The Beauty Of Laos Tour

Meals: None

Upon arrival, transfer to hotel 

Luang Phabang is a city in north central Laos, consisting of 58 adjacent villages, of which 33 comprise the UNESCO Town Of Luang Prabang World Heritage Site. It was listed in 1995 for unique and “remarkably” well preserved architectural, religious and cultural heritage, a blend of the rural and urban developments over several centuries, including the French colonial influences during the 19th and 20th centuries.

The city was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name. It had also been known by the ancient name of Xieng Thong. It was the royal capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos, until the Pathet Lao takeover in 1975. The city is part of Luang Prabang District of Luang Prabang Province and is the capital and administrative centre of the province. It lies approximately 300 km (186 mi) north of the capital Vientiane. 

The rest of day is at leisure.

Overnight in Luang Prabang.

You will have an early rise today to participate in the daily early morning ritual of saffron-clad monks with their black alms-giving bowls being given offerings from local people. Return to the hotel afterwards for breakfast, and then depart with your guide to the Phosi Market where you will see such diverse offerings as dried buffalo skin, local tea and salt-pepper among the chickens, vegetables and hill-tribe weavings.

With your expert guide, discover the former Royal Palace, now the National Museum, boasting a collection of historical items bringing to life the country’s history and the life of the Lao Royals. Built in 1904 in a blend of French & Lao styles, the museum is a treasure trove of culture and history and appears charmingly aged in a region with an undoubtedly illustrious history. The museum is framed beautifully by palm trees along a short avenue with a golden spire towering subtly from the rooftop. Italian marble steps lead you inside the main palace building, where you begin to explore the king’s reception room, galleries, a throne room, royal family residential quarters, exhibition halls, the iconic Pha Bang Buddha cast in bronze and covered in gold-leaf, it’s importance is clear in that it gave the city it’s name, rooms with musical instruments, and plenty more. The king left in 1975 and some of the palace appears much like it had upon his departure.

Nearby the palace, visit Wat Mai with its five-tiered roof and golden reliefs before heading out of the town center towards the Kuang Xi Waterfall.

Laos is also known for its traditional handicrafts, and today you will visit a local village of Lao ethnic minority groups at Ban Ouay and Ban Thapene, near the Kuang Xi Waterfall.

After the village visits, take a stroll around the lush natural environment by the beautiful Kuang Xi Waterfall and admire the terraced turquoise pools of water and walk along the forest paths. Back to the town and admire sunset on top of Phousi mountain.

Overnight in Luang Phabang.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Take a full-day boat trip on the mighty Mekong River to explore local villages at Ban Xiengmene and Ban Chan. Continue with the royal temple at Wat Longkhoun, which once belonged to the royal family and nearby Sackarine Caves and continue cruising Pak Ou caves. Explore caves and cross Mekong River at Ban Ou for lunch at a local restaurant. Return by road to Luang Prabang, stopping en route at Ban Xang Hai, where the residents create a unique rice wine called lao lao and continue to typical Lao villages at Ban Xangkhong and Ban Xienglek, well known for its hand-made Jute Sar paper.

Evening, join Baci ceremony and dinner at nice location.

Overnight in Luang Phabang

Meals: Breakfast

Transfer to airport for flight to Pakse.

Arrival at Pakse airport, you are met and transferred to Champassak district and to visit the fascinating pre-Angkorian ruins of Wat Phu, one of Southeast Asia’s most dramatically situated temples. We have time to explore these intriguing Khmer ruins, which are perched at the base of Mount Phu Kao. After that we continue our journey by road to Khong Island, stop en route to visit Khiet Ngong village.

Overnight in Khong Island.

Meals: Breakfast

After an early morning breakfast, we take the long tail boat to explore Khone Island. Here we begin by re-tracing the French colonial-past at Ban Khone, where some old colonial houses still stand and glimpse the first Lao railway with its own locomotive. We continue our exploration of the area by Tuk tuk to visit the beautiful Liphi waterfall, also known as the Samphamith, which forms a natural border between Lao and Cambodia. We return to Ban Nakasang by long tail boat and drive to the famous waterfall of Khone Phapeng – the largest waterfall in South East Asia, also known as the ‘Niagara of the east‘. We return to Pakse by road at late afternoon and stay overnight here. 

Visit Oup Moung temple if time permits.

Meals: Beakfast

We depart from Pakse and drive for around 19km to a small village which is famous for knife making, we spend some time here to see how knives are produced using traditional techniques before continuing onwards for another 14km to visit some tea plantations, here we see how tea is grown and produced, after which we carry on once again until arriving at the stunning Tad Fan waterfall. Here we take some time to look around and explore the local area which is home to coffee plantations, after which we head on to Tad Yeung waterfall which is where we take some time to relax or swim etc..
We head onwards to the fascinating Paksong Market which sells a great variety of different products and is a great place to look around! After spending time at the market we head on to Tadlo waterfall and stop to visit the ethnic Mon Khmer village of Kocphoung, the people are of Cambodian heritage and have a completely different culture and language to that of the majority Lao people. We head onwards from the village to Pha Suam waterfall which is the final stop and marks the end of an exciting day of sightseeing. 

Overnight in Paske

Meals: Breakfast

Transfer to airport for flight to Vientiane from there you will be picked up and transferred to check in your hotel 

Vientiane is a national capital of Laos, a green and quiet city with a mix of Lao, Chinese, Thai, French, Vietnamese and American influences. Begin a tour of the Lao capital, visiting around the city sights including the oldest Wat Sisaket, the temple with thousands of miniature Buddha statues and the former royal temple of Wat Prakeo previously housed the famous Emerald Buddha Image. Continue on to the famous and sacred structure of That Luang Stupa, stop to take photos of the imposing Patuxay Monument, which is well known as Vientiane’s own Arc de Triumph, from there you visit COPE center. The COPE was created in response to the need to provide UXO survivors with the care and support they required, namely by way of orthotic and prosthetic devices. The museum was set after in 1997 to help covering the victim during Indochina war.

Get back to hotel

Overnight in Vietiane

Meals: Breakfast

This morning, we drive out south from Vientiane city to visit the Buddha Park, an enchanting collection over 200 sculptures of various shapes and sizes Buddhist and Hindu in parkland on the banks of Mekong near the Friendship Bridge.

Transfer back to Vientiane for relaxing until drive to airport for departure.

The end of services.