Laos Essential 7 days

On arrival at Wattay Airport or Friendship Bridge, you are met and transferred to your centrally located hotel for check-in. On the banks of the Mekong River, Vientiane is the charming and fascinating capital of Laos. This small town conjures up exotic images, with the curious mix of Lao, Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, French influences.

In the afternoon, we will take a small sightseeing tour to visit: Sisaket temple and Haw Phra Kaew Sisaket temple is the only ancient temple remaining intact after the destruction of the Siamese in 1828. It’s located in the center of the old city, where it was built in 1818 by King Anouvong. The old monastery stands intact in its original form and certainly is one of the most interesting in the country. Inside the main hall, the courtyard walls house hundreds of little inches and shelves containing a total of 6,840 Buddha images.

Haw Phra Kaew is once the king’s personal Buddhist temple. Although it is not actually a temple per se with monks on the premises and services being performed, today it functions as a museum of art with a very impressive collection of Laotian Buddhist artefacts. Built in the sixteenth century, the temple has many priceless Buddhist statues and antiquities on display; however, what makes this temple interesting and perhaps somewhat infamous is its controversial past, which revolves around the Emerald Buddha, one of the most sacred items in all of Southeast Asia and the symbol of Thailand.

Meals : Welcome Dinner
Accommodation : Hotel in Vientiane.

After breakfast at your hotel, we will leave Vientiane for Vang Vieng. Along the way we visit the busy and colorful market of Talat where various hill tribes come to trade their goods and buy previsions. A next stop of our trip is Vang Xang, famous for the archeological site dating back 11th century.

We reach our final destination, Vang Vieng, which is nestled on a bend of the Nam Song River. The small and tranquil village of Vang Vieng is rapidly developed with the advent of tourist, but the beautiful scenery with a mixture of quiet water and limestone outcrops unchanged for century. After checking into hotel we take a wander to catch our first glimpse of this hill town.

Meals : Breakfast
Accommodation : Hotel in Vientiane

After breakfast at your hotel/resort, we will head out of town and explore the famous cave of Tham Jang that was once used by local people as a hideout from Chinese invaders. We also cross the river to Ban Huai Ngai, a very pleasant village where we can explore the different local lifestyle.

Then we will depart for Luang Prabang. Upon leaving Vang Vieng, the roads begin to deteriorate; however the stunning mountain scenery makes for an interesting journey. We wind our way through Kasi and Pho Khong to Luang Prabang. This town with its gleaming temple roofs, fading colonial architecture and stunning mountain backdrop has been claimed by UNESCO to be "the best preserved traditional city in South East Asia". There is little traffic on Luang Prabang roads and monks in orange robes scurry in all directions carrying umbrellas to shade themselves from the Sun.

Meals : Breakfast
Accommodation : Hotel in Luang Prabang

After breakfast at your hotel, we will then take full-day city tour in Luang Prabang. The first our stop is the former Royal Palace has been turned into a National Museum. This interesting structure displays a lovely collection of the artifacts reflecting the richness of Lao culture dating from the days of the early kings right through the last sovereign.

We also have enough time to explore some other landmarks, including the impressive stupa of Wat Visoun, the shrine of Wat Aham, the city's oldest temple of Wat Sene and the Wat Mai with five tiered roofs.

A visit to Luang Prabang would be not complete without climbing 329 steps to the top of Phousi Hill for a beautiful sunset view of the Mekong River. The zigzag path crosses over various temples to the sacred, gilded stupa of Wat Phou, another World Heritage Site, recognized by UNESCO in 2002 at the summit.

Meals : Breakfast
Accommodation : Hotel in Luang Prabang

Optional: rising early at around 05.30AM to witness and participate in offering alms to hundreds of saffron-robed monks (the Buddhist monks) receive alms from local people – an awe-inspiring sight for many travelers.

Please tell your guide if you wish to make an offer so he/she can prepare some food for you. This early morning ritual dates back generations in Laos. Watch the town come to life in the morning and then return to hotel for breakfast

After breakfast, take a rural drive (30 km South) to visit Kuangsi Waterfall, though not very high but spectacular and really beautiful with its green surroundings as the preserved National park. We stop en-route to visit a fresh produced market namely Talad Phosy, and also visit Ban Na Oune, a small village of a hill-tribe group “Hmong”, probably the best-known minority group in Laos. Just before arriving at Kuangsi waterfall, there is another village of Khmu minority group, namely Ban Tha Pane that we will visit. Our picnic lunch is served at the shady park nearby Kuangsi waterfall. There is plenty of time for relaxing and a swim in cool water, before heading back to Luang Prabang in the late afternoon.

Afternoon, enjoy a sightseeing tour of the sacred city of temples; of which nearly fifty still remain in the town and surrounding areas. Visit National Museum, the former Royal Palace which houses the collection of valuables including the famous Prabang Buddha statue, gifts received from foreign dignitaries…etc, Wat Visoun, the 16th century temple served as a small museum for religious artifacts; Wat Aham, the early 19th century temple, whose two guardian figures at the foot of the steps which represent two characters from the Ramayana – Hanuman, the Monkey God and a fierce Yaksa; Wat Xiengthong, the 16th century temple, which more than any temples in Luang Prabang, epitomizes all the elegance and grace of Luang Prabang architecture.

The rest of the day at your leisure, relaxing in one of the city’s many quirky cafés or strolling along the beautiful riverbank.

Meals : Breakfast
Accommodation : Hotel in Luang Prabang

Today, we continue our city tour, seeing the magnificent Wat Xieng Thong, which nestles at the meeting of the Mekong and the Nam Khan River. The temple structures are decorated in various ways with gilded stuccoes and doorways. The main Sim has a marvelous 'tree of life' mosaic pattern on an outer wall. We then board a cruise upstream on the Mekong River, which also gives us a taste of the tranquil countryside and an interesting visit to the mysterious of Pak Ou Caves, crammed with thousands of gold lacquered Buddha statues of various shapes and sizes. Along the way, we stop at Ban Xang Hai to visit the rice wine distillation.

Upon disembarking, we drive to the famous weaving village of Ban Phanom where shoppers have a chance to try their hand at bargaining.

Meals : Breakfast
Accommodation : Hotel in Luang Prabang

After breakfast at your hotel, we will the move to visit the central market for the last shopping. We have free time wandering around the town before transfer to the airport for departure flight.

Meals : Breakfast

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