Day 1:  Arrive Luang Prabang (No Meals)
Fly to Luang Prabang. (Flight not included.). On arrival take a private transfer (vehicle with driver) from the airport to your hotel. Stay three nights in Luang Prabang.

Day 2: Luang Prabang  & Pak Ou Caves (B)
Rise early and venture out with your guide to offer alms to the monks, a unique local custom. After breakfast, take a guided tour of Luang Prabang including the National Museum, the magnificent stupa of Wat Visoun, Wat That Luang, Wat Mai and to Wat Xieng Thong. You will have an option to climb Mount Phousi, a 100 m high hill in the centre of the old town, before returning to the hotel.
In the afternoon, spend two hours cruising the mighty Mekong River. Visit the mysterious Pak Ou Caves and stop at a riverside village where rice wine is produced, then the village of Ban Muang Keo where traditional Lao textiles are woven on ancient wooden looms. On return to the hotel, stop at the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre (closed on Mondays) to observe valuable artefacts and traditional clothing and implements from various minority groups in the area.

Day 3: Rice Farming Experience & Kuang Si Waterfall (B,L)
Take a 20-minute private guided road transfer to a community-based rice farm located in the idyllic countryside, surrounded by mountains and rice paddies. Experience the life of a farmer by trying your hand at some farm activities. All can join in and there are great photo opportunities. Alternatively, watch life on the farm unfold from the comfort of a traditional Lao rice house balcony surrounded by rice terraces and an organic vegetable farm. During the experience, you will also have the opportunity to learn about bamboo weaving, blacksmith work, and sugar cane processing. Later, tour the organic garden and learn how natural herbs are used in traditional medicine.

After lunch at the rice farm, continue by car onto Kuang Si Waterfall, one of the town’s highlights. A single large cascade tumbles from the jungle feeding a series of falls and pools that make perfect swimming holes. Bring along your swim suits and towels should you plan to have a dip in one of the pools.

Day 4: Luang Prabang – Vientiane (B)
Guided transfer Luang Prabang high-speed train station to board your train to Vientiane. (Second Class** seating train included ETD 12:52 pm ETA 14:56 pm)
**For Laos, Second Class on local trains is equal to Economy Class.
Arrive in Vientiane and guided transfer to your hotel. Stay three nights in Vientiane.

Day 5: Vientiane (B)
Sightseeing in this quaint, sleepy capital, with its mix of Buddhist temples, fading French architecture and Chinese shophouses, includes visits to Wat Sisaket, with its thousands of little Buddha statues, Wat Prakeo, Wat Simuang, That Luang, and the Patousai Monument, Vientiane’s Arc de Triomphe. In the afternoon, visit Buddha Park, also known as Xieng Khuan, a sculpture park located 25 km southeast of Vientiane containing over 200 Hindu and Buddhist statues. On return to Vientiane downtown, stop at the Friendship Bridge that was designed and built by Australian companies and was funded by the Australian government as development aid for Laos.

Day 6: The Hungry Tuk-Tuk Safari  (B,L)
Be ready in the hotel lobby no later than 08:30 am to join a small group food tour (minimum 2 passengers and maximum 8 passengers). Your guide will pick you up at your hotel and you well then go on a foodie tour around Vientiane by Tuk Tuk, the three-wheeled taxis of Laos. Do you eat your way through life? Us too! Vientiane is a foodie’s paradise just waiting to be devoured. During this gourmet safari, visit local restaurants, hole-in-the-wall eateries, markets, factories and outdoor kitchens – so you can sample a smorgasbord of authentic and modern Lao food. Activities include:

• See howkao larm (sticky rice and coconut snack roasted in bamboo tubes) is made and try some fresh from production.
• Visit a local fresh food market and observe the market activity with a traditional Lao coffee.
• Lunch atthe most popular kao piak (handmade rice noodles in soup) shop in town, where you can visit the kitchen and watch the preparation for the lunchtime rush.
• Learn how to make traditional tham mak houng (green papaya salad).
• Visit the Xaoban Homemade Yoghurt factory.
• Have a Beer Lao and some deep fried bugs at a popular beer bar on the Mekong.
• Return to your hotel with your guide and by Tuk Tuk in the early afternoon (around 15:00 pm)

Day 7: Depart Vientiane (B)
Leisure time until private transfer (vehicle with driver) to Vientiane airport. (Flight not included.)

Included Meals: (B) = breakfast, (L) = lunch

Hotel Options

LUANG PRABANG

• 3***     Indigo House (Deluxe room)
• 4****   Maison Dalabua (Deluxe room)

VIENTIANE

• 3***     Family Boutique Hotel (Deluxe room)
• 4****   Eastin Hotel Vientiane (Superior City View room)
• 3***     Indigo House (Deluxe room)
• 4****   Maison Dalabua (Deluxe room)