Day 1: Pakbeng
Huay Xay - Pakbeng (Lunch)
Arrival in Huay Xay, the border town on the Laotian side of the Mekong River. We board a comfortable boat to descend the river to reach Pakbeng. Along the way, we stop at various hilltribes villages located on the banks of the river. Lunch on board. Arrive in Pakbeng in the late afternoon and transfer to the hotel.
Day 2: Luang Prabang
Pakbeng - Pak Ou - Luang Prabang (Breakfast, Lunch)
After breakfast, we visit the colorful local market, where the hilltribes from the nearby mountains come to trade various products and socialize. Afterward, we return to the boat for the second day of cruising down the Mekong. Along the way, we stop to visit a H'Mong village. We continue the cruise downriver to the famous caves of Pak Ou. The caves are high on a vertical cliff and a steep, wooden stairway leads to the entrance. The inside of each cave is filled with thousands of Buddha images, offered by the local people since ancient times. Lunch in a typical restaurant. Before arriving in Luang Prabang we moor on the eastern bank of the Mekong, in front of the city, for a short walk to the village of Ban Xangkong Sa, famous for its paper processing workshops and its ancient temples. Arrive in Luang Prabang and transfer to the hotel.
Day 3: Luang Prabang
Luang Prabang (Breakfast, Lunch)
Transfer to the Kuang Si waterfalls along a country road that crosses a natural landscape of great beauty. After a short walk in the forest, the great waterfall appears in all its beauty, framed by thick vegetation. Time to explore the various levels of the waterfall and, for the more daring, take a swim in the numerous pools of turquoise water. Lunch in a typical restaurant. Visit Luang Prabang, the ancient royal capital, located in a valley on the middle course of the Mekong and declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The numerous temples give the town a sense of mysticism and spirituality felt by every visitor. We visit Wat Visoun, Wat Sené and Wat Xieng Thong. In the late afternoon, we climb to Wat Chom Si, at the top of the Phu Si hill, to wait for the sunset and enjoy the beautiful view. Return to the hotel.
Day 4: Vientiane
Luang Prabang - Vientiane (Breakfast, Lunch)
Early wake-up call (before dawn) to watch the daily silent procession of over 200 monks, with the Patriarch as the leader, who silently accept the food offered by the people. Return to the hotel for breakfast. Visit the National Museum inside the building of the Royal Palace. A rich collection of objects that belonged to the treasure of the royal family is displayed in the large, breezy rooms. The most precious item here is the Phra Bang, the 83-centimeters-tall gold statue, a symbol of the ancient Lan Xang kingdom. Lunch in a typical restaurant. Transfer to the airport. Flight to Vientiane. Arrival and transfer to the hotel. In the afternoon we visit the main temples of the city. Passing the side of the Patuxai, one of the city's landmarks, we reach the most sacred place of all Laos, the That Luang, a grandiose stupa that is said to contain a relic of the Buddha. We return to the old city to visit the ancient Wat Si Saket, where more than two thousand images of the Buddha are kept. Across the road is Wat Phra Keo, where we visit the Museum of Religious Art.
Return to the hotel.
Day 5: Pakse
Vientiane - Pakse (Breakfast, Lunch)
Transfer to the airport. Flight to Pakse. Arrival and transfer to the hotel. Lunch in a typical restaurant. Visit of the Bolaven plateau, a region known for tea and coffee plantations. Afterward, we visit villages where the local ethnic groups Laven, Alak, Nghé and Suei live. Each village is built around a sacred open space in the center where the protector spirit dwells. Return to the hotel.
Day 6: Don Khon
Pakse - Champasak - Don Khong (Breakfast, Lunch)
After crossing the Mekong we reach Champassak to visit the sacred Wat Phou, a place of great spiritual importance since ancient times. Once a temple where the emperors of Angkor worshipped the god Shiva, now it is revered by Laotian and Cambodian Buddhists. Lunch in a typical restaurant. Returning to the eastern bank of the Mekong, we travel southwards towards Si Pan Don, a river archipelago, an area of rare natural beauty, unique in the world. Transfer to Don Khon, the largest island, where time seems to have stopped centuries ago. Arrival and transfer to the hotel.
Day 7: Don Khon
Don Khong (Breakfast, Lunch)
Free time in the morning to explore Don Khong, an island that offers one of the most evocative and grand landscapes of old Indochina. People still live a traditional way of life, fishing and farming. Lunch in a typical restaurant. After lunch, we visit the famous Khone Phapeng waterfalls, the only rapids of the Mekong, which block navigation between Cambodia and Laos. Around these waters, if very lucky, is possible to spot the very rare pink dolphins. Return to the hotel.
Day 8:
Don Khong (Breakfast)
Transfer to the Pakse airport or to the Laos/Cambodia or Laos/Thailand border.
