LAO06: EYES ON THE MEKONGS (HOUAY XAI – PAKBENG – PAK OU CAVES – LUANG PRABANG  – VIENTIANE)(6D5N)

Your local slow boat leaves Houay Xai pier at 09:00 hrs for a leisurely cruise down the Mekong to Pakbeng. En route you will make a stop where you will have the opportunity to observe rural life in a remote ethnic minority village.

Your lunch will be served onboard as you continue on down stream, arriving in Pakbeng before sunset. Overnight in Pakbeng

Breakfast, we head for day activities, your guide will take you to villages by 17 Km north of Pakbeng town to visit the Khmu villages on a red-soil road, passing small forests, rice fields, some spectacular scenery and a rustic village with wooden bamboo houses. Stop along the way for photo ops of the local children and hard-working farmers in the field. On arrival at the home of a Khmu family at Ban kham village, take part in daily life, including some step of peeling rice by hand During your time in the village, your guide will introduce you to some traditional customs of the Khmu people and how difference between three biggest ethnic groups in Laos, back to town for lunch and afternoon, we visit temple at Wat Sichomjeng, Wat Kokkormingmoungkhoun and local market observing the variety of local foodstuffs and products including dried buffalo skin, local tea and saltpeter among the chickens, fish, vegetables and fruit. Overnight in Pakbeng

After breakfast we will board our slow boat to continue our cruise to Luang Prabang. This morning we will stop to explore an ethnic Hmong village before having your lunch on board.
Mid afternoon we will arrive at Pak Ou Caves. These caves are an ancient pilgrimage site and contain thousands of gold lacquered Buddha images left there over hundreds of years.
Continuing down the Mekong River we will arrive in Luang Prabang by late afternoon. Overnight in Luang Prabang

We head off this morning on bicycles to see some of the highlights of Luang Prabang including a visit to the Royal Palace Museum, which hosts a range of interesting artifacts from the Royal period in Luang Prabang. Cycling on, we see the city’s oldest temples, the magnificent Wat Xiengthong with its roof sweeping low to the ground, representing classical Lao architecture, the impressive stupa of Wat Visoun and the shrine of Wat Aham.

This afternoon we journeyed to Kuang Si Waterfall stopping along the way to visit the morning Phousi Market, where all the locals of Luang Prabang come to do their daily shopping. You will see a variety of local foodstuffs and products including dried buffalo skin, local tea and saltpeter among the chickens, fish, vegetables and fruit, everything needed for daily life in Laos.

On arrival at the Kuang Si Waterfall you will have the opportunity to cool off with a refreshing swim in the topaz pools below the falls, walk along the forest trails and visit the Bear Sanctuary.

Returning to Luang Prabang late afternoon your evening is free to explore or relax at the hotel. Overnight in Luang Prabang

This morning you will be transferred to the airport for your flight to Vientiane. You are seeing the major temples of Vientiane including the oldest, Wat Sisaket, with its thousands of miniature Buddha statues, and the former royal temple of Wat Prakeo, which housed the famous Emerald Buddha Image. We also visit the national icon of Laos, That Luang Stupa, stopping along the way to take some pictures of the imposing Patuxay Monument, which is Vientiane’s own Arc de Triumph, from there you visit COPE Center. The COPE was created in response to the need to provide UXO survivors with the care and support they required, namely by way of orthotic and prosthetic devices. This museum was set up in 1997 to help covering the victims during the Indochina war. Overnight in Vientiane

Depending on your flight, you may have time at leisure before you will be transferred to the airport in time for your departing flight

HAVE A GREAT TRIP!