Laos Family Tour 14 days: Culture and Tradition

Upon arrival at Vientiane International Airport, you will be met and transferred to your hotel. In the early evening, discover Laos by taking a tuk tuk at the night market near That Luang. In the evening, the market comes alive and is a favorite among locals with very few tourists to see - offering an authentic glimpse of local cuisine. Depending on your tastes, your guide will choose some dishes for you to dine before returning to the tuk tuk and head to a local style outdoor cafe where you can end your evening with a few glasses of local beer.
 

In the morning, we will pick up you at your hotel in Vientiane to start our private tour by the first stop Wat Si Saket, the only temple left undamaged by  the Siamese invaders in 1828. It is considered as one of the most magnificent temples in the city, and its breezy teak-covered hallways with thousands of miniature sculptures of Buddha statues.
 
The second stop we make would be a religious museum of Wat Ho Phra Ke which expresses a collection of both Lao and Khmer works of art. Then we visit the Presidential Palace and have a look at the building from outside ( we are not allowed to go inside). Catch a sight into the town’s colonial past as this building formerly served as the French governor’s palace.
 
Dicover Wat Si Muang, one of the most popular and respected temples in Vientiane. Then continue out trip with the Patuxai monument (Victory Gate), Laos’ version of the Arc de Triomphe, where you can climb the stairs to the roof for sweeping panoramic views of the city.
 
Then we move on That Luang, the holiest site in Laos. Constructed by King Setthethirat in the 16th century, the temple is resplendent as the sun shines upon its towering golden spire.
 
Leaving for Tha Ngon, a popular spot for lunch along the river with locals. Here you will embark on a private boat and lunch will be served on board while you float leisurely along the river.
 
In the afternoon reach the Buddha Park after 45 - minute by road transfer. On the way, we  make a brief stop and take photos of the Friendship Bridge, built by the Australian government in 1994, which connect Laos and Thailand. On arrival, we go around the Buddha Park (Xieng Khuan) with more than 200 Buddhist and Hindu statues. The tranquil setting along the Mekong River is a contrast to the slightly eccentric sculptures built in 1958 by a Laos shaman. The concrete sculptures are unique and intriguing, sitting majestically in the peaceful park.
 
We return to Vientiane and make our stop at the Lao Disabled Women's Development Centre, which intends to help disabled women to raise theire knowledge and skills  so that they can become self-sufficient and productive people of the community. The center mainly focuses its efforts on helping people with disabilities gain independence and self confidence. A visit to the center brings you  the opportunity to talk to these women and to observe their skill at creating handicrafts such as hand-made paper. End your full-day tour of the capital along the banks of the Mekong River as the sun begins to set. Walk along the river, stop to enjoy a cold drink, or sample a snack from one of the many local food stalls, if you like, before retunr to your hotel.
 
Overnight at the hotel in Vientinane
 

After breakfast, you will be driven to meet your chef for today. Your first stop will be at the local market for a unique tour and tasting experience, and the opportunity to choose the best ingredients for the cooking class to follow. Before returning to class, enjoy a coffee and a local snack in an authentic family-friendly café, away from the tourist trails.

Properly refreshed, head to a private house overlooking the Mekong River where your cooking class begins. A welcome drink will be served upon arrival before you are introduced and you will try to prepare a variety of delicious traditional Laotian dishes.

Lunch will be your own effort and will be enjoyed in the shade of the mango trees in the garden of the house.
A booklet of Laotian recipes will be given at the end of the course so that you can share your new skills with your family and friends when you return. Overnight in Vientiane.
 

Morning you will be transferred to the airport for your flight to Luang Prabang. Upon arrival pick up and transfer you to your hotel for check-in. The remaining would be free until we pick you up for a short cultural tour to explore the town. Begin first with a game of petanque, one of Laos’ favorite pastimes.

The guide will provide a basic breakdown of the game’s rules, and locals will provide tips and tricks while snacks and drinks are served. Laotians really enjoy playing and joking around, an opportunity to share a good time and trade lots of smiles and laughter together. Overnight in Luang prabang
 

Begin the day with a pick up from the hotel in Luang Prabang at 08:30 with the adapted bikes. After doing a fitting and adjusting the bike, start the tour at the former Luang Prabang’s National Museum, once the country’s royal palace and home to King Sisavangvong in the early 20th century. Explore the museum’s a range of personal artifacts from the Lao royal family as well as the Phra Bang Buddha image and throne from the country’s Lan Xang Kingdom.

Continue to Wat Mai which brings us a chance to enjoy the impressive architecture of this Laotian city’s unique architecture Next cycle to Wat Visoun, the holiest temple in the city, followed by the 16th century Wat Aham and Wat That. Ride along the Nam Khan River to visit Wat Xieng Thong, the most revered temple in Luang Prabang.

