North and South

On arrival at the airport, you will be met and transferred to your hotel.   The rest of the day is at leisure. Overnight in Luang Prabang

Your full-day city tour begins after breakfast, with a visit to the Royal Palace Museum, which hosts a range of interesting artifacts. We then enjoy a short-guided tour seeing the city’s oldest temple of Wat Sene and the magnificent Wat Xiengthong with its roofs sweeping low to the ground, which represents classical Laotian architecture. Today, we also visit the impressive stupa of Wat Visoun and the shrine of Wat Aham. 

Following lunch, we visit the Arts and Ethnology Centre to learn about Laos’ many ethnic cultures before we head out of town to see the weaving villages of Ban Xiengkhong and Ban Xienglek.  We then return to the city for a visit to Wat Mai. We then climb up to the top of Mount Phousi for an enjoyable exploration of the sacred, gilded stupa as well as a panoramic view of the city at sunset and the Mekong River.  The tour ends after a visit to the famous Night Market, where you can find a lovely selection of handmade textiles made by local and hill tribe people surrounding Luang Prabang. Note: the Royal Palace Museum is closed on Tuesdays. Overnight in Luang Prabang (B)

First, we visit the morning Phousi Market, where you will see such diverse offerings as dried buffalo skin, local tea, and saltpeter among the chickens, vegetables, and hill-tribe weavings. Laos is also known for its traditional crafts, and today you will visit local villages of Lao ethnic minority groups at Ban Ou, a Hmong village, and Ban Thapene, a Khmu village.  This then takes us to the beautiful Khuang Si Waterfall where you can cool off with a refreshing swim in the pools or walk along the forest trails. We then return to Luang Prabang.This afternoon, we embark on a cruise upstream on the Mekong River, which also gives us a breathtaking view of the tranquil countryside, before reaching the mysterious Pak Ou Caves, two linked caves crammed with thousands of gold lacquered Buddha statues of various shapes and sizes left by pilgrims.  Along the way, we stop at the village of Ban Xanghai, where they make the local rice wine. In return, we disembark the boat to visit traditional villages and continue taking a short drive to Ban Phanom, a village famous for its hand weaving. Overnight in Luang Prabang (B)

You will be transferred to the airport this morning for your flight to Pakse. On arrival in Pakse, we drive south to Champassak 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.  Following lunch, we continue our journey by long tail boat to Si Phan Done where you have the rest of the day to relax or explore the island. Overnight in Si Phan Done area (B)

After early breakfast, we head south by road and boat to Done Khone. 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 locomotive. We continue our exploration of the area of the 4000 islands by boat and visit the beautiful Liphi waterfall, also known as the Samphamith, which forms a natural border between Lao and Cambodia. We return to Ban Nakasang and drive to the famous waterfall of Khone Phapeng – the largest waterfall in South East Asia, also known as the ‘Niagara of the east. Overnight in Si Phan Done area (B)

After breakfast, you will be transferred back to Pakse to catch a flight to Siem Reap-Cambodia or exit Laos overland from the Chongmek International checkpoint to Ubon Ratchathani Thailand. (B)