Grand Tour Laos: From Thailand/Laos border to South 9 Days 8 Nights

Description

Tour Code: GTLao08

Title Tour: GTLao08 - 1Lnt - 1Pkb - 2Lpq - 1Vte - 1Pkz - 2Dkg - FB

Program

Day 1:
CHIANG RAI- LUANG NAM THA (Lunch, Dinner)
Arrive in Huay Xai at 9:00. Depart by bus into the province of Bokeo in order to reach our destination of Luang Nam Tha (Located a couple tens of kilometers from the Chinese border) on a route that offers countless opportunities to stop to allow you to experience the life of the people who live in the villages which come from different mountain ethnic groups like the Leu and the Thai Deng.
Lunch at typical restaurant
Arrive in Luang Nam Tha at the end of the morning and visit the villages: Ban Kamu and Ban Mhong.
Dinner in Hotel.

Day 2:
LUANG NAM THA - PAKBENG (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
From Luang Nam Tha, the road continues running among mountains of wild beauty which then makes a wide turn towards the South East to advance into Oudomxai province – where the river Beng cuts through from the mountains bordering China, descends and flows into the Mekong, Along the way, you will encounter the ethnic minority villages of Lao Tung and Lanten. The valleys and slopes welcome some beautiful villages inhabited by the Black Thai, Aka, Lanten and Kamu. All of which are ethnic groups strongly anchored to their customs and who proudly, even today, dress in their beautiful polychrome and traditional costumes.
Lunch at typical restaurant
Arrive in Pak Beng,
Dinner in Hotel.

Day 3:
PAKBENG - PAK OU - LUANG PRABANG (Breakfast,Lunch,Dinner)
After breakfast we will visit the colorful market of Pak Beng, where people of the different ethnic minorities that live in the mountains come down to sell their products.
Then depart for the second part of the cruise, which descends down the river making a brief stop in a village inhabited by the famous mountain tribe, the H’mong,. When the river narrows and bare rock walls fall upon the water, we arrive to go into the sacred Pak Ou a cave which over the course of the past century due to popular faith has been filled with thousands of Buddha statues.
Lunch on board cruise
Before you reach Luang Prabang, we stop again in another village Ban Sangkong, famous for making rise paper and weaving..
Arrive in Luang Prabang by sunset.
Dinner at the hotel.

Day 4:
LUANG PRABANG (Breakfast,Lunch,Dinner)
Half-day visit to the waterfall of Kuong Si, travel a road that runs through a natural landscape of tranquil beauty. Along the way are agglomerations of the H’mong tribe – diehard warriors and opium poppy growers who have now abandoned their old habits but preserve their pride. You will then reach a natural park with a beautiful waterfall whose water cascades over limestone rock formations framed by thick vegetation. One can then calm their excitement in turquoise lagoons and if you are daring enough you can also go for a very refreshing swim.
Lunch in a typical Lao restaurant
Visit of Luang Prabang, the former Royal capital situated in a valley in the middle of the Mekong. Due to the incomparable beauty of the site and the extraordinary masterpieces of Buddhist religious architecture, UNESCO has declared it a World Heritage Site. With more than thirty monastery complexes, all of which emanates the mystic sense of spiritualty which immerses in every visitor. Among the many, you don’t want to miss the visit of jewels such as the Vat Visoun, Vat Sene and Vat Xieng Thong. To admire the sweet colors of the sunset go to Vat Chom Si, at the peak of Phy Si, the sacred hill that dominates the landscape of Luang Prabang.
Dinner at the hotel.

