Laos Discovery Tour – 16 days

Tour Route: Luang Prabang – Nong Khiaw – Vieng Kham – Vieng Thong - Muang Hiam - Sam Nua – Vieng Xay - Vieng Xay – Xieng Khoang – Vientiane.

Duration: 15 days/14 nights
Date: No fixed departure dates. You may go whenever you wish.
Start/End: Luang Prabang/Vientiane
Tour Type: Adventure, Experience, Discovery
Tour Customizable: Definitely! Tell us about your specific requirements.
Guides: Local Guide (English Speaking Guide, other languages upon request)
Transportation: Private first-class air-conditioned vehicles

Brief Itinerary

Day 1: Luang Prabang Arrive
Day 2: Luang Prabang – city tour – Khoang Si waterfall (B)
Day 3: Luang Prabang free day (Optional for Botanical Garden)
Day 4: Luang Prabang – Pak Ou – Nong Khiaw (B)
Day 5: Nong Khiaw – the 100 waterfalls (B, L)
Day 6: Nong Khiaw – Vieng Kham – Vieng Thong - Muang Hiam (B)
Day 7: Trekking to Tad Loy – overnight in Bamboo huts (B, L, D)
Day 8: Full day wildlife (B, L, D)
Day 9: Trekking back to Muang Him (B, L)
Day 10: Muang Hiam – Sam Nua – Vieng Xay
Day 11: Vieng Xay – Xieng Khoang (B)
Day 12: Xieng Khoang – Plain of Jars site 1, 2,3 & Hmong Village (B)
Day 13: Xieng Khoang – fly to Vientiane (B)
Day 14: Vientiane city tour – Buddha Park (B)
Day 15: Vientiane – departure (B)

Day 1: Luang Prabang Arrival (D)

“Saibadee”, welcome to Laos, the land of a million elephants, you will be welcomed by our tour guide and driver. Transfer you to your hotel for check-in and relax.
Overnight in Luang Prabang.

Day 2: Luang Prabang – City tour – Khoang Si waterfall (B)

We will wake up before dawn to witness and participate in offering alms to hundreds of saffron-robed monks – an awe-inspiring sight. Back to your hotel for your breakfast or you can join the locals for a bowl of delicious noodle soup after the alms giving ritual. (If you do not wish to make an offering, please keep the distance as well as keep silence during the ritual. Dress appropriately – shoulders, chest, and legs should be covered).

Today, Morning Market is the first place, where you will see such diverse offerings as dried buffalo skin, local tea and saltpeter among the chickens, vegetables and hill-tribe weavings. Strolling with fun and then we will climb up 328 steps of Mount Phousi for an enjoyable exploration of the sacred, gilded stupa as well as a beautiful view of the city and the Mekong River. After enjoying a great breakfast, we visit the magnificent Wat Xiengthong with its roofs sweeping low to the ground, which brings itself classical Laotian architecture.
Continue to the trip with a visit to the National Museum at the former Royal Palace displays a lovely collection of the artifacts reflecting the richness of Lao culture.

Afternoon, transfer to Khoang Si waterfall. Enroute visit Ban Naoune and Ock Pop Tock Living Craft Center. Once at the waterfalls, you will be impressed by the watercolor which makes it different from others. Take a leisurely hike through the national park towards the Khouang Si waterfalls and then pass by the Asian bear rescue center. Swimming in the refreshing waters is possible. Transfer back to Luang Prabang

Day 3: Luang Prabang free day (Optional for Botanical Garden)

Today is free at leisure. Optional visit Botanical Garden.
+ Garden Excursion
Start with a leisurely 15-minute boat ride down the Mekong. The itinerary is entirely up to you. when entering the garden. Enjoy the activities such as the hike to the Buddha cave, read a book by the Mekong, or sip a tea by the lotus pond.

+ Trekking full day in Pha Tad Ke Moutain
For the Pha Tad Ke Mountain Trek, the departs our downtown reception at 9 a.m. It takes 15 minutes to enjoy a leisurely boat trip of approximately down the Mekong River. After a short preparation for the hike, we start ascending the mountain. The hike boasts stunning views of the Mekong and visits to the Pha Tad Ke cave. Taking the views from the top while enjoying the picnic lunch. Back to the garden and enjoy a refreshing complimentary ice tea. Afterward, you are free to stroll the gardens or back to the town at your leisure.
Overnight in Luang Prabang

Day 4: Luang Prabang – Pak Ou – Nong Khiaw (B)

After breakfast, we will head to Nong Khiaw, one of the most peaceful places in the region. Enroute we take leisure boat to Pak Ou Cave. Arrive in Nong Khiaw, transfer to your hotel for checking in. Afternoon, we transfer out for leisure walking to visit the villages and discover the Phathok Caves about 5 minutes away.

