Adventure Across Laos and Vietnam 10-Days

DAY 1 LUANG PRABANG - ARRIVAL

Welcome to Laos! The UNESCO World Heritage City of Luang Prabang, which is perhaps the best preserved traditional city in Southeast Asia. On arrival we transfer you to your hotel. Overnight in Luang Prabang. 

DAY 2 A DAY IN LUANG PRABANG (B,L)

After breakfast we will head off 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. We are seeing 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. 

Heading to the Mekong River we board our private boat for a pleasant and scenic cruise up on the upstream to the mysterious Pak Ou Caves. These caves are an ancient pilgrimage site and contain thousands of gold lacquered Buddha images left there over hundreds of years. 

Returning to Luang Prabang we disembark our boat and have the option of taking a short drive to Ban Phanom, a village famous for its hand weaving or returning to the hotel for free time to relax. Your evening is free to treat yourself a spa treatment or massage, do some shopping or relax at your hotel. Overnight in Luang Prabang.

DAY 3 EXOTIC LUANG PRABANG (B,L)

This morning you have the option and opportunity to rise early and participate in the daily morning ritual of Alms Giving, you will experience saffron-clad monks collecting offerings or ‘Alms’ from faithful local residents. This tradition is unique to Laos, being the only Buddhist nation still preserving the daily procession.

After breakfast back at the hotel we begin our journey to Khouangsi Waterfall stopping along the way to visit the morning Phousi Market, this where all 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 Khouangsi 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. Then we will pay a late afternoon visit the Arts and Ethnology Centre to learn about Laos’ many ethnic cultures. You can enjoy a coffee at the center’s café if you chose before our climb to the top of Mount Phousi to explore the sacred gilded stupa and to enjoy the panoramic view of the city and the sun setting over the Mekong River. 

Descanting the mountain your will find yourself in the midst of the famous Luang Prabang Night Market, where you can find a unique selection of handmade textiles and handicrafts locally made by both ethnic Lao and hill tribe people surrounding Luang Prabang. Overnight in Luang Prabang. 

DAY 4 LUANG PRABANG - VIENTIANE BY FLIGHT (B)

Breakfast at hotel. Transfer to airport for fly to Vientiane. You have the option to continue our tour of Vientiane by bicycle, we will ride the capital taking in sites such Wat Ong Tue, Wat Inpeng and Wat Haisok, the main shopping district and Vientiane’s Central Market, Talad Sao. 

DAY 5 LAOS’S CAPITAL AROUND (B,L)

This morning we head out to see the major highlight. 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 after in 1997 to help covering the victim during Indochina war. 

We drive south from Vientiane city to see the Buddha Park, an enchanting collection of Buddhist and Hindu sculptures set in parkland on the banks of the Mekong close to the Friendship Bridge. Here we find over 200 religious images dating back some 500 years faithfully recreated by a mysterious Biddhist monk. Your evening is free to explore the Night Market and sample some local cuisine (your own expenses) at one of the many restaurants the town has to offer. Overnight in Vientiane. 

DAY 6 VIENTIANE – HANOI BY FLIGHT (B)

After breakfast; you will be transferred back to Vientiane Airport for your flight departure to Hanoi. Upon arrival Hanoi, meet our team and drive to city center. Check-in hotel and relax. Overnight in Hanoi. 

DAY 7 A DAY IN HANOI – CYCLO EXPERIENCE (B,L)

Breakfast at hotel. Considered charming colonial city, tourists would find Hanoi very typical feature of oriental city alive with its tree-lined boulevards and lakes and its blend of French, Chinese and Vietnamese architecture. Hanoi is the jewel of Asia. A cyclo trip will bring you to charming "36 streets and 36 wares" of the fascinating Old Quarter. Meet your tour guide. Start the trip with Tran Quoc pagoda, a Buddhist relic and national heritage lying on the West Lake. Visit Ho Chi Minh’s complex (outside), the final resting place of Viet Nam’s greatest father; his house-on-stil and One pillar pagoda – modeled after a lotus flower, a symbol of Hanoi. Arrive Ethnology museum to learn about cultures of 54 ethnic groups living in Vietnam. Have a rest and enjoy lunch in a local restaurant in Hanoi Old Quarter. After lunch, process to visit Temples of Literature - constructed in 1070 - dedicated to Confucius, sages and talented scholars. It is the most famous temple in Hanoi, also functioning as Vietnam's first university. Leave for a legendary Hoan Kiem lake and Ngoc Son Temple. Drive back to hotel and drop off. Free time for relaxing in the evening. Overnight in Hanoi. 

DAY 8 HANOI - HALONG LEGENDARY BAY (B,L,D)

After breakfast at hotel, check-out hotel. From Hanoi, head East for more than 3 hours to Halong Bay, the pride of the Gulf of Tonkin, a Natural World Heritage as designated by UNESCO in 1994 and 2006. The road will pass by the Red River delta with green paddy fields and rural villages, where hard-work farmers are busy with their farming jobs, ploughing buffaloes or planting seedling. Upon arrival in Halong, we’ll take a big boat to cruise the Bay to discover the magnificent beauty of this “Descending-dragon” bay, created by thousands odd-shaped limestone rocks and karst grottoes. After a lunch of fresh seafood on board, we can visit the Surprising Grotto, stop for swimming, passing floating villages and approach islets to enjoy their beauty in close distance. Evening attend activities on the boat or relax at your own leisure. Overnight on the boat.

DAY 9 HALONG BAY - HANOI – BACK TO CAPITAL (B,L)

In the morning, doing exercise morning on Sundeck, enjoy light breakfast with coffee, tea, seasonal fresh fruit and bread before keep going to visit Halong Bay, passing by many other rocks, Islets as well as fishing villages. Brunch (lunch) will be served on board before disembarking time. Return to Hanoi, arrive at your hotel in Hanoi in the late afternoon. Check-in hotel. Free time in the evening. Overnight in Hanoi. 

DAY 10 HANOI DEPARTURE (B)

Breakfast at hotel. Free time until check-out hotel. Private airport transfer before 3-hours for your departure flight.