Flight: PG941 Bangkok - Luang Prabang 10.05 - 12.05

Meet & greet: Upon arrival at Luang Prabang airport, you will be welcomed to Laos by your private English-speaking guide, and then transferred to your hotel for a 2 night stay.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Villa Maydou (Deluxe Poolside Room)

Morning walking tour of Luang Prabang: Your morning tour starts with a visit to the quaint Royal Palace Museum, which gives a good overview of the local history and features a guided audio tour. Afterwards, begin your walking tour, taking in some of Luang Prabang’s hidden secrets, including a stroll down the quiet back lanes. Visit the serene Buddhist temples of Wat May & Wat Visoun, as well as the magnificent Wat Xieng Thong, with its roof sweeping low to the ground, representing the classical Luang Prabang style. Your final stop of the tour is a climb to the top of Mount Phousi, which offers a spectacular panoramic view over Luang Prabang and the Mekong River. The rest of the day will be free at leisure for you to relax and continue exploring at your own pace.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Villa Maydou (Deluxe Poolside Room)

Meals: Breakfast

Train and road journey to Muang La: This morning you will be transferred to the high-speed railway station in time to board the train to Oudomxay. The train will take around 50 minutes. On arrival at Oudomxay you will be met by a driver who will transfer you the rest of the way to your accommodation, a further journey of around 45 minutes.

Afternoon at leisure: This afternoon is free at leisure for you to stroll around the village, or just relax at the riverside retreat enjoying a massage or bathing in the hot springs.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Nam Kat Yorlapa (Superior Room)

Meals: Breakfast & Dinner

Full day hill tribe trek: This morning, depart by 4x4 to Pak Khai, a pleasant 15 minute journey with magnificent views of the Pak Nam River, rice terraces and many small villages. Upon arrival, start trekking on small village tracks and across several streams. The trek will be an opportunity to meet local farmers working in rice fields and to learn how they cultivate their land and livestock. You will arrive at the village of Ban Phavie in time for lunch, a beautiful Khmu village perched at the top of a hill. The trek continues after lunch to a waterfall, where there is the opportunity to relax in the clear water cascades. After some more light trekking, reach Muang La in the early afternoon. Please note that there is a choice of less strenuous activities that can be arranged for this day - please ask for more details.

Evening activities: The evening can be spent relaxing in the natural hot springs, taking a traditional massage and enjoying the excellent local Lao cuisine in the restaurant.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Nam Kat Yorlapa  (Superior Room)

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Road and boat transfer to Nong Khiaw: After breakfast, you will be picked up from your hotel for the 2 hour drive to Muang Khua, where you will board a boat for the spectacular journey downstream to Nong Khiaw. After around 2.5 hours, you will disembark and board a minivan for a short trip to pass the new Nam Ou Dam, before boarding a second boat for the downstream part of the boat journey to Nong Khiaw (another 2 hours). This particular stretch allows you glimpses of stunning limestone karst scenery and remote villages, including Ban Sob Jaem, a Khmu and Hmong village that can only be accessed by boat.

Afternoon at leisure, with an optional tour to Tham Pha Thok Caves: This afternoon, you have some time at leisure, with the option of taking a cycling or walking tour to the caves of Tham Pha Thok (time-permitting). These caves are located just over a mile outside Nong Khiaw, where locals took shelter from bombings during the Second Indochina War. Please note that the bicycles will need to be rented locally from your lodge - your guide can assist you with this.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Mandala Ou (Riverview Bungalow)

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch

Road journey from Nong Khiaw to Luang Prabang, via the Pak Ou Caves: This morning, you will head south by road to Luang Prabang. The morning drive brings you out into rolling countryside, where you can admire the beauty of the Nam Ou River and the surrounding rice paddy fields. Along the way, we stop to visit the mysterious caves of Pak Ou, two caves set in a limestone cliff facing the Mekong River crammed with thousands of Buddha statues of various shapes and sizes. Arrive in Luang Prabang at around lunchtime, where you will have the rest of the day at leisure.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Villa Maydou (Deluxe Poolside Room)

Meals: Breakfast

Day at leisure: You have a full day at leisure today to explore the atmospheric ancient capital independently. Side trips, such as trips up the river to Pak Ou or Kuangsi Falls, can be arranged locally or through your guide. Staying within the city, there are a number of excellent cooking classes, plus great shopping opportunities in local craft centres.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Villa Maydou (Deluxe Poolside Room)

Meals: Breakfast

Road journey from Luang Prabang to Phonsavan: After breakfast at your hotel, set off early from Luang Prabang for the journey to Phonsavan along a mountainous road with beautiful panoramic views. On the way, you will pass through Khmu and Hmong villages, stopping at Ban Houi Hia which offers great views of the surrounding mountains. Afterwards, continue on via the mountainous and windy road which affords breathtaking views. A stop will be made for lunch at Phoukhoun, where you can see the market. This afternoon, continue your drive through the mountains into Xiengkhuang province. Eventually, the mountains disappear giving way to small hills and peaceful countryside. Your final stops of the day are a reminder that this region played a major part during the Vietnam War, as you visit a hidden Buddha Cave that served as an army hospital during the war and an optional stop to visit an old Russian tank. You will arrive in Phonsavan in the late afternoon.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Vansana Plain of Jars (Deluxe Room)