Take easy to wake up concrete stairs where you will guide around the largest cave and about 10 minutes along a small trail to the second cave. After the caves, walk along the road for 10 minutes to start our form tour. After crossing a stream, for the next hour, we continue to walk along small trails crossing through rice paddy fields in a beautiful valley surrounds by mountains. We will see many farm animals and local people working on their farms.
We will cross a number of bamboo bridges as we walk through the forest to a stunning hut where we will have a snack before trekking out. When we arrive at the main road a tuk-tuk will take us back to our Guesthouse.
Overnight in Nong Khiaw

Day 5: Nong Khiaw – the 100 Waterfalls (B, L)

After breakfast, take a one-hour boat trip on the scenic Nam Ou and a walkthrough small streams and rice paddies until we arrive at the bottom of the 100 waterfalls. Enjoy the greenery of the jungle and the sound of clear waterfall cascades or a refreshing splash in one of the pools around you. Visit the village to know more about the people and their life along the river. Return to Nong Khiaw by boat in the evening.

Day 6: Nong Khiaw – Vieng Kham – Vieng Thong - Muang Hiam (B)

This morning we say goodbye to the villagers and head to Vieng Kham. We drive through rural villages and along lush green rice fields as farmers go about the daily work. We arrive in the small town of Vieng Kham before reaching Vieng Thong, famous with Phou Loei National Biodiversity Protected Area

Overnight in Vieng Kham

Day 7: Trekking to Tad Loy – overnight in Bamboo huts (B, L, D)

Make sure that you have a full energy in the breakfast, our tour guide and driver will pick you up around 8:30 a.m. After a 45-minute drive along a curvy road through gorgeous mountainous landscapes and through the protected area corridor, you arrive at Ban Sakok, an ethnic Khmu Village, situated on the edge of the protected area core zone boundary. The village guide, porters and cooks will be waiting to greet you at the village visitor center, which has beautiful panoramic views of the village and surrounding mountains. The guide will inform you about the itinerary of the following tour. The trekking starts at around 9.30 am, first you will be following 4kms through the village’s rice, tobacco, and cornfields learning along the way about upland rice cultivation and rural livelihoods.
At the edge of the fields and forest, enjoy a local picnic with the overlooking fields and the backdrop of Phou Louey Moutain. Here your guides will explain the different management zones of the park and how local people are able to coexist with nature.

After lunch, continue to the trip by trekking into the forest following a 4 km path built and maintained by the village to Tad Loy Camp. Today is the first day of trekking so it’s quite short and the elevation gain is roughly 400m. After hours, you arrive at the Tad Lod waterfall. Enjoy your time at Tad Loy waterfall. In the late afternoon, back to the camp, and enjoy a traditional Khmu dinner prepared by the village cook and porters
Optional: after dinner, your guide will take you a short around 30 minutes to walk nearby the camp to see insects and other small creatures of the night. After the walk, enjoy the campfire, and you also hear the folktales and stories about dragons, wildlife, and ghosts from the tour guides.

Overnight in bamboo huts (2 people per hut)

 

Day 8: Full day Wildlife (B, L, D)

Wake up early and before breakfast walk up a nearby mountain to check photos on camera traps placed there, sea birds and may have a chance to hear the call of the rare white-cheeked crested gibbon. After returning to the campsite, enjoy breakfast. Today you'll walk from the foothills of Phou Louey across the rugged mountain landscape to the Poung Nied campground and The Nests. The journey is about 9km with a high slope to the top of Phou Phamai mountain, then descend gradually to Poung Nied Salt Lick and The Nests camp. The route passes through some unique forests and landscapes and trenches still from the war. Enjoy a picnic lunch along the trail. The village chef prepares lunch in the morning before you leave Tad Loy camp. You will arrive at The Nests camp in the middle of the afternoon and will be taken to your accommodation - the spherical bird-nest nest. Enjoy some free time to relax, bathe in the nearby river and enjoy nature. Enjoy traditional Khmu dinner prepared by the village's cooking team around 6-7 pm - before it gets dark. It is important to eat dinner early so the smell of food and fire is not strong when you visit the wildlife viewing area tonight. Dinner was eaten at the camp and not allowed at the observation tower.

