Real Laos Tour 13 days

On second day of your trip in Laos, after breakfast, heading to the ethnic Khmu village of Ban Long Lao. You will be able to observe the lifestyles of these two culturally very different minority groups and see how despite their differences they manage to work together on a day to day basis and even sharing the same school.

As we continue onwards the trail leads through tropical and mountainous forest before reaching Kuang Si Falls. On your arrival at the Kuang Si waterfalls, enjoy your short walking on trails of falls to visit the bear rescued centre and main waterfalls with spectacular views and surrounding of orchids inside the park and falls cascade over many calcified tiers and down several hundred feet into a series of cool, turquoise pools.

Transfer back to Luang Prabang by van. Stop for visit few villages of H’mong and Lao loum people, your guide can introduce you to local people and its great opportunity for you to involving with their daily activities such as wooden cotton spinning, weaving, rice harvesting and green vegetable farms.

Meals on your own. Overnight in hotel.

Meal: Breakfast

Your third day tour in Laos by driving a scooter to the Elephant Village, a center with a focus on the protection and rehabilitation of elephants in Laos. Upon arrival, you will meet the camp manager and hear about the work carried out by a team of dedicated staff and volunteers in caring for the elephants. Next, climb aboard an elephant for a jungle walk (25mins, one person per elephant, on the neck of the elephant).

Receive your basic mahout training on how to control an elephant just like a mahout! After lunch, take your own elephant down to the Nam Khan river for an exhilarating and once in a lifetime bathing experience!

After relaxing time at Tad Sea waterfall, back to town by scooter.

Dinner on your own. Overnight at hotel.

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch

Option for early morning: Wake up early and participate in the daily morning alms giving ritual to saffron clad monks on street. Laos is the only Buddhist nation still preserving this tradition. Back to hotel for breakfast.

On fourth day of your trip in Laos, in the morning, you will get transferred to visit Phousi Market. This enormous market on the outskirts of town and this one isn't for tourists. It's where the local people buy everything they need on a daily basis. Some of it is inside a huge building, ill-lit apart from the occasional fluorescent strip lighting overhead. 

Then drive to Vang Vieng. Stop on the way to visit some local villages and enjoy splendid landscape from high view point. Check in hotel on arrival. Walking around Vang Vieng town.

Meals on your own. Overnight in hotel

Meal: Breakfast

This day tour in Laos takes you to several sites in the surrounding of Vang Vieng and introduces the novice to the thrill of cave explorations. Plenty of opportunities to gain insight into the way of life of Lao people, before ending the trip by kayaking on the Nam Song River.

Grab your mountain bike and cross the Nam Song River via a bamboo bridge before starting off the day with exploring one of the most unusual caves in the area 'Tham Poukham' (Blue Lagoon) the amazing "Cave of the Golden Crab".

Our guide will escort you then to Tam Jang cave 172 steps where you can see the spectacular views of the city and the landscape.

We will transfer to the ethnic Khmu village of Viengsamay where after an introduction to the basics of kayaking we shall set off down the beautiful Nam Song river. End of your fifth day tour in Laos, transfer back to hotel for resting.

Meals on your own. Overnight in hotel

Meal: Breakfast

Breakfast served at hotel.

On your sixth day tour in Laos, depart to Vientiane, capital of Laos. On the way, stop for a boat cruise (1h) and enjoy the beautiful scenery over the Nam Ngum Lake.

Check in hotel on arrival in Vientiane. This afternoon, our guide takes you to Buddha Park (also called Wat Xieng Khouane) which is located 25 km south from Vientiane. Along the way, you can observe the Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge, built by the Australian government, which connects Vientiane with Nong Khai in Thailand. Upon your arrival, take your time to have a walk in the park. The latter is filled with more than 200 artistic statues linked to Buddhism and Hinduism, including an enormous statue of the 40-meter-high Buddha. All these works of art are mostly made of concrete or bricks coated with cement. Near the entrance is a building 6 meters high, called the Pumpkin Tower, which is divided into 3 floors: Hell, Earth and Paradise. At the top of this tour, you will have an amazing view of all this beautiful Buddha Park. End of your visit, transfer back to town.

Meal on your own. Overnight at hotel.

Meal: Breakfast

Start your seventh day tour in Laos with early transfer to Wattay airport for flight to Pakse in southern Laos

Upon your arrival at Pakse airport, you will be warmly welcomed by your local driver and Lao guide who will take you to the Boloven Plateau - an ideal place to enjoy the freshness of the tropical mountains.

Visit the village Katouat, which rarely sees tourists, where many families of the village are coffee farmers. You join local famer’s work on the plantations by learning how to pick the coffee cherries by hand, and only the ripe cherries are picked. With a full basket of cherries we return to the village’s coffee factory where the coffee is pulped, fermented and washed. We will enjoy lunch with the villagers before we will take the beans to be dried by the sun, which takes up to 25 days depending on the weather. We will see how the dried beans are hulled to become the green beans, which are then sold to France, Germany and Japan. As the last step in the production chain, we roast and grind the green beans – to finally enjoy one of the best coffees in the world.

In the afternoon, immersing yourself in the paradise of magnificent waterfall. Visit of Tad Fane, the highest waterfall in the country including two powerful waterfalls that are about 120 meters high. Transfer back to town.

Dinner on your own. Overnight at hotel.

