Discover Jewel of Mekong - 9 days

Overview:

Tour information: 

• Tour code: T54DD07
• Duration: 9 days / 8 nights
• Departure: On request
• Group size: 2-14 pax
• Transport: car
• Route: Luang Prabang – Elephant Camp – Vientiane – Pakse – Bolaven – Khong Island – Khonephapreang Waterfall

Itinerary:

Day 1: LUANG PRABANG – ARRIVAL 

Meet you at airport, transfer to check in hotel. then Visit Vat Visoun, the site of an impressive stupa, That Makmo, stylistically more Srilankalese than Lao. Then walk to the nearby Vat Aham, which is one of the city’s major tutelary shrines. Continue to visit Vat Sene and Vat Xieng Thong, considered as the most beautiful temple. Return to hotel.

Accommodation at hotel.

Day 2: LUANG PRABANG – PAK OU (B/-/-)

Breakfast at the hotel. Breakfast at hotel. Pick you up at your hotel then transfer to pier for take a traditional boat for a trip upstream the Mekong River to visit the famous caves of Pak Ou housing thousands of statues representing Lord Buddha. Lunch not include. Return to Luang Prabang by boat and continue by car to visit Ban Phanom, a weaving village populated by Thai Lu that originally came from Sipsongpanna in Southern China. Accommodation at the Hotel.

Day 3: LUANG PRABANG – ELEPHANT CAMP (B/L/D)

Breakfast at the hotel.

09:20 pick up from your hotel and transfer to Elephant Camp 

10:00 Arrive at Elephant Camp and check in Mahout Lodge

10:30 Register and receive mahout suit ( Clothing )

11:00 Learn about elephant information and elephant command introduction to the mahout and his elephant. Enjoy safari 1 hour ans 30 mns into the jungle and Nam Khan river bank and feed your elephant bananas.

13:00 Lao - style lunch at elephant Lodge and resort 

14:30 Enjoy swimming and tubing on the Nam Khan River. Visit henry Mohout’s gravesite( The first European to rediscover Angkor Wat)

15:30 Enjoy elephant training elephant driver,  and return the elephant to they sleeping place in the jubgel and enjoy activities with a mahout gudie(elephant driver).

16:00 Visit the Ban Noon of Lao Village

18:00 Lao – style dinner and overnight at our Elephant Lodge.

Day 4: ELEPHANT CAMP - LUANG PRABANG (B/L/-)

Breakfast at the hotel. 

06:30 collect the elephant from the jungle 

07:00 Take the elephant for Bathing on the Nam Khan River

08:00 After breakfast, prepare a bag taking to hill tribe villages such as (Khmu and Hmong) and laso sightseeing TAD SAE waterfall. 

16:00 Transfer back to your hotel. Return to Luang Prabang. Accommodation at the hotel.

Day 5: LUANG PRABANG – VIENTIANE (B/-/-) Flight

Breakfast at the hotel. 

Visit the National Museum (former King’s Palace) displaying a collection of personal artifacts of the Royal Family. Then stroll through the lively Central Market where the ethnic minorities of the surroundings come daily. Then transfer to the airport for flight to Vientiane. Meet you at wattay airport continue to visit Wat Sisaket, Hor pha keo, That Luang stupa and Patuxay. Return to hotel for check in. Accommodation at hotel.

Day 6: VIENTIANE – LAO COOKING CLASS (B/L/-)

After breakfast. Pick up you at  your hotel. Transfer to Villa Lao for Lao cooking class with Mrs. Villa Lao (papaya salad, lap chicken, spring rolls and sticky rice). Lunch at villa Lao. After lunch, Return to hotel. Accommodation at hotel.

Day 7: VIENTIANE –  PAKSE – BOLOVEN SITE - CHAMPASAK (B/L/-) Flight

After breakfast, 

Pick you up at your ealry morning, then trasfer to airport for light to Pakse, Meet you at pakse airport.

