Unveiled Laos

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.

AM:    After breakfast, we 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. We then board a cruise upstream on the Mekong River, which also gives us a panoramic view of the tranquil countryside as well as an interesting visit to 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 small village of Ban Xanghai, where the local rice wine is distilled. We return to Luang Prabang in the afternoon, on the way we take a short drive to Ban Phanom, a small village well known for its hand weaving.

PM:     After lunch, we continue towards Khouangsi Waterfall, en route, we visit the local villages of Lao ethnic minority groups at Ban Ou, Ban Ou, Laoloum, and Ban Thapene, and then drive to the beautiful Khouangsi Waterfall.   Here you can take a dip in the inviting pools or walk along the forest trails surrounding the waterfall.  We return to Luang Prabang by late afternoon and continue to Ban Xang Khong, a village well known for silk handweaving and traditional Saa Paper making. We return to the city by late evening to watch the sunset at Wat Siphouthabath. 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. Overnight in Champasak (B)

Following 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. Then we return to Champasak to overnight (B)

After breakfast, you will be transferred back to Pakse for catching your departure flight (B)