Embrace the Essence of Laos: Spiritual Ceremonies, Lush Landscapes, and Cultural Immersion in the Heart of Southeast Asia
Embark on a comprehensive two-week journey to explore the best of Laos. Stroll through the temple-lined streets and vibrant markets of Luang Prabang, soak in the natural splendor of Vang Vieng, and visit the COPE Centre and Buddha Park in Vientiane. Venture into the lush jungles of southern Laos for waterfall hikes and coffee plantation visits, before concluding your adventure with an unforgettable visit to the 4000 Islands.
Highlights
Experience the morning procession of monks during their Alms walk.
Tour the coffee plantations of the Bolaven Plateau.
Cultural Immersion: Experience authentic Lao culture through traditional ceremonies, daily monk processions, and hands-on activities like bamboo dancing.
Diverse Experiences: From exploring ancient temples and vibrant markets to cycling through picturesque landscapes, the itinerary offers a wide range of activities.
Exclusive Culinary Adventures: Engage in cooking classes, taste local specialties, and enjoy diverse culinary experiences throughout the journey.
Personalized Tours: Benefit from private guided tours, ensuring a more intimate and personalized understanding of Laos’s rich history and culture.
Scenic Drives and Luxurious Accommodations: Travel in comfort and style, with scenic drives and stays at carefully selected hotels, providing a luxurious and relaxing environment for the duration of the tour.
What is included in the price?
13 Nights at premium hotels
Local English-speaking guide providing insights and assistance during transfers and excursions
Private airport transfers
Admission fees for all mentioned sights and attractions
Detailed guidelines for visiting the destinations in the itinerary
Comprehensive package of excursions
Tour Plan
DAY 1: Arrival Luang Prabang
Upon arrival in Luang Prabang international airport, you’ll be greeted by our tour guide and driver then transfer to your hotel.
In the evening you will be picked up from your hotel and then transferred to one of the local family homes where you will be greeted with a baci ceremony.
Baci is a ceremony to celebrate important events and occasions such as births, marriages, entering the monkhood, departing, returning, and beginning a new year.
DAY 2: Exploring Luang Prabang
Today you’ll enjoy exploring Luang Prabang and many of this former royal capital’s cultural highlights. Beginning with a visit to Wat Xieng Thong - one of the largest and most decorative temples in the city. Next, you’ll move on to Wat Mai, a beautiful, gilded façade temple. The former Royal Palace is next. It acts as the Laos National Museum, proudly showcasing rare items including religious and cultural artefacts.In the afternoon, visit the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre, a repository of information on the country’s many ethnic-minority groups. You will end your day by taking a one-hour walking tour of Luang Prabang’s Night Market. Browse the colorful textiles, quilts, carvings, basketry, ceramics, clothing, and handmade paper.
DAY 3: Luang Prabang - Kuang Si Waterfall - Buffalo Dairy farm
This morning, wake early to the unmistakable sound of the temple gong and make your way into town to witness one of Luang Prabang’s most iconic sites, The daily procession of two hundred or so monks walking silently through the streets each morning collecting sticky rice and other food in their bronze bowls. If you feel you wish to, you can offer food to the monks yourself. You guide will be on hand to lead you through the respectful way to interact with the monks. Next, you’ll travel south to the famous Kuang Si Waterfall and have the chance to see crystal waters cascading into idyllic turquoise pools. On the way back to Luang Prabang we will stop at Buffalo Dairy farm for a tour of the farm and to meet these iconic animals.
DAY 4: Luang Prabang - Pak Ou Caves
Travel thought the waters of the Mekong River to the Pak Ou Caves, a sacred place that is long considered a holy spot for the Lao people. Here you’ll find hundreds of statues of Buddha, large and small, left behind by the devotees that have visited in years gone by.You’ll head back to town late this afternoon, stopping at a village on the riverside along the way, and seeing the weavers ply their trade on ancient looms.
DAY 5: Luang Prabang - enjoy all things Bamboo
Today you will enjoy all things Bamboo. Go on a family run workshop where you will learn about Lao bamboo products, activities, and foods. The cooking class begins with learning how to pound rice to get rid of the husks. Next the resident chef will show you how to make sticky rice and some of the most famous bamboo dishes such as bamboo soup ‘Kaeng Naw Mai’, stuffed bamboo shoots with minced pork, and spicy fermented bamboo shoot sauce with sticky rice. When you are finished, sit down to taste your creations. Afterwards, the staff will show you the Lao bamboo dance, which you will have the opportunity to try yourself.Next, discover Laotian textiles with a visit to the East Meets West Living Crafts Centre. Located on the Mekong River, the center headquarters a project called Ock Pop Tok to empower Laotian women through high-quality artisanal weaving before returning to your hotel.