Day 5:
LUANG PRABANG - VIENTIANE (Breakfast,Lunch,Dinner)
Waking up before dawn, you can make your way down to the main street of Luang Prabang to see the long line of more than 200 monks with the head of their Patriarch, that silently parade between their religious population which offer them their food for the day.
Then we return to the hotel for breakfast
After we will visit the National Museum located in the Royal Palace built in 1904, which now houses a rich collection of objects belonging to the Treasury of the Royal family as well as the feature of the Phra Bang – an 83cm high gold statue that according to tradition is the symbol of the Kingdom of Lane Xiang since the 13th century.
Transfer to airport
Flight to Vientiane.
Transfer in at Vientiane
Lunch in a typical Lao restaurant
Half-day visit of the main temples of the city. Pass beside the Patuxai or “Gate of Victory”, the memorial dedicated to all Laotians who died in all wars. We then reach the holiest place in all of Laos, That Luang, - the great Buddhist monument which is said to contain a relic of the Buddha which tradition says has been there since the 3rd century BC. In the heart of the old town, the cloister of the old Vat Si Saket accommodates more than 2000 images of Buddha which are said to have been preserved from destruction brought by Siamese armies in 1828. On the other side of the road, the refined classical architecture of the Ho Phra Keo is present in the religious art museum which has a collection of beautiful bronze Buddhist staturary.
Dinner at the hotel.

Day 6:
VIENTIANE - PAKSE (Breakfast,Lunch,Dinner)
Transfer to the airport
Flight to Pakse.
Arrive in Pakse and Transfer to the hotel.
Full day visit of Bolaven, the region of rich tea plantations, their famous coffee and the steep yet amazing forest waterfalls of Tad Fane and Tad Lo. This land is where many ethnic groups live of mon-khmer ancestry.
Lunch in a typical Lao restaurant
Visit the villages of Lavan, Alak, Nghe and Suei which share the common feature of building their huts around the Temple of the Genius Protector as well as a pole where they perform the ritual sacrifice of the Buffalo. All of them still living according to their ancestral customs, cultivating the land with the tools of their ancestors and preserving the reserved kindness of the mountain people.
Dinner at the hotel.
The rooms at the hotel are simple but comfortable.

Day 7:
PAKSE - CHAMPASAK – DONE KHONG (Breakfast,Lunch,Dinner)
Cross the Mekong till we reach Champasak in the South West which has a tall mountain standing 1416 meters high and which culminates with a pinnacle in the form of a line: the Vat Phou. An ancient place of worship of the mountain genie and water spirits, built in the 6th century by the Khmer of Cenla in honor of the deity Shiva. Angkor emperors considered this place their dynastic temple. The ancient cults of Shaivism and Cadutoi are disused but this place remains sacred and is revered by Buddhist Laotians and Cambodians.
Lunch in a typical Lao restaurant
Return on the left-hand side river and proceed south to the end of the River where the Mekong course then broadens to welcome islands and islets where the residents draw life from fishing and tropical crops. Continue south until you reach Done Khong, a large island where times seems to have stopped in the ancient time period.
Dinner at the hotel.
Hotels are basic but comfortable.

Day 8:
DONE KHONG (Breakfast,Lunch,Dinner)
Spend the day floating along the Mekong waters surrounded by one of the most beautiful and spectacular landscapes in Indochina. Where the climate of the past colonial time still wafts and the adventurous voyages of exploration that has been around since the 19th century are still present. Here nature has defended itself from every assult of modernism and has persevered its primeval power and beauty. On the large island of Done Khong, time seems to have stopped in the ancient times and people live by fishing, cultivating rice and labor to make palm sugar.
Lunch in a typical Lao restaurant
Near the island of Khone, the water is mighty and muddy but remains pristine and rushes towards the Cambodian plain to the spectacular waterfalls of Pha Peng - that of which are so impressive that many have called, perhaps with slight exaggeration, but the “Niagara Falls of the East.” Continue past the waterfalls of Voeun Kham, travel in an agile sampan to reach the Peace River, where the habitat there is ideal for the rare dolphins of the Mekong.
Dinner at the hotel.
Hotels are basic but comfortable.

Day 9:
DONE KHONG - PAKSE – (Breakfast)
Transfer to Pakse airport
or
Transfer to the boarder of Laos and Thailand… .

Price includes

- Hotel in Standard room with breakfast
- Meals as per program
- Transfers and excursions as per program
- English Speaking Guide.
- Assistance during your entire stay - Phone Number "" URGENCY "" 24 hours 24 IN ENGLISH
- During long trips water and refreshing towels.

Price does not include

- Flights, if not stated in the program
- Everything not indicated in "Quote includes"
- Hotels peak season special supplements and policies such as Christmas and new year dinner new year minimum stay etc ..

Itinerary

Accommodations provided in each place