Meals: Breakfast

Full day tour of the Plain of Jars & surrounding area: This morning, you will visit the Mines Action Group (or MAG) office to learn about the important work they do in clearing land mines and unexploded ordnance in the area. Afterwards, head for the mystical Plain of Jars. Scattered over the plain are hundreds of enormous clay jars, the legacy of an ancient civilisation and allegedly over 2,000 years old.  At the present time, there is no satisfactory explanation as to how the clay jars found their way onto the plain, nor what purpose they served. Start your visit with a trip to the picturesque Jar Site 2, and from there, begin a 1 hour trek along the ridge to Jar Site 3, which consists of around 150 jars located on top of a hill, and offers great views of the surrounding area. In the afternoon, you will be taken to visit Jar Site 1, the largest site containing over 300 jars. Later, pay a visit to the Lone Buffalo Foundation (closed on weekends and school holidays), a community project, where western and Lao teachers are passionate to improve opportunities for the local children through Education and Sport. Finish the day at PhouXang Viewpoint, where you can enjoy a panoramic view and a spectacular sunset on a clear day.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Vansana Plain of Jars (Deluxe Room)

Meals: Breakfast

Road journey from Phonsavan to Hin Boun: After an early breakfast, set off on the long drive (approx. 7 hours) through central Laos to Hin Boun, a fascinating journey with plenty of things to see en route. The first stop is the ancient town of Muang Khoun, the former provincial capital, to explore the ruins of a number of ancient pagodas constructed in a Lanna style. The most significant temple is Wat Phiawat, a ruined monument containing a huge sitting Buddha. Continue the drive with an ascent into the mountains, from where there are impressive views over the surrounding countryside. The next leg of the journey takes you through rolling countryside scenery and limestone karsts. There will then be a stop at Ban Thabuk, the famous ‘bomb boat village', where the locals have constructed boats out of fuel tanks from aircraft destroyed during the Vietnam War. Arrive in the Hin Buun area by early evening, and enjoy some time to relax at your riverside lodge.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Spring River Resort (River View Bungalow)

Meals: Breakfast

Boat trip through the Kong Lor Cave: After breakfast at your lodge, drive the short distance to Kong Lor Village, where you will board a small local boat for the trip into the mystical Kong Lor Cave. Navigate through the 7km long cave, which has a spectacular cavern over 100m high and a breathtaking stalagmite gallery, which you can explore on foot. Once through the cave, you will take a short walk past some tobacco-drying huts to Ban PonNgam, a remote village, where you will enjoy a picnic lunch. Following lunch, return through the cave by boat, then continue by river downstream for a leisurely 2 hour boat trip, taking in the spectacular limestone scenery en route. You will arrive back at your lodge in the afternoon and spend the rest of the day at leisure. 

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Spring River Resort (River View Bungalow)

Meals: Breakfast & Picnic Lunch

Road journey from Hin Boun to Vientiane: This morning, head back to Vientiane by road, passing through spectacular limestone karst scenery. The driving time is around 6 hours, with stops for sightseeing en route, including a stop at a spectacular viewpoint, and a traditional Hmong market. Arrive in Vientiane in the mid-afternoon and enjoy an evening at leisure.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Ansara (Savvy Room)

Meals: Breakfast

Full day tour of Vientiane: This morning, set out from your hotel to explore Vientiane, visiting the major sights of the capital; including the oldest Wat Sisaket with thousands of miniature Buddha statues and the temple of Si Muang. En route to Lao’s famous and sacred structure of That Luang Stupa, you will have the opportunity to take some pictures of the imposing Patuxay Monument, which is well known as Vientiane’s own Arc de Triumph. The final visit of the morning will be the excellent COPE exhibition centre, highlighting a much overlooked aspect of Laos and a major problem many of the local people face on a day to day basis in the form of unexploded ordnance as a result of heavy bombing campaigns during the Vietnam War era. This afternoon, you will head out of the city to visit the quirky, yet impressive Buddha Park, an enchanting collection of Buddhist and Hindu sculptures on the Mekong Riverside meadow. They were created by a mysterious monk spreading his philosophy on life and revealing his ideas about the universe. Upon returning to Vientiane, you will have the option of stopping at the Lao Disabled Womens Centre, which provides valuable training and schooling for disabled women in Laos. Finish the day with a spectacular view of the Mekong River at sunset.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Ansara (Savvy Room)

Meals: Breakfast

Time at leisure: You have time to explore the Laotian capital independently. As the smallest capital in the world, the centre is small and easily traversed on foot. There are a number of excellent cafes and boutiques, with cultural attractions including the National Museum or Wat Si Saket.

Private transfer: After a day at leisure to explore more of Vientiane, your guide and driver will transfer you to the airport.

Flight: TG575 Vientiane - Bangkok 21.30 - 22.35

Meals: Breakfast