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch

Your eighth day tour in Southern of Laos must be an exciting day, having great fun in a simply stunning environment!. All activities will be done by foot. No cars, no noise, no fumes! Main attraction is a system of zip-lines traversing steep gorges in touching distance to the waterfalls. A 'via ferrata' teases out the adventurous spirits of the visitor in a challenge to the limits of some.

We arrive at Ban Nongluang after a 1 hour drive by sharing van from Pakse, stroll for a while through the village and chat with the people. The village guides who will accompany us for the next three days give important first safety instructions. We then hike through coffee plantations and vegetable gardens until wild semi-evergreen forest gradually takes over. The trail winds down for a while, sometimes quite steeply, passing ravines, beautiful waterfalls and flower-studded plateaus. Along the way, the guides explain the plants traditionally used in the village kitchen or as herbal medicine.

A breath-taking canopy walkway high in the trees and crossing a steep river valley is a first challenge. We pass the huge 'Tiger' waterfall and reach the giant 'Kamet' fall (name of a monkey), where the water plunges more than 100 m down into a relatively narrow, densely forested valley basin with waterfalls apparently everywhere. Here is where the zip-lines start and the real thrill takes its course. Brace yourself for an adventure of a lifetime!

We take our lunch in the wilderness, explore the forest secrets of the area and may take a cooling swim before mastering the unbelievable zip-lines. The cables crisscross the valley in front of the majestic water wall, stunningly high and us perfectly cooled by the spray of the water. Enjoy the sensation of being weightless and truly one with nature. Let your adrenaline rush come to a maximum. It's joy, sheer joy!

After a day of great activity, we finally settle for the night in the wonderful camp with restaurant nearby. For dinner, local food and absolutely delicious barbecues are on the menu. Chatting and recollecting the gorgeous experiences of the day, or just relaxing and dreaming under the stars about the incredible wonders of life, we finally retire into our own tree house almost 10 m above ground. These houses designed in traditional style, made of wood, bamboo, and grass, can only be reached by -- a zip-line. Bathrooms near the restaurant offer hot and cold water. An instant cozy sleep shrouded by the fiddling sound of the forest crickets is guaranteed.

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Hotel: Tree House (located 10m above ground)

We wake up amidst the warbling, piping, chirping, twittering of the innumerable birds in the dense canopy around us. A simple European-style breakfast prepares us for an easy 30-minute trek through great forest before reaching the first cable. Be ready for extended flights through the jungle with the longest zip-line of 400 m as a real highlight. Its speed, its felt infinity, the proximity to the usually invisible upper stratum of the forest is an amazing and unforgettable experience.

A picnic lunch is served in the best of nature. We return to the camp in the later afternoon by passing the 'Red Rock' stream, where we will have time for some rest and swimming before falling asleep in our tree house for another night.

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Then tenth day is a day of more challenges, but also a day of saying 'goodbye'! After breakfast, we slowly trek uphill, passing a section of forest where gigantic trees dominate, obviously not yet spotted by illegal loggers…

Then it gets a bit tough and jaw-dropping when the trail suddenly "ends" at a steep rock wall, only passable on a 'via ferrata', where iron U-bolts are glued into the rock. There's no way of getting around but to overcome this obstacle in order to get to the other side. Don't worry, it's all safe and you are secured by state-of-the-art safety gear. It's not really long either, just thrilling.

Upon reaching the top of the mountain, one of the highest peaks in the area, an open plateau rewards everyone for all the 'hardship' – and for a last time – with stunning views of three waterfalls and vistas over the Mekong deep into neighboring Thailand. We'll take our lunch here before an easy 1½ hour hike back to Ban Nongluang, where a van  is waiting to bring us to Pakse.

Dinner on your own. Overnight in Pakse.

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch

After breakfast, depart for Champassak to explore the fascinating Pre-Angkorian ruins of Wat Phou, one of the oldest archaeological sites in Laos. This Khmer temple is at the base of a curiously shaped 1,416 meters mountain and reserves some peculiarities to be discovered, namely: engraved cliff, elephant figure carved out of the natural rock and gatekeepers Dvarapala, etc. Enjoy a magnificent view over the Mekong River from the third platform of the ruins.

The driver will then take you to the Nakasang village where you begin your cruise on a traditional long-tail boat to Don Khone in the 4000 islands area (Si Phan Don). Only 5 km long and 3 km wide, Don Khone is an ideal destination to take a walk or bike ride. On this island there is an abandoned railway and Colonial French Buildings. Once you reach Don Khone, do not hesitate to explore the Li Phi waterfall (also called Somphamit Waterfall), which lies between the 2 islands of Don Xang and Don Khone and thus forms a natural border between Laos and Cambodia. The main road to go there is well preserved and decorated with bamboo groves. Before ending your excursion, cross an old French bridge connecting Don Det, a neighboring island for a pleasant stroll. Then check in hotel in Don Khone for resting.

Meals on your own. Overnight in Don Khone

Meal: Breakfast

After your breakfast, embark on boat to cruise back to Ban Nakasang. Before returning to Pakse, discover the Khone Phapheng waterfalls creating rapids on the Mekong, which are the largest waterfalls in Southeast Asia. Near the falls’ exit, there is a small market, which offers traditional Lao products at reasonable prices.

Upon your arrival in Pakse, check in your hotel then enjoy some free time to discover the hidden treasures of the city.

Meals on your own. Overnight in Pakse.

Meal: Breakfast

After breakfast, depending on the flight schedule, you will transfer to the airport with your driver before boarding the aircraft.

Meal: Breakfast