshops where local bamboo weavers, blacksmiths and sugar cane processors practice their crafts. We then take a tour of the organic garden to learn how natural herbs are used in traditional medicine.

After that, we drive directly to Kuang Si waterfalls, where we will enjoy the lunch at Carpe Diem Restaurant, nesting inside a tropical green garden.
After lunch, we will have a chance to admire the beautiful Kuang Si waterfalls -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 theBear Rescue Center, which houses a couple of dozen animals rescued from the hands of poachers and traffickers.
On the way back to Luang Prabang, 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. This is also the perfect spot for you to enjoy the drink, whilst the sun setting behind the mountain. After tour, we will come back to hotel.

• Mahout Experience

Let’s start our interesting tour today to the Elephant Village.

Tour guide and driver pick up you at 8:00 am then we transfer to the elephant village.

On arrival,  we are welcomed and greeted by our camp manager and participate in short briefing about elephants. After that, we will enjoy the impressive experience of a 30-minute elephant ride on your elephant’s neck. We then receive basic mahout training on how to control an elephant.  Lunch is served at the Elephant Restaurant
Bathe Your Elephant: Take your own elephant down to the Nam Khan River for an exhilarating bathing experience!
Boat trip to the Tad Sae Waterfall: Take a traditional Lao long boat to the Tad Sae Waterfall and relax in the clear water.
We are free to stroll around the Elephant Village before transferring directly to the nearby Lao Spirit Resort, the lovely resort nesting inside the virgin forest, overlooking the gentle Nam Khan River, where we will spend the night.

• Mahout

This morning, you will be picked up at 8:00 am then we drive to Vang Vieng. Our intrepid journey will be strenuous as we drive along one of the most scenic region of Laos. The road is now good enough for our drive.

It takes around 1 hour driving. We will have chance to enjoy the panoramic view at the highest peak of the area, which is more than 2000 meter high.

From there, we will visit Pha Hom market, where we can find various offer of wild animals. We will also stop at Ban Phouhin Lekphay to see the life of Khmu hill-tribe. We will make the last photo stop at Phatang Mountain view point to admire the beautiful scenery before reaching Vang Vieng.
Upon arrival, we transfer to visit the cave of Tham Jang, which was used in the early 19th century in defense against the Chinese invaders.
From there, we transfer directly to Ban Thaheua, where we will spend the night at the lovely resort overlooking Nam Ngum lake, the ‘sea of Laos’.

• Vang Vieng

Let’s wake up early today to admire serene sunrise over the peaceful lake. Our guide will escort you to the nearby area to watch the local villagers preparing for their busy day.
After breakfast, we will join the 2-hour kayaking around the lake of Nam Ngum to the nearby islets on the lake or the local villages.

In the afternoon, we bid farewell to the lake and drive to Vientiane. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, this capital conjures up exotic images, with a curious mix of Lao, Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, French influences.

Upon arrival, we check in your hotel in town. You will have free time to stroll around this charming town, the most laid-back capital of Asia.

• Vientian

Let’s start our tour today with the first visit to Wat Si Muang, which is very famous for its supernatural power. After that, we transfer out to see Buddha Park, an enchanting collection of Buddhist and Hindu sculptures on the Mekong Riverside meadow, close to the Friendship Bridge. There are approximately 200 religious images dating back over 500 years, which were created by a mysterious monk spreading his philosophy on life and revealing his ideas about the universe. In the afternoon, we see the major sights of the capital; including the oldest Wat Sisaket, the temple with thousands of miniature Buddha statues and the former royal temple of Wat Prakeo, which previously housed the famous Emerald Buddha Image.

On the way to Lao’s national icon, the famous and sacred structure of That Luang Stupa, we stop enroute to take some pictures of the imposing Patuxay Monument, which is well known as Vientiane’s own Arc de Triumph.

After tour, we come back to hotel to relax and free time for the whole evening.

• Buddha Park

Have breakfast at your hotel. Free time until driver picks up you at hotel then take you to airport to take the short flight to Pakse, which is the biggest city of the Southern Laos.

Upon arrival, we 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. 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.

After tour, we come back to hotel to relax.

• Pakse Market

After breakfast at hotel, tour guide picks up you at lobby at 8:30 am then we drive to Champasak. Along the way, we will have chance to enjoy the scenery around Tad Fan waterfall, which is spectacular with twin waterfalls plummeting into a deep gorge surrounded by flourishing vegetation. We will also see the cultivation of rich coffee, tea, cardamom, bananas, and other crops that are grown in the area.

Upon arrival, wevisit Wat Phou, an ancient Khmer religious complex dating back to the 5th Century. 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 during the rule 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. After your visit, we continue in to Champasak to see samples of French colonial architecture before driving to Done Khong where you have the rest of the day to relax or to explore the island.

• Wat Phou

After breakfast, 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, we will 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.

• Khone PhaPheng

Have breakfast at hotel. Free time to stroll around the resort for your own exploration or relax by the inviting pool until driver picks up you and take you to airport for your departure flight.

Thanks for joining us and we hope to see you in the future.

• Chongmek Border