Take a break to enjoy lunch at Tamarind, one of the most celebrated restaurants in Luang Prabang. (Closed on Sundays)
This afternoon, continue the cycle out to Phosy Market, to join the locals and support vendors by buying fresh produce. The guide will be here to explain the fruits and to encourage the sampling of different items… many of which have never been seen before!

Continue the ride to Ock Pop Tock, a nonprofit seeking to preserve traditional weaving techniques, helping to make the trade an important source of income for many Lao families. Ride along the Mekong back into town for the final stop of the day: the Traditional Arts & Ethnology Centre, dedicated to exploring the rich diversity of Laos’ ethnic minorities.

Return to the hotel by bike.  
This afternoon, enjoy a romantic and relaxing time at L’Hibiscus Spa. Upon arrival, enjoy a welcome drink before receiving a 30 minute herbal foot massage on a private balcony for two. The foot massage will be followed by a 90 minute aromatherapy massage in a private room for two including hot compress, hot rocks or hot oil. After the massage share sunset on the balcony and try delicious L’Hibiscus sorbet.

Enjoy a romantic dinner for two at Luang Prabang’s finest French restaurant, L’Eléphant.  Overnight in Luang Prabang
 

After breakfast, your guide will pick you up a 45-minute drive from the city to visit Kuang Si Falls. On the way you can choose to visit a nearby elephant camp or the butterfly park if you prefer.

At the elephant camp, you will receive a welcome drink and some information about the camp itself. You will then be introduced to the elephants and will have the opportunity to feed them before taking a scenic tour through the beautiful natural landscapes ending with another brief stop to bathe the elephants and watch them play in the water.

Papillon Park offers a unique experience among thousands of butterflies living in an enchanted paradise of 900m2. Here you can learn about the wide variety of butterflies found in Laos and their favorite host plants, as you walk through the colorful flower garden that features hundreds of different types of plants and even waterfalls.

En route to the beautiful Kuang Si Waterfall, you will have the opportunity to cool off in the turquoise pool or stroll along the forest trails. End your day with a visit to the Bear Rescue Center, which does a great job protecting and rehabilitating the rare black bear before returning to Luang Prabang in the early evening.
 

This morning, go to the pier and embark on a traditional boat at Kamu Lodge Pier for a leisurely cruise upriver. Take a break to visit the sacred caves of Pak Ou, where you will find thousands of golden Buddha statues placed by devotees before continuing to Kamu Lodge around noon. After checking into your supersize tents (with modern attached bathroom facilities), join your hosts for a local communal-style home-cooked meal in a cozy Sala, set among the rice fields.

After lunch, guests can choose to relax on the veranda or enjoy a variety of traditional Kamu activities including:

• Rice growing and harvesting in the surrounding rice fields
• Panoramic view of the Mekong. All you can find is yours!
• Try your hand at traditional fishing techniques. You can enjoy your catch for dinner ...
• Visit the nearby village of Ban Nioy Hai Village where you will meet local villagers from Kamu and learn more about their culture
• Have dinner with your local guests before settling into your comfortable tent for the night.

After breakfast you can wander through this harmonious local community or participate in another activity before returning to Luang Prabang. Overnight in LUang Prabang
 

This morning, you will have the opportunity to meet Mr. Ken, a young local entrepreneur who has climbed up the social ladder of a rural village, to a successful entrepreneur who runs his own social enterprise in Luang Prabang.

The first visit will be to Big Brother Mouse, a locally run project that aims to improve the lives of local children by publishing books that help make it fun and easy to learn to read. The project relies on visitors to help them distribute books that are not easily accessible in Laos and those that exist, rarely reach rural villages such as the one you will visit today.

Mr. Ken will then take you to visit his hometown of Ban Padaeng, about a 90-minute drive from Luang Prabang and away from the tourist trails. In Ban Padaeng, you will visit a bamboo school, where you will have the unique opportunity to meet young students, take an English lesson, or play language games before Mr. Ken distributes the books you brought this morning.

After class, there will be time to wander through the village and the nearby river before meeting to share a locally prepared lunch with the school's small team of teachers. With Ken's help, teachers will tell you a little more about the school and answer all your questions.

After lunch, take part in a traditional Baci ceremony, led by a village eldest, which involves gently tying cotton cords around your wrists, symbolizing friendship, good health and good luck for your trip. Then return to town, stopping to visit Mr. Ken's family home before returning to Luang Prabang around 4:00 pm

Morning transfer you to the airport for your flight to Pakse. Upon arrival at the airport, our guide and driver will pick up you and drive direcly to  Pakse and onto the Bolaven Plateau. The Bolaven Plateau is well -known for its cooler temperature being situated high above the Mekong Valley.

Make a stroll at a tea plantation, followed by a short tour to Tad Fan Waterfall, a magnificently picturesque  twin chute waterfall.

