Laos Trekking

Meet and greet at Chiang Rai airport, Thailand when you will be transferred to your hotel where you have the rest of the day at leisure

Overnight:

The Wiang Inn

Today we travel from our accommodation to Huay Xai. Following your completion of border formalities, we head out of the town to Luang Namtha. This road has recently been improved, and is now a very smooth and comfortable drive. We visit hill tribe villages along the road at Muang Phouka and other surrounding areas. We arrive in Luang Namtha in the afternoon where you have the rest of the day at leisure

Overnight:

The Boat Landing

Meals included:

Breakfast

The trip starts with a climb up to Phoumpok Stupa a great view point, offering panoramic views of Luang Nam Tha town. We then head into the jungle with your local guide, who will show you the different types of medicines and foods you can collect in the forest. For lunch you will have a wonderful picnic prepared by your guide and some local villagers. They will use bamboo pipes to cook either Black Tai or Akha style food and you will dine in the heart of the jungle.
After lunch, we continue trekking for another 45 minutes, and eventually reach Ban Nammutmai, a picturesque Akha minority village built on the hillside. Here you will learn about the life of this small ethnic minority group. Your guide will translate and explain to you old folklore stories from the locals. After this village visit, we travel by pickup truck to the Lanten village of Ban Nam Jang, where they specialize in the making of Saa paper. The trip ends when we return to the Luang Nam Tha market. Here you will see many of the forest products found along the trail being sold in the market. You will arrive back at your accommodation by mid afternoon.

Overnight:

The Boat Landing

Meals included:

Breakfast, lunch

You have the morning at leisure to relax in beautiful surroundings, before we get back on the road, heading south to the town of Oudomxay. After making a number of stops to admire the scenery, we reach Oudomxay by late afternoon. Overnight in Oudomxay.

Overnight:

Villa Keoseumsack

Extras and options:

For a 5 star option we drive to Muangla resort between Oudomxay and Muang Khua The minimum stay here is 2 nights and the resort has their own trekking program that you can join. So a 5 star itinerary is slightly different with 2 nights in Muangla including trekking and just 1 night in Nong Khiaw.

Meals included:

Breakfast

The local market also attracts numerous ethnic minorities who converge from the surrounding mountainsides or valley to barter and trade their goods. We visit this congregation before setting off on our journey east to the riverside town of Muang Khua. En route we have the chance to visit the intriguing Pra Xack Kham Temple with its sacred Buddha image. The 400 years old legendary statue is said to have many supernatural powers, and is widely worshipped among the faithful local Buddhists. We also stop at the market of Xin Sai, which is very colourful as many of the ethnic minorities meet to exchange goods here. Upon arrival in Muang Khua, we board our private boat for the cruise down the Nam Ou River to Muang Ngoi, arriving there early evening.

Overnight:

Lattanavongsa

Meals included:

Breakfast, lunch

This morning, we begin trekking 2 hours to Ban Houay Boor (a Khmu and T'ai Deng ethnic village). After lunch at villager's home in Ban Houay Boor, continue trekking in the afternoon to Ban Na (a T'ai Deng village) and Ban Houaisene, where we stay overnight at community bamboo guesthouse. Before dinner, enjoy a Baci ceremony and traditional music show with the villagers.

Meals included:

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

This morning, after breakfast, we begin trekking through the rice fields and beautiful landscape back to Muang Ngoi. We then embark a long tail traditional boat for a leisurely 1hour trip downstream on the Nam Ou River, enjoying the lush green forests and landscape until arrival at Nong Khiaw. Afternoon at leisure.

Overnight:

Nongkiau Riverside

Meals included:

Breakfast

1 day trekking around Nong Khiaw, or for more adventurous clients the new 1 day 100 waterfalls adventure trail:
“Today we have a truly stunning experience on the newly discovered 100 waterfalls adventure trail. We start the day with a peaceful boat ride on the Nam Ou river. We then explore a small Lao village along the river side before heading into the waterfalls learning about village way of life along the way. Walking through small streams and rice paddies you arrive at the bottom of the 100 waterfalls which were first discovered (by foreigners) in October 2008. The next few hours we see only water and jungle and hear the sound of clear waterfall cascades. The pools around you are very inviting for a refreshing splash. Our guide will lead us through the cascades and prepare a local style lunch on the falls in the middle of amazingly green nature. A small village trail on the top of the 100 waterfalls will lead us back down into the valley offering spectacular views over the landscapes of the Nam Ou valley. Hiking back to the village we will have more time to see the daily life here on the Nam OU riverside village and than head back with a small boat which will bring us back to Nong Khiaw.”

Overnight:

Nongkiau Riverside

Extras and options:

Moderate trekking; wear suitable footwear that you don’t mind getting wet as you will be walking through water a lot of the time.

Meals included:

Breakfast, lunch

Continuing by long tail boat down the Nam Ou River, we stop to visit the mysterious caves of Pak Ou, two linked caves crammed with thousands of gold lacquered Buddha statues of various shapes and sizes left by devoted pilgrims. We continue our trip down the river to the UNESCO World Heritage City of Luang Prabang. This former royal capital with its gleaming temple roofs, fading colonial architecture and stunning mountain backdrop retains a unique charm rarely found in all Asia. You transferred to your hotel by private vehicle by early evening.

Overnight:

Mekong River Side

Meals included:

Breakfast

This morning we begin our walking tour taking in some the cities most beautiful temples. Depending on the rest of your programme this may include the magnificent Wat Xiengthong, with its roofs sweeping low to the ground, representing the classical Luang Prabang style, as well as Wat Mai and Wat Sene, the oldest temple in Luang Prabang. We also stop by at Kinnaly Gallery, where your guide will show you the different ethnic minorities that live in Laos. We end the tour with a climb up Mount Phousi, which offers a spectacular panoramic view over Luang Prabang and the Mekong River. Overnight in Luang Prabang.

Overnight:

Mekong River Side

Meals included:

Breakfast

Leaving Luang Prabang with your private guide and driver, you travel for around one hour and twenty minutes out of the town. On the way you pass through beautiful scenery and rural landscapes with rice terraces and pineapple fields. You visit Ban Longlao a local H'mong village where the culture, customs and language are all different to mainstream Laos. Your trek starts from the H'mong village and takes between two and two and half hours through primary forest and jungle before reaching the spectacular Kuang Si Waterfall. Lunch (not included) can be taken at the falls with time for relaxation, swimming and the possibility to climb to the top of the waterfall. Afterwards you return to Luang Prabang in time to catch the sun setting over the Mekong.

Overnight:

Mekong River Side

Extras and options:

Moderate trekking; wear suitable footwear, especially important if travelling between June and November.

Note: during rainy season the itinerary is subject to change due to the weather conditions, an alternative programme is available.

Meals included:

Breakfast, lunch

After breakfast, you will be transferred to the airport for your departing flight.

Extras and options:

Add on a 9 day tour including the Plain of Jars, Vang Vieng, Vientiane, Pak Xe, Tad Lo and the 4000 Islands.

Meals included:

Breakfast