DAY 6: Move to Vang Vieng
Today you will be in Vang Vieng, a calm oasis town for enjoying nature. Vang Vieng, surrounded by valleys and peaks, is home to numerous caves, including the Tham Jang cave, which provided shelter for at least 200 people during the Chinese invasions of the last century.
DAY 7: Vang Vieng - Cycling tour past rice paddies
We depart from the hotel at 9AM and cross the bridge over the Nam Song River before starting the day by cycling past rice paddies toward the first viewpoint, an excellent place for a few pictures and blue lagoon2. This lagoon is one of the most popular things to do in Vang Vieng, just a short cycling trip of 5km from the roof.
DAY 8: Vientiane - Buddha Park
Discover the wonderfully quirky statues of Buddha Park just 25 kilometres outside of Vientiane. The park is the work of Luang Pu Bunleua Sulilat, a monk, shaman, and mystic of Hinduism and Buddhism. Untrained in sculpture, Sulilat and his students created more than 200 cement statues filled with cryptic symbols of horror and fantasy.Keep your eye out for the skeleton-thin Buddhas, a giant pumpkin with a demon head, a gigantic 40-meter-long reclining Buddha, and Shiva waving his menacing eight arms of swords.
DAY 9: Vientiane - Wat Sisaket - the COPE Centre
Begin this whirlwind tour at Wat Sisaket, Vientiane's oldest surviving monastery with thousands of Buddha statues. Hear the history behind Hor Pha Keo and how it was razed to the ground not once but twice by an invading ancient Thai army. You will see Pha That Luang, a national symbol of Laos that is represented on the national seal and currency. Admire the large stupa covered in gold leaf and surrounded by 30 smaller stupas. Visit the COPE Centre. Established in 1996, COPE’s work has helped thousands of people with mobility-related issues including UXO survivors, access prosthetic and orthotic services, allowing them to regain mobility and dignity. You’ll meet with one of the patients and recipients of care at COPE and hear their story on how they’ve benefited from the treatments that COPE provides.
DAY 10: Pakse
Today we take a flight to the beautiful southern region of Laos starting with Pakse and a day at your leisure.
DAY 11: Pakse - Bolaven Plateau - Tad Fane Waterfall
Start the day’s adventure at the Bolaven Plateau. The plateau is located in an ancient volcano, which erupted millennia ago and is full of lush vegetation, rich soil, and a year-round temperate climate that is the perfect environment for growing Arabica and Robusta coffee. Visit the Tad Fane Waterfall, a cascade 120 meters in height. Nearby Ta Yuang is a wider but equally impressive fall. Next, visit a Cooperative Coffee Plantation and factory. Laos’s coffee beans are top quality, and the Bolaven Plateau produces the country’s best coffee. The expert from the plantation will guide you through the plantation and teach you the process of growing and processing the beans. Lunch will be served in a traditional stilt house. Enjoy a simple but delicious meal prepared with locally grown ingredients. After lunch, partake in a coffee testing at the factory. On the way back, stop at Ban Houay Houn, a small Katu Village where you will learn about the weaving techniques of the Katu tribe. Return to Pakse in the early evening.
DAY 12: Pakse - visit the pre-Angkorian temple of Wat Phu
Depart from the hotel and drive to Champasak Province to visit the pre-Angkorian temple of Wat Phu. The complex has structures dating from the 11th to 13th centuries. Wat Phu is located on the hillside of the mount Phou Khao and offers views over the surrounding plains, rice paddies, and the Mekong River.
DAY 13: Pakse - Li Phi waterfall - Khon Phapheng Falls
After breakfast, you will be picked up at your hotel in Pakse and driven south to 4000 islands, a riverine archipelago in the Mekong River. You will take a long-tail boat to the island of Don Det. Here mountain bikes will be waiting for you. Enjoy sightseeing on the island via bicycle. See the French bridge, the old locomotive train, and the Li Phi waterfall.Have lunch at a local restaurant on the island of Don Khong and then take the long-tail boat back to Nakasang where our van will be waiting for you. Visit Khon Phapheng Falls, considered the widest waterfall in the world. Return to Pakse.
DAY 14: Pakse - Departure
After breakfast you will be transferred to the airport for your next onward journey
