On arrival at Wattay Airport or Friendship Bridge, you are met and transferred to our centrally located hotel. The charming and fascinating capital of Laos, Vientiane is located on the Banks of the Mekong River. This  small city conjures up exotic images, with the curious mix of Lao, Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, French influences. After a short rest, we start our city tour with Wat Sisaket, the oldest temple still standing in Vientiane. This amazing structure features remarkable frescoes and Buddha statues. The following sight is the former royal temple of Haw Pha Kaew, which previously housed the famous Emerald Buddha Image. We also visit the imposing Patouxai Monument well known as Vientiane’s own Arc de Triomphe before continuing to the great sacred structure and symbol of Laos, That Luang Stupa. O/N in Vientiane.

The journey northwards begins as depart the town and drive through the spectacular countryside towards the mountain region. Along the way we visit the busy and colorful market of Thalat where various hill tribes come to trade their goods and buy previsions. A next stop of our trip is Vang Sang, famous for the archeological site dating back 11^th century. We reach our final destination, Vang Vieng, which is nestled on a bend of the Nam Song River. The small and tranquil village of Vang Vieng is rapidly developped with the advent of tourist, but the beautiful scenery with a mixture of quiet water and limestone outcrops unchanged for century. After checking into hotel we take a wander to catch our first glimpse of this hill town. O/N in Vang Vieng. (B)

Heading out of town we explore the famous cave of Tham Jang that was once used by local people as a hideout from Chinese invaders. We also cross the river to Ban Huai Ngai, a very pleasant village where we can explore the different local lifestyle. Leaving Vang Vieng, the roads begin to deteriorate; however the stunning mountain scenery makes for an interesting journey. We wind our way through Phoukhoune and Kasito to Luang Prabang. This town with its gleaming temple roofs, fading colonial architecture and stunning mountain backdrop has been claimed by UNESCO to be “ the best preserved traditional city in South East Asia”.  There is little traffic on Luang Prabang roads and monks in orange robes scurry in all directions carrying umbrellas to shade themselves from the Sun. O/N in Luang Prabang. (B)

DAY  4: LUANG PRABANG

The former Royal Palace has been turned into a national museum. This interesting structure displays a lovely collection of the artefacts reflecting the richness of Lao culture dating from the days of the early kings right through the last sovereign. We also have enough time this day to explore some other landmarks, including the impressive stupa of Wat Visoun, the shrine of Wat Aham, the city’s oldest temple of Wat Wisunalat and the Wat Mai with five tiered roofs. A visit to Luang Prabang would be not complete without climbing 329 steps to the top of Phousi Hill for a beautiful sunset view of the Mekong River. The zigzag path crosses over various temples to the sacred, gilded stupa of Wat Phousi at the summit. O/N in Luang Prabang. (B)

DAY  4: LUANG PRABANG - PAKOU CAVE- LUANG PRABANG

Today we continue seeing Luang Prabang with the magnificent Wat Xieng Thong which nestles at the meeting of the Mekong and the Nam Khan River. The temple structures are decorated in various ways with gilded stuccoes and doorways while the main sim has a marvellous 'tree life' mosaic pattern on an outer wall. We then board a cruise upstream on the Mekong River, stopping along the way at Ban Xang Hai where villagers make the potent local rice wine. This exciting boat trip will take us through the stunning scenery to the mysterious Pak Ou Caves, which are crammed with thousands of gold lacquered Buddha statues of various shapes and sizes. After exploring these caves we return to the town and transfer to Ban Phanom famous for hand weaving. O/N in Luang Brabang. (B,L)