10 DAYS, LAOS COUNTRY & PEOPLE

Itinerary

ITINERARY IN DETAILS:

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 – XIENGKHOUANG (B)    
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:VIENTIANE – 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 :        KHONG 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.