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Explore Northern Thailand and Laos
Tour
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Code: |
IDCN33 |
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Routes: |
Chiang Mai - Chiang Rai -
Chiang Saen - Mae Sai - Tachileik -
Chiang Khong - Houy Xai - Pak Beng -
Luang Prabang - Vientiane - Xieng
Khouang - Pakse - Khong Island - Tatlo |
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Duration: |
15 Days |
Itinerary in brief
Day 01: Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand) - Arrival
Day 02: Chiang Mai - Elephants & Elephants
Day 03: Chiang Mai - Chiang Rai
Day 04: Chiang Rai - Free Day
Day 05: Chiang Rai - Laos (Pak Beng)
Day 06: Pak Beng -Luang Prabang
Day 07: Luang Prabang - Pak Ou Caves
Day 08: Luang Prabang - Khouangsi Falls
Day 09: Luang Prabang - Vientiane
Day 10: Vientiane - Xieng Khouang
Day 11: Xieng Khouang - Vientiane
Day 12: Vientiane - Pakse - Khong Island
Day 13: Khong Island - Surrounding
Day 14: Khong Island - Talto - Pakse
Day 15: Pakse - Departure
Detail Itinerary
Places
Covered: Wat Phra
Singh, Wat Chedi Luang, Wat Prathat Doi Suthep,
Village of Bor Sang, Chiang Mai Night Bazaar,
Elephant Nature Park, Hilltribe Villages, Hot
Spring, Wat Chedi Luang (Chiang Saen), Chiang
Saen Museum, Wat Pa Sa, Wat Prathat Chom Kitti,
Chiang Sen ancient city wall, Hall of Opium,
Monument of Golden Triangle, Kok River,
cave-temple, Lahu Village, Karen Village, Hill
Tribe Villages, Thanon Sisavangvong Street, Wat
Visoun, Wat Aham, Wat Mai, Phousi Hill, Street
Bazaar, Wat Sene, Wat Xieng Thong, Pak Ou Caves,
Village of Ban Xang Hai, Phosi Market, National
Museum, Pottery Villages of Ban Xom & Ban
Thapene, Khoungsi Waterfall, Ban Phanom Village,
Wat Siphouthabath, Central Market, Wat Sisaket,
Royal Temple of Haw Pha Kaew, Patouxai Monument,
That Luang Stupa, Plain of Jars, Xieng Khouang
Central Market, Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge,
Buddha Park, Pakse Central Market, Wat Phou
Champassak, Si Phan Done, Liphi Waterfalls,
Weukham, Khone Phapheng Waterfall, Hat Sai Khun,
Muang Khong Village.
Day 01:
Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand) - Arrival
(Lunch/Dinner)
Arrive at Chiang Mai airport, meet and transfer
to your hotel.
Chiang Mai is a charming city founded on ancient
Lanna culture by King Mengrai of Chiang Rai. It
is set among rolling hills with great natural
scenery of valleys, streams, mountains and
temples. Traditionally the people are soft and
gentle following Buddhist tradition and welcome
people into their circle. We show you this
charming aspect of life in a tour of the sacred
temples like Wat Phra Singh, Wat Chedi Luang and
of course Wat Prathat Doi Suthep up in the
mountains from where you can have a panoramic
view of the city below. While in a temple,
engage in a “Monk Chat” to learn from the monks
how they practise Buddhism or just simply living
their lives. We introduce you to northern Thai
food in a lunch at the Tha Nam Restaurant. We
show you the artistic nature of the Chiang Mai
artisans in their workplaces of silk weaving,
celadon making, teakwood carving and
lacquerware. You will be charmed by the
colourful umbrellas being made at the village of
Bor Sang. Return to your hotel to refresh
yourself, have a swim in the pool, or a massage.
Then at 7pm we pick you up for a Khantoke dinner
with northern Thai and hill tribe cultural
shows. The Khantoke dinner with entertainment is
a special feature of the northern Thai inviting
friends into their home to share a meal and
relax in chat while the dances go on.
After that you can stroll in the interesting
Night Bazaar which offers a great variety of
northern Thai crafts, foods, drinks and other
things to delight the tourist.
Overnight at Royal Lanna (3-star) / Rydges or
Duangtawan Hotel (4-star), Chiang Mai.
Day 02: Chiang Mai - Elephants & Elephants
(Breakfast/ Lunch)
Buffet breakfast at your hotel. We go to the
foothills with many meandering rivers to the
“Elephant Nature Park” of TV fame where people
interact with these pachyderms having fun
bathing the young and not-so-young elephants,
feeding them, give them commands and going on an
hour’s safari into the jungle. You get to learn
a whole lot about elephants this way. Have lunch
buffet-style at a riverside restaurant. Then
enjoy an ox-cart ride as the Thai did centuries
ago and even today in the rural areas, a bamboo
rafting cruise downriver to where your transport
waits to take you back to the city. Be at
leisure to enjoy Chiang Mai at will for the rest
of the day.
Overnight at Royal Lanna / Rydges or Duangtawan
Hotel, Chiang Mai.
Day 03: Chiang Mai - Chiang Rai (Breakfast/
Lunch/ Dinner)
Buffet breakfast at the hotel. At about 8.30am
we depart Chiang Mai to tour Chiang Rai
province. The 3-hour drive takes you through
teak forests, ascend gentle hills, cross streams
and see villages of Lanna style along the way.
