Spicy Laos

On arrival at the airport, you are met by the guide and transferred to check in your hotel. Time permitting depending on your arrival flight; Your half day city tour enables us to see the major temples of Vientiane including the oldest, Wat Sisaket, a temple of thousands of miniature Buddha statues, and the former royal temple of Wat Prakeo, which previously housed the famous Emerald Buddha Image. We also visit Lao national icon, That Luang Stupa, and we stop to take some pictures of the imposing Patuxay Monument, which is Vientiane’s own Arc de Triumph. Overnight in Vientiane

Today you will be transferred airport for your flight to Luang Prabang. On arrival, you will be met by a local guide and transferred to your hotel. After a short rest, we visit the highlights of Luang Prabang including Wat Visoun and Wat Xieng Thong and The Royal Palace (which closed on Tuesday).  We end the day by climbing up Mount Phousi to watch the sunset over the nearby Mekong River and experience Night Market. Overnight in LuangPrabang.

Could have the option to do this tour by bicycle.

Optional: Today, you are requested to wake very early to participate in morning alms-giving to novice monks. Normally the event starts from 05:30-06:30 am. You can also experience giving alms to monks and novices.

Breakfast, this morning we enjoy a daytime cooking class: 09:00 am – 03:00 pm:

We’ll start with a visit to the major food market; explain the local produce and what it is used for.  Then we’ll take you to ‘Tamarind Gardens’ to cook and eat:

• Varieties of yellow: the fundamental Lao spicy dipping sauces 
• Mok Pa, a popular dish of fish steamed with herbs in banana leaves
• Tamarind’s speciality: lemongrass stuffed with chicken & herbs
• Alarm, Luang Prabang’s eggplant-based speciality: delicious & unusual
• Dessert course: a surprise!
• And of course, you’ll learn the art of perfecting sticky rice and its eating etiquette.

After finishing the class, we embark on Banana Boat for a Sunset Cruise and Temples’ View. This is a leisurely 2-hour cruise on the Mekong whilst the light is at its best. Enjoy the sights of the Mekong around Luang Prabang with beer, wine, refreshing drinks and Lao snacks. If you would like a great view of Luang Prabang, including a stop at Wat Chompet, across the river, climb the steps to the top of the mountain and enjoy the amazing view of Luang Prabang.

This day is too long, either finish after the cooking class or have an option for a spa treatment or massage after the cooking class for those who don’t want to do the Banana Boat cruise.

After breakfast, your guide will meet you for the 45-minute drive to the Elephant Camp. You will descend a steep flight of steps to board a bamboo raft for the three-minute ride across the river. After disembarking, you will take a seven-minute walk up a rutted incline that will open onto a clearing, where you will find the camp’s five elephants, all of whom used to be employed as logging beasts and now spend their days giving rides to tourists. You will take a 45 minutes lumber atop your elephant ride through teak forests so thick the sun is blotted out, down a heart-clenching steep slope to the river, and up again, passing through clouds of flitting yellow and white butterflies. You are off to the Khouansi Waterfall for another 1hrs drive. The beginning of the park holds two unusual attractions. The first is a caged playground(caged is a bad word to use with westerners, better to say Bear Sanctuary) with ten Asiatic black bears that were discovered in the forest above and rescued from poachers. Just up the path from them is an even rarer sight a young Asian tiger, found as a sick and hairless cub that had already passed through several traders’ hands. (Delete this sentence as this tiger died about 4 years ago!!!) Your hike up to the falls continues from here, the way marked by a succession of natural swimming pools, each a milky, inviting sapphire and each accompanied by a splashing waterfall. At the second pool, about a 10 minutes hike from the bear sanctuary, wiggle into your swimsuit in the changing stall and take a quick dip before moving one tier up, where two stepped pools are joined by a small waterfall. Another 10 minutes up is the real cascade, a glorious 200-foot-high churn of water frothing into a pool of cloudy opal. We return to town by late afternoon. Overnight in Luang Prabang. (B/L)

Option for Baci ceremony or relax at the hotel.

This morning we visit The Art and Ethnology Centre to learn about the variety of Laos’s culture. This should be everyone’s first destination in Luang Prabang! The exhibition is small but very informative and interesting. The shop and cafe are also great. Next, we move to Ock Pop Tok shop – The Living Crafts Centre which has to be one of the most beautiful spots in Luang Prabang, you can sit and enjoy the views out across the Mekong whilst enjoying some incredible traditional Laos dishes, all to the background click-clacking of the looms at work at the hands of Ock Pop Tok’s incredibly talented craftspeople. From there, we visit Yen Sabai Book and Arts at Ban Aharm to attend a Lao traditional Stencil class opening Monday – Friday every week. During the class, you will learn how to make the Luang Prabang traditional pattern stencil which most of the patterns are from Wat Xiengthong by using traditional cutting tools. The shop offers free tea or coffee to each client while they are doing the classes. You will take what you have done. Now we move to another interesting place located 20 minutes by boat or 15 minutes by minivan from Luang Prabang, Ban Nong Xai is a local village which produces traditional mulberry paper and textile. Artisans du Mekong was created to support local families who can show to the clients their skills in weaving or mulberry Saa Paper (jute paper). Some workshops are organized to show the process of mulberry paper and also for textiles. This beautiful place with 2 traditional houses shows to the clients the final product like saa paper album, different textile or rattan basket. Artisans du Mekong can also organize a Baci ceremony inside the house or in the garden with dinner and traditional dances. (B/L/D)

Is this description of Artisans du Mekong still valid since it was taken over by farang?  I think it has changed considerably??!!

When and where do pax have lunch on this day?? 

I think think the Ethnology Centre, Ock Pop Tok and Yen Sabai stencil class would be enough.  Pax could have a free afternoon to explore Luang Prabang

This morning we drive to Ban Phong Van about 5KM outside Luang Prabang on the road to the Khang Xi waterfall, among lush rice fields and overlooked by wooded hills and mountains to join in a Living Rice Farm where they grow organic vegetables, salads, herbs and rice and supply leading restaurants and hotels in Luang Prabang. Coming here you will be shown how rice is grown on the farm, experience the life of a farmer and try your hand at some of the activities. Or just view it all from the comfort of our traditional Lao rice house balcony, which is surrounded by rice terraces and our organic vegetable farm. All the family can join in and there are great photo opportunities. The rest of the day is your free time to walk around before we say “goodbye” to Luang Prabang tomorrow. Overnight in Luang Prabang (B/L)

After breakfast, you are free until transfer to the airport to catch your departure flight.