After dinner, you will get a short meeting about wildlife viewing at Poung Nied Salt Lick - one of the biggest salt licks in the protected area. The guides will inform tourists about the animals they can see and explain the rules and expectations to highlight.
It is important to follow the introduced rules, such as no talking, no eating and drinking at the observation tower licking salt and how to return to camp in case you need to use the toilet.
We will stay in the observation tower for a few hours (depending on your curiosity and patience) until no later than 11:30 pm. Overnight on towers is not allowed to reduce any negative and disturbing effects on wildlife.
The most common animals you can spot include Sambar and the barking deer (AKA muntjak) and various civet species, though, if you're lucky, you can also see protected animals. others like bears, dhole, some feral cats, and others.
Please wear warm clothes as it can be quite cold late at night.

Day 9: Trekking back to Muang Him (B, L)

Before breakfast, your guide will take you back to lick the salt to identify various wildlife traces. You will also spend about an hour on the observation platform, as the morning is a great time to watch birds. Then follow the instructions to check the camera trap and help change the camera trap memory card. After returning to camp, enjoy breakfast and help your guide organize the photos of wildlife captured by snare photos the night before. These photos will be uploaded to the website after your trip for viewing and downloading. Twelve surrounding villages participating in this project received a reward in the form of a village development fund based on the number and type of wildlife discovered at night and trapped by camera traps. (This fee is included in your tour price.) Return - the trip from The Nests to Ban Nam Poung Village.
Your last day of walking will take you along a 7km-long forest path built and maintained by the village. This trail passes through dense forests and mixed deciduous forests. Local guides will show you medicinal plants and spot animal traces along the way. The trek has a few moderately ancient people before going down to the agricultural fields. At the edge of the forest and fields, enjoy a picnic lunch inside a farmer's hut. From here, another token (a small tractor that plows and converts into a vehicle for transportation) will pick you up and take you through the village's rice and corn fields about 7km to Ban Nam Poung village, a village Khmu ethnic group, located on the edge of the national protected core zone boundary. Once in the village, your village tour guide will say goodbye to you and you will be transferred back to Muang Hiem by truck or truck. We will return to Muang Hiem in the afternoon.

Day 10: Muang Hiam – Sam Nua – Vieng Xay (B, L, D)

This morning we drive to Sam Nua, explore the quaint morning market along the Xam River in this mountainous town. Today's ride is much shorter to give us a bit of a rest. We continue to Vieng Say, the cave city which was home to the Lao People's Revolutionary Party. Marvel at the amazing karst landscape in the middle of town. Continue to the trip, visit the Information Center near the guesthouse to learn more about the interesting historical significance of the area during the Indochina War.
Overnight in Vieng Say.

Day 11: Vieng Xay – Xieng Khoang (B)

Enjoy the breakfast at the hotel then we head out to Xieng Khoang, drive about 6-7 hours passing through the mountainous natural scenery. En route, don’t forget to stop to take a lot of photos. Reach to Xieng Khoang in the late afternoon, check-in hotel.

Day 12: Xieng Khoang – Plain of Jars site 1, 2,3 & Hmong Village (B)

After breakfast, we take the time to visit the Uxo MAG Exhibition Room & Plain of Jar sites 1, 2, 3. Continue the trip to visit the local village and take time to encounter Hmong people. Overnight in Xieng Khoang.

 

Day 13: Xieng Khoang – fly to Vientiane (B)

This morning we take time to visit Central Market in Xieng Khoang then visit the ancient capital Muang Khoun with the Old Buddha Statue. The afternoon flies to Vientiane. Transfer to the hotel for checking in. Overnight in Vientiane

Day 14: Vientiane city tour – Buddha Park (B)

After breakfast, we visit Wat Sisaket, the oldest temple in the city. Built-in 1818, Wat Sisaket has now become the most important heritage temple in Laos. Wat Sisaket is also the home of thousands of Buddha statues from previous countries as well as ancient sculptures and paintings; Wat Prakeo, the former royal monastery of the Lao monarchy and was built in 1565, is a place to keep images of the Jade Buddha and Buddhist sculptures displayed along the surrounding wall, including a Dvaravati stone Buddha image dating from the 6th to 9th century. On the way to That Luang Tower, stop to see some pictures of the majestic Patuxay Monument, Vientiane, Triumphal's own version of Triumphal Arch.

In the afternoon, we visit the Buddha Park. On the way back to the city, visit Mrs. Carol Cassidy's weaving factory.
Overnight in Vientiane

Day 15: Vientiane – Departure (B)

Today is free until our driver transfers you to the airport for departure flight. Wish you have 15 days with fun. Back to your home, don’t forget to share your 15 days diary in Laos with us. End of our service!

 

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