We stop awhile at a hot spring to relax.
Visitors like to boil quail and chicken eggs in
the hot water besides taking a health bath in
one of the private rooms there. But this is not
advisable as the charge is too high. We take in
a couple of hill tribe villages as we move among
the hills of Chiang Rai province.
Lunch in a Chiang Rai restaurant before setting
off to the ancient city of Chiang Saen on the
west bank of the Mekong River. This is a
750-year-old city dotted with very old wat like
Wat Chedi Luang, Wat Pa Sak, Wat Prathat Chom
Kitti to name a few. A small museum next to Wat
Chedi Luang holds artefacts dug up in the
surrounding area. The ancient double-layered
city walls are crumbling but distinctive. Lanna
culture had its development here and spread to
cover much of northern Thailand and northern
Laos. Unobstructed views of the Mekong River and
Laos are seen as we drive along the riverbank in
the opposite direction to the flow. Soon we are
at the Golden Triangle. In its heyday it was the
hub of the opium trade, legal and otherwise. But
today you don’t see the opium-growers,
drug-traffickers, CIA and FBI agents milling
with the unsuspecting tourists – but they are
there. If you are fascinated by opium, there is
the “Hall of Opium” at the Golden Triangle to
give you the history, production and the effects
of this narcotic on society. Take your photos at
the monument of the Golden Triangle where a
giant golden Buddha sits gazing upon the Mekong
River. Coffee stalls sell arabica coffee by the
cup. Lots of souvenirs here for sale. Our last
destination is the border town of Mae Sai, said
to be the recipient of smuggled Burmese jade and
rubies from the Mogok mines of "Upper Burma".
The shops have an interesting range of things.
For the thrill of it we can cross the bridge
into Burmese Tachileik at a payment of USD6 to
the Myanmar immigration for the day-pass.
Tachileik has a horde of pests pressing their
shoddy goods on you. But in the shops are goods
from China – blankets, satin bedspreads, clothes
and shoes, and foodstuffs like preserved fruits,
fresh fruits, mushrooms and beans of many kinds.
By evening we should be in Chiang Rai. Dinner at
the hotel.
Overnight at Diamond Park (3-star) / Rimkok
Resort (4-star) or Dusit Island Resort (5-star),
Chiang Rai.
Day 04: Chiang Rai - Free Day (Breakfast)
Buffet breakfast at the hotel. Today we take a
rest from our dashing about. It’s a free day for
you to relax in this laid-back city surrounded
by beautiful hills. Enjoy the hotel’s pool. Try
a health-giving massage either of foot or body –
why not both? Go to the hot spring in nearby
Bandu for a medicinal soak. People with back
pains are said to sprint around after a few
soaks. Take a boat to cruise up the Kok River to
visit a cave-temple, a Lahu village and a Karen
village with elephants!
Overnight at Diamond Park / Rimkok Resort or
Dusit Island Resort, Chiang Rai.
Day 05: Chiang Rai - Laos (Pak Beng)
(Breakfast)
Buffet breakfast at the hotel.
Morning transfer to Chiang Khong, a 2-hour drive
through lovely scenery, here to do the
immigration formalities for crossing the border
into Huay Xai (Laos). Our Lao guide will take
you in hand here. Board a slow boat (safer than
the fast long-tailed boats but not so exciting)
down the Mekong River and let the scene drift
by. Conjure up the exploits of the French
explorers who also used this river to penetrate
Laos from the mid-nineteenth century for the
glory of French civilization. The river is
dangerous only during the rainy season when the
river flow is swift. At Pak Beng we disembark.
If you have the energy to look around, go ahead;
you can’t stray far as the jungle hems you in.
Hill tribe villages dot the surrounding hills.
Your guide can take you to one, if you wish. Or
two, if your legs don’t give way by then.
Overnight at the Sarika or Luang Say Lodge in
Pak Beng.
Day 06: Pak Beng -Luang Prabang
(Breakfast/Dinner)
Breakfast at the lodge. Morning departure from
Pak Beng in another safe slow boat. (We can give
you the fast one if you are daring.) You spend a
lazy morning trailing your hand in the Mekong
River water and hear the sounds of the jungle as
your boat slips slowly pass. By about noon as
your boat takes the last bend of the Mekong
River, Luang Prabang glides into view – a
picturesque jewel-like town that the modern
world has forgotten. This former royal city of a
long line of Laotian kings is a world heritage
site adopted by UNESCO. We rush you to your
hotel and leave you there for an hour or so to
do whatever you must. Refreshed, you will be
taken on an orientation walking tour of the
town. Luang Prabang is perhaps the
best-preserved traditional city in Southeast
Asia. The tranquility and charm of this town
with its splendid natural scenery and cultural
sights make it one of the most delightful places
to visit in the Mekong region. The street of
interest is the main street, Thanon
Sisavangvong. Visit the impressive stupa of Wat
Visoun and the shrine of Wat Aham and Wat Mai.
We then climb up to the top of Phousi Hill for
an enjoyable exploration of the sacred, gilded
stupa as well as see a beautiful sunset view of
the city and the Nam Khan River. Down at the
foot of Phousi Hill, we stroll in the street
bazaar, where you can find lovely collections
and handmade textiles of the lowland Laotians
and ethnic peoples from the hills surrounding
Luang Prabang. Dinner of authentic Lao cuisine
at Pakhuