Classic Laos

Arrival in Houay Xay, frontier town on the left bank of the Mekong.

In the morning departure on a comfortable motor boat that starts the descent of the river with destination Pakbeng.

Along the way, the untouchable shores offer countless opportunities to match and discover the simple life of the people on the river and the ethnic groups on the mountains.

Arrival in Pakbeng for the sunset.

Lunch on board.

Dinner on the terrace of the Menkong's banks and overnight.

After breakfast you can visit the colorful market of Pakbeng. Here, the people belonging to the ethnic minorities, who live in the mountains, come and sell their products.

Departure for the second part of the cruise, continuing to go down the river. We will takes a stop in a inhabitated village by the famous H'Mong.

When the river narrows and rock walls looming over the waters, we will land to reach the sacred Pak Ou caves. According to the popular faith, the inhabitants have filled it with thousands of Buddha statues during the centuries.

Before reaching Luang Prabang we will stop in a village where people still practice the traditional rice alcohol distillation. Arrival in Luang Prabang with the sunset.

Lunch on board.

Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

Breakfast at hotel.

Hal day visit of the waterfalls in Kuong Si along a road with a suggestive natural landscape. Enroute it is possible to admire some H'Mong's settlements. They are irreducible warriors and opium poppy growers who have now abandoned the ancient customs but still preserve the proud bearing.

We will reach the Natural Park with its beautiful waterfalls, where the water falls on limestone rock formations. It is sourrended by lush vegetation, then calms its impetus in turquoise basins where you can also enjoy a very refreshing swim.

Visit of Luang Prabang, the ancient royal capital located in a valley on the middle rush of the Mekong. Thanks to the incomparable beauty of the site and the several extraordinary masterpieces of Buddhist religious architecture, UNESCO has declared the place a World Heritage Site. There are more than thirty monastic complexes from which the mystical sense of spirituality is emanated. It manages to enrapture every visitor.

Worth visiting are the Vat Visoun, the Vat Sené, the Vat Xieng Thong. To admire the gentle colors of the sunset we will climb to Wat Chom Si, the peak of Phu Si, the sacred hill that overlooks the landscape of Luang Prabang.

Lunch in a local restaurant during the excursion.

Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

Waking up before dawn, it is possible to go to the central street of Luang Prabang to see the long line of more than 200 monks, with their Patriarch. They silently walk among the reverent population that offers them the food of the day.

We return to the hotel for breakfast and then visit the National Museum located in the building of the Royal Palace. It was built in 1904 and now hosts a rich collection of objects that belonged to the treasury of the royal family and, above all, the Phra Bang, the 83 cm high gold statue. According to the tradition it is a symbol of the kingdom of Lane Xang in the 13^th century.

Transfer by direct flight to Vientiane.

Half-day visit of the main temples of the city. Moving on to the side of the Patuxai or "Victory Gate", the memorial dedicated to all the Laotians killed during all wars, we will reach the holiest site in Laos: That Luang.

It is a great stupa that contains a relic of Buddha. According to the tradition it was brought here in the 3^rd century BC. In the heart of the old city, the cloister of Wat Si Saket hosts more than two thousand Buddha images. According to the legend, the images have preserved it from the destruction made by the Siamese armies in 1828. On the other side of the street, it is possible to admire the elegant architecture of the classical Ho Phra Keo, the house of the museum of religious art with a beautiful bronze Buddha statue.

Lunch in a local restaurant during the excursion.

Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

After breakfast, transfer to the airport and flight to Pakse. Arrive in Pakse and transfer to hotel.

Full day visit of the Bolaven plateau, the region of the vast tea plantations and the famous coffee, the steep woods and the amazing waterfall Tad Fane and Tad Lo.

This is the land where several ethnic groups belonging to the Mon-Khmer family live. During the trip we will see the villages Laven, Alak, Nghé and Suei, which have a common characteristic: built their huts around an open space in the center of which stands a temple of a protector genius and the sacrificial pole of the buffalo. They still live according to their ancestral customs. They cultivate the land with the tools of their forefather and have retained private kindness of the mountain people.

Lunch in a local restaurant during the excursion.

Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Once we have crossed the Mekong, we will reach Champasak to the southwest of which stands a 1416 meters high mountain, that culminates with a linga shape: the Vat Phou. This is an ancient place of worship of the mountain's genie and the spirits of the water. During the 6^th century, the Khmer of Cenla built a temple in honour of the god Shiva. The emperors of Angkor considered it their "dynastic temple". The ancient shivaista cult fell into disuse but the site remains sacred and is revered by Laotians and Cambodians.

Back on the left bank we will go to the south part along the river. We will reach the side where the Mekong enormously widens and holds islands and islets where the inhabitants survive on fishing and tropical crops.

Go further towards the south to reach Don Khong, the large island where time seems to have stopped in the past.

Lunch in a local restaurant during the excursion.

Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel.

The day runs along the waters of the Mekong in one of the most charming and beautiful Indochinese landscape. Here the climate of the colonial period and of the adventurous exploration trips of the '800s is still present. The nature defended itself from any onslaught of modernity and has kept intact its original beauty.

In the great island of Don Khong time seems to have stopped to ancient times and people live thanks to fishing, cultivation of rice and work on the sugar palm. Near the island of Khone, the waters, mighty and muddy, but still pristine, rushing towards the plain of Cambodia with the spectacular Pha Peng waterfalls. They are so impressive that many have renamed them, perhaps with a little of emphasis, the "Niagara of East". Over the falls, from Voeun Kham, we will reach the quiet bends of the river by a quick sampan. This is the ideal habitat for the rare Mekong dolphins.

Lunch in a local restaurant during the excursion.

Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel. Transfert to the airport of Pakse.