Tad Fane is built by natural twin 120-metre high waterfalls basing on the merging waters of the Champy and Pak Koot rivers. These falls are located on the edge of Dong Hua Sao protected area, far from 38 km from Paksé (Note: water level may vary accordingly to the previous rainy season). 

On the way back to Pakse we  will make a stop to visit a tea and/or coffee plantation. Laos is famouus  for its delicious coffee, is mainly grown here on the Bolaven Plateau. A visit to one of the plantations will privide you with good knowledge of the process of planting, harvesting and roasting these delicious beans. Have chance to enjoy a cup of the local brew before you leave.

Overnight at the hotel in Bolaven Plateau.
 

After breakfast, Our Jeep tour specialist will welcom and met you at Chai Coffee, and discuss  with him a bit there when enjoying a cup of coffee.

After that, we will take our own Jeep to reach Tad Moun Waterfalls within 30 minutes where we can enjoy the fresh cool water, and visit the vegetable farm not far away.
 
We then continue our tour day trip to drive to the Coffee Farm of Mr. Khamsone via the 10KM bumpy and muddy road, which will take us near 01 hour with your special Jeep car.
 
Upon arrival, the Coffee farm’s owner will spend 1 hour to give us useful introduction about about coffee Roasting step and finishing by enjoying a coffee cupping with the different kind of coffee (Robusta, Arabica and Typica).
 
A picnic lunch will be served on the farm at around 1:30PM before walking to the refugee cave not far away, which is used as the shelter place by the local villagers during the war time.
 
After that, we will walk along the farm to see the volcano mountain named Phou Sanark where we can discover the view over the farm and the nearby villages during the sunset.
 
We can get an opportunity of preparing and cooking diiner with the wife of Mr. Khamsone.
Overnight at the hotel in Bolaven Plateau.
 
 

After breakfast, you are picked up and transfered by road to Wat Phou.
 
Wat Phou is a beautifully dramatic pre-Angkorian temple being considered as World Heritage Site by UNESCO that located amidst the rice fields and waterways of southern Laos. The temple was built in three levels: the bottom level is mainly concentrated on the baray (water reservoir) and promenade, the second level features quadrangular pavilions and galleries of carvings, and the top level is the sanctuary itself.

The temple was constructed by the rulers of the Khmer empire before the construction of Angkor Wat. The temple was the most important economic and political centre of the region and still is one of the Lao people’s most respected temples.
 
Make a stroll at  the small town of Champasak, where French colonial buildings shows a great contrast to Wat Phou. We head to the south, make a short stop at the wood carving village of Ban Nong Bune.
 
We will pass through the little village of Ban Khiet Ngong where we'll get an opportunity to take an elephant ride to Mount Asa. We’ll enjoy our lunch at a simple local restaurant. Ban Kiet Ngong is the beginning point for your 90 minute elephant ride through the forest (2 people per elephant) and up to Mount Asa. This kind of tour is part of a community-based tourism project developed to support the local villagers and provide conservation awareness.
 
En route, we’ll catch a amazing sight of the Xe Pian National Park which is situated between Champasak and Attapeu provinces. Stretching along the Mekong with many wetlands and unspoiled forest areas, this park offers a huge biodiversity with 29 recorded ecosystems. Birds species such as egrets, sarus crane and hornbill can occasionally be spotted and other inhabitants include wild elephant and gibbon.
 
You are free for the rest of the day for your own exploration of the village and the surrounding area.
Overnight at King Fisher Eco-Lodge
 

After breakfast, we leave  the village of Ban Khiet Ngong for jouney to  Khong Island, the largest island of 4000-island area. Upon arrival, we take on a long tail boat for discovering the widest reach of the Mekong River, where during the dry season the waters draw back and leave behind thousands of islets which is original of a lovely name” Si Phan Done”.
 
Upon arrival, we’ll have chance to discover the local peaceful villages of Ban Khone, where we can have a closer look a range of relics from the French colonial era and retrace the old colonial past, including old French colonial buildings and the remnants of the first Lao railway with its locomotive.
 
We continue to explore the 4000 islands area by tuktuk and visit the  breathtaking Liphi waterfall, also named the “Corridor of the Devil” one of the most beautiful waterfalls between Lao border and Cambodia. If we are lucky, we may even see the rare freshwater Irrawaddy Mekong dolphin at Ban Hang Khone. We return to the mainland at the fishing village of Ban Nakasang and drive further south to visit Khone Phapheng. Khone Phapheng is considered the biggest waterfall by volume in South East Asia; this is an impressive spot near the Lao-Cambodian border, set within an area which is teeming with wildlife, making this area one of the most breathtaking destinations in Laos. Afterwards we drive back to Khong Island. Overnight in Khong Island.
 
 

From the island, you can make a choice  of travelling  to Cambodia, the Kingdom of Wonders; or return back to Pakse to take the departure flight for the next destination. End of services.