We are greeted by our guide and driver at the airport for our transfer to the hotel.

Late afternoon, we can go for a stroll around this quaint town or even join some locals for a game of petanque.

We explore the Luang Prabang Night Market, where you can find a lovely selection of handmade textiles made by local villagers and the hill tribes surrounding Luang Prabang. We enjoy a dinner around the lively night market. There are plenty of street food options to choose from and also some more traditional Western dishes to try. Remember, the French have had a big influence here on the local cuisine.

Overnight at Luang Prabang hotel.

Mahout means Elephant keeper or Elephant rider. This is a fantastic chance to get to know the real profession of Mahouts, find out their everyday routine and learn more about the way of becoming a Mahout. We start by learning about elephants, their healthcare, the verbal and body language to communicate with elephants followed by some “Hands on Practice”.

After breakfast we are picked up from the hotel and transfer to the Elephant Village. Along the way to the Elephant Camp visit local village Ban Phanom, known for its excellent weaving, and visit Henry Mouhot’s grave site. He was the first European to rediscover Angkor Wat and is buried here in Luang Prabang.

Upon arrival at the elephant village we learn more about elephants and how the mahouts communicate with these fascinating animals. We have a typical Lao lunch at the cosy camp by the River.

After lunch we meet our elephant’s mahout. He teaches us how to communicate with our elephants and we have a little mahout practice session with baby elephants. We then go on an elephant safari (1 hour 30 min) into the jungle and along the Nam Khan River bank.

Late afternoon we join our mahouts and take the elephants down to the Nam Khan river for their daily bath and help them return the elephants to their sleeping place in the jungle. We then make our way back to camp and transfer back via minivan to our hotel in Luang Prabang

Optional early wake-up call possible to join the locals giving food to hundreds of Buddhist monks returning from morning prayers. Take a stroll through Ban Pakham morning market and take part in this everyday ritual.

Breakfast at the hotel or join the locals for a bowl of delicious noodle soup after the alms giving ritual.

Today we explore Luang Prabang by bicycle, a fun and eco-friendly way of exploring the town. We visit Wat Visun, Wat Aham, beautiful Wat Xieng Thong, and the Luang Prabang Ethnology Centre.

We then head out to Phone Say village by car, a hidden village specializing in beautiful textile weavings just a few kilometres from Luang Prabang. Phone Say still appears to be one of the most intact traditional Lao villages in the area, the charming village cannot be reached by vehicles but is only a 20-minute walk away from the main road. We meet Ms. Ting who has inherited her hand-weaving skills from her mom almost 30 years ago, and who now teaches young Laotian women a valuable skill. After a short visit to her workshop we enjoy a home-hosted lunch cooked by her younger sister Mrs. Bounkhong who also teaches cooking at a college in Luang Prabang. We have lunch on a hand-made bamboo terrace by the Mekong River, another memorable experience and a taste of real Lao traditions.

After lunch, we’re off to the Ock Pop Tock weaving centre, an organization that is offering the weavers in the area the chance to earn a decent income through their weaving skills. We also visit Ban Xang Khong village where we learn more about Saa paper.

On our way back to town we go up Phou Sy Mountain and enjoy the fantastic view of Luang Prabang, and the Nam Kan River joining the Mekong.

After the sunset there’s the option to enjoy a well-deserved and relaxing Traditional Lao Massage and Sauna at the Lao Garden Massage & Sauna Centre.

Overnight at hotel in Luang Prabang.

After breakfast at the hotel we go to Tamarind Cafe where our chef Joy Ngeuamboupha joins us for an introduction to real Lao cuisine. We take a tuk-tuk to Phou Sy market where we’ll buy our ingredients for the cooking class. Joy shares his knowledge with us on this market tour and then takes us to his lakeside classroom outside of town where we will learn to prepare some local favourites such as khao niauw (sticky rice), oh paedek (soup with ground pork) and laarb kai (spicy Laotian chicken salad).

Afterwards, we have lunch with Joy and evaluate our creations.

Early afternoon we make our way to the famous Khouang Si waterfall. A short walk and visit to the Bear Sanctuary are on the menu first before we have time for a relaxing swim or some relaxing by the water’s edge.

We then return to Luang Prabang and make our way to the airport for our flight to Vientiane (Suggested flight: QV104 / 1740-1820).Overnight in Vientiane.

For those that are interested, we skip breakfast at the hotel this morning and visit the local markets. We explore Thong Khankham Fresh Food Market full of bright colours and exotic aromas. Amid baskets piled with rice, eggs, and tea, ducks, pigs and fish both alive and dead, food stalls are selling noodles, soup, and ‘food to go’ wrapped in banana leaves. We have breakfast here, only problem is what to choose from this abundant display. We the visit the Flower Market with sellers of jasmine, orchids, and marigolds – the latter being woven into garlands for temple offerings.

After our market visits we make our way to the Vientiane Orchid Centre, a truly unique place where passionate French orchid expert Bertrand Laville hosts one of the largest orchid collections in the world.

In the afternoon, we tuk-tuk to Wat Sisaket, the oldest temple with thousands of miniature Buddha statues, and the former royal temple of Wat Prakeo, which previously housed the famous Emerald Buddha Image. En route to Lao’s national icon, That Luang Stupa, we will stop at the Patuxay Monument, known as Vientiane’s own Arc de Triumph.

We then head to the riverside for a sundowner drink overlooking the Mekong River.

Overnight in Vientiane

After breakfast we explore COPE educational centre, a heartbreaking but compelling place that teaches us about Laos’ Hidden War. Afterwards we continue on to the surreal and unique Buddha Park or Xiang Khouan as it’s known by the locals. A park filled with hundreds of Buddhist and Hindu statues that are definitely a world apart from your average temple visit.

After lunch at the Park, we travel to Wat Sokepaluang, a sacred temple known as a centre for Buddhist education. Here we meet our guide, a monk who will host an educational session on Lao culture and traditions. You will learn about the relationship between Buddhism and Lao history, society, meditation, and any other topic that may interest you. We can take a a private yoga lesson in the shade of the temple’s trees, learn about the temple’s herbal gardens, try the traditional sauna and practice meditation.

Overnight in Vientiane.

After an early breakfast, we go hotel to Wattay airport for our flight to Pakse, the provincial capital of Champasack where the Mekong and Sedon rivers meet.

Upon arrival in Pakse we drive a few hours to Bolaven Plateau. The plateau is a fertile farmland for coffee, tea and cardamom plantations. It is also the home to number of ethnic minorities. We make sure to stop at Tad Fane waterfalls before we visit Katouat Village. Here many families work as coffee farmers. We can join the farmers for their work on the plantations where we learn how to pick the coffee cherries. The harvesting is done by hand, and only the ripe cherries are picked. With baskets full of cherries the local people return to the village’s coffee factory where the coffee is pulped, fermented and washed.

We enjoy lunch with the villagers at the village of Ban Katouart before we look where the beans are dried by the sun, which can take up to 25 days depending on the weather. We then see how the dried beans are hulled to be sold all over the world. The last step in the production chain, we roast and grind the green beans – to finally enjoy a delicious cup of the freshest coffee!

After lunch we drive to the Tadlo Falls and spend some time here relaxing before continuing on to Champasack where we will stay for the night.

After an early breakfast we visit Wat Phou, a site of ancient religious significance in one of the most spectacular regions of Laos. We drive to Wat Phou by car, but make our way back across the Mekong River by local transport before our van awaits us to take us to Khone Island, part of the 4,000 Islands region. Here the Mekong can get up to 14km wide during the rainy season and it is dotted with thousands of islands varying in size.

We take a small boat across the River to Khone Island where we have plenty of free time to explore this quaint island and its villages by bicycle or on foot. There are plenty of places to explore and there is time to relax, swim or discover the small island on your own.

Overnight on Don Khone Island.

Breakfast at the hotel.

After breakfast we visit a local school in Ban Hang Khone Village (closed June – Aug, starts again on the 1^st of September) where we can donate study and sport materials like books, pens, pencils, balls etc…  Afterwards we can join with the students and their teachers for some fun and games.

We then go on a boat ride taking us around the 4000 islands area, if we are lucky we might even spot the rare exotic Irrawaddy Mekong dolphin.

After our boat ride we return to Pakse, visiting the famous waterfalls of Khone Phapeng, the largest waterfalls in South East Asia, also known as the Niagara of the east.

Overnight in Pakse

Note: The above community project is under checking with local authority and will be updated shortly.

After breakfast there’s free time for your own exploration of Pakse Town.

Airport transfer for return flight home.

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