8:00. Leave Pakse to visit Boloven Plateau, the home of ethnic minorities are rooted from Mone Khmer, on arrival ,tea plantation could be visited  to know more the procession  organic  tea and coffee production with the plantation way until making to be the popular drink and also try tea cup here. Continue to Tafane and Yeuang water fall, a beautiful waterfall of Plateau these are surrounded by a beauty coffee plantation and then ride the car up to Paksong district where highest point of plateau. On going to Tha Teng district to visit minorities villages of Alak,Kaleum,Katu, Nge and Soy .Each have their own distinctly tradition and culture. Arrive at Tadlo.

P.M excursion by car to Bachieng National Park on the way stop to visit Ban Houayhoun where is well known of hand woven village, take a bit of time for shopping handicraft products. Continue to Tad Phasuam fall, the Bachieng National Bio-diversity  ) which consist a lot of attraction sites, a difference old style houses from various ethnic group, sightseeing water fall as well as take short trekking around the thick jungle. Continue to Champasak city for overnight.

Accommodation at hotel.

Day 8: CHAMPASAK – KHONG ISLAND - KHONE PHAPHENG – PAKSE (B/L/-) 

Pick-up at the lodge, and continue by car heading south towards the former royal capital of Champassak and continue by car to the pre-Angkorian Vat Phu Temple (6th-13th centuries). Vat Phu Temple lies on a hillside and offers spectacular views on the surrounding plains and on the Mekong River. UNESCO listed Vat Phu Temple as a World Heritage site in 2002. Hindu Khmer probably chose the site because of the spring that flows from near the top of the hill. Historians say that Phu Pasak was in fact sacred to the pre-Angkorian Kingdom of Chenla (6th century) and may have been the site of human sacrifices. The temple is divided in two parts. The lower part consists of two ruined palace buildings at the edge of a pond, which was used for ritual ablutions. The upper section, the temple sanctuary itself, once enclosed a large Shiva phallus (linga). It was later converted into a Buddhist temple but much of the original Hindu sculpture remains. The lintels feature various forms of Vishnu and Shiva as well as Kala, the Hindu god of time and death. The naga stairway is lined with plumeria (Dokchampa), the Lao national flower. 

Drive to Khong Island for take a cruise along the backwaters to explore the islands. During the rainy season, the Mekong River reaches a breadth of 14 kms, the river’s widest reach along its 4,350 km journey from the Tibetan Plateau towards the South China Sea; when the river recedes, it leaves behind thousands of islands and islets. Pass through the surrounding islands of Done Det and Done Som for a glimpse into the traditional lifestyle of the fishermen. Continue to Done Khone Island and hike along its ancient railway built by the French in 1897 in order to bypass the powerful rapids when transporting goods from Cambodia. Continue to the Sumphamith Waterfall. Board a local long-tail riverboat to reach Ban Nakasang village and continue by car to visit the magnificent Khone Phapheng Waterfall, the largest cascade along the Mekong River. A fault line caused the cascade, which is 6 km wide at this point, and the astonishing force of the water has cut dramatic gorges through the brittle bedrock. 

Transfer back to Pakse and check in to hotel.

Accommodation at hotel.

Day 9: PAKSE - DEPARTURE  (B/-/-)

Breakfast at the hotel. Free until time transfer to airport for next destination. End tour

Inclusions:

• Accommodation as above mentioned with daily breakfast: 3 stars hotel

• Meals as specified in the program ( B = Breakfast) 

• Transfers and tours as per program with private A / C vehicles (car, van or coach).

• Services of English speaking guides for transfers, visits and tours.

• Entrance fees as per itinerary.

• Service charge, room tax and baggage handling.

• Flight ticket: Luang Prabang - Vientiane, Vientiane - Pakse

Exclusions:

• Laotian visa fee upon arrival (USD 30 / pax + 2 photos).
• Meals
• Insurance
• Personal expense does not include in program (laundry, telephone, shopping…)
• International flight tickets and airport tax
• Gala dinner and Christmas Eve.
• Personal travel insurance.