Day 1: Luang Prabang arrival (-/-/-)

Luang Prabang - Airport: 5km, ~11min drive

Upon arrival at Luang Prabang airport, you will be met and transferred to hotel by our guide and driver. After making sure of your successful hotel check-in, they will be pleased to leave you free time for your own lunch and leisure to recover after the long flight.

Meals Included: None
Accommodation: Hotel in Luang Prabang

Day 2: Luang Prabang City (B/-/-)

After breakfast, we visit the Royal Palace Museum which hosts a range of interesting artifacts. We begin our walking tour taking in the most beautiful temples. Depending on the rest of your program this may include the magnificent Wat Xiengthong, with its roofs sweeping low to the ground, representing the classical Luang Prabang style, as well as Wat Mai and Wat Sene, the oldest temple in Luang Prabang. In the afternoon we stop at Yensabai, where you will see some Lao traditional stensils made with Saa paper.  Our next stop is the excellent Arts and Ethnology Centre which gives us a further insight into the ethnic mix and culture of Laos. We then climb up Mt Phousi, which offers a spectacular sunset and a panoramic view over Luang Prabang and the Mekong River. This evening we transfer out to a local village, where you take party in a traditional Baci Ceremony, involving the tying of strings to ones wrists aims to keep bad spirits away and bring good luck.

Meals Included: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel in Luang Prabang

Day 3: Luang Prabang - Big Brother Mouse – Ban Khia Luang – Pak Ou Cave (B/L/-)

After having breakfast, our day starts with a visit to the Big Brother Mouse shop to select some books for the village visit. We then head north by car along route 13, before taking a unpaved road to Ban Khia Luang village. We then have ample time to visit the school, play with the kids and watch them enjoy their new books. We also take some time to explore the rest of the village, where you can see weaving and visit the local temple. We stop for lunch at the village, which can either be a western picnic lunch, or traditional Lao food such as sticky rice, laap and fresh vegetables cooked by the villagers.

After lunch we say good bye to the village and drive to Ban Khoklin, which takes us through some beautiful scenery of mountains and paddy fields. At Ban Khoklin we then board a private boat down the Nam Ou river for 30 minutes to Pak Ou Caves, two linked caves crammed with thousands of gold lacquered Buddha statues of various shapes and sizes left by pilgrims. and continue down the Mekong River to the picturesque village of Ban Chan, a pottery village. We then arrive back in Luang Prabang, arriving back there by late afternoon.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Hotel in Luang Prabang

Day 4: Luang Prabang - Flight to Vientiane (B/-/-)

Luang Prabang - Vientiane: 340km, 45min flight

This morning after breakfast, you will be transferred to the airport in time for your flight to Vientiane. Upon arrival in the capital you will be met and transferred to your hotel.

This afternoon, we enjoy a half-day city tour beginning with the oldest temple, Wat Sisaket with thousands of miniature Buddha statues and the former royal temple of Wat Prakeo, which previously housed the famous Emerald Buddha Image. Enroute to Lao’s national precious heritage, the famous and sacred structure of That Luang Stupa, you will have the opportunity to take some pictures of the imposing Patuxay Monument, which is well known as Vientiane’s own Arc de Triumph. The final visit of the day will be the excellent COPE exhibition centre, highlighting a much overlooked aspect of Laos and a major problem many of the local people face on a day to day basis in the form of unexploded ordnance as a result of heavy bombing campaigns during the Vietnam War era.

Meals Included: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel in Vientiane

Day 5: Vientiane - Pakse - Khong Island (B/-/-)

Vientiane - Pakse: 670km, 1h15min flight

After having breakfast, you will be transferred to the airport early this morning for the flight to Pakse. Upon arrival you will be met and transferred directly onto a private traditional boat for a 2-hour cruise to Champassak. Disembark at this ancient town, of the Champa Kingdom; continue by car to Wat Phou, another World Heritage Site in Laos, which became recognized by UNESCO in 2002. Wat Phou is the site of ruins which were once part of a temple built some time before Angkor Wat in Siem Reap. It contains some of the most Ancient Khmer architectures which date back to between the 7-11th centuries. In the afternoon you will drive to Don Khong, an area of 4000 islands which is the widest point of the Mekong River during the rainy season, although during the dry months the river recedes, leaving behind thousands of islands and islets. This area of the river is also famous for being the home to the endangered Irrawaddy dolphins. En route, we visit the atmospheric ruins of the Khmer temple of Oup Mong at Ban Houei Tomo, located in the forest. Arrive at Khong Island via ferry early evening.

Meals Included: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel in Khong Island

Day 6: Khong Island - Surrounding (B/-/-)

Following breakfast, we enjoy a visit to the surrounding countryside, and embark on a long tail boat tour to Don Khone, where we disembark and have the option of exploring the island by bicycle, which takes you to visit the remains of the French period and Liphi Waterfall or "the Corridor of the Devil". We return to the mainland at the fishing village of Ban Nakasang and drive further south to visit Khone Phapheng. Khone Phapheng is considered the largest waterfall by volume in South East Asia; this is a really impressive site near the Lao-Cambodian border, set within an area which is teeming with wildlife, making this area one of the most breathtaking destinations in Laos. Then we drive back to Khong Isand.

Meals Included: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel in Khong Island

Day 7: Khong Island - Tadlo - Pakse (B/-/-)

Upon leaving Khong Island, we journey towards the Bolaven Plateau. The Bolaven Plateau is known for its cooler temperature being located high above the Mekong Valley. Our first stop is to visit Houey Ten, a Katu village specializing in knifemaking. We then stop tea plantation, followed by a stop at Tad Fan Waterfall, a picturesque twin chute waterfall. We then make a stop at a coffee plantation, en route to Tha Teng Market, a colourful ethnic minority food market. Next we explore another interesting minority village, Ban Bong Neua, an Alak village, that boasts a sacrificial alter. We arrive at the beautiful Tadlo Waterfall afternoon. There is also time to relax and cool off in the pools below the waterfall. In the afternoon, we head back to Pakse, stopping at Ban Houi Hun, an Alak weaving village, where they keep coffins under their houses, and at another picturesque waterfall, Paxuam, before arriving back in Pakse by late afternoon.

Meals Included: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel in Pakse

Day 8: Pakse - Departure (B/-/-)

After breakfast, there will be free time for your own exploration of Pakse Town before catching a flight to the next destination. End of our services.

Meals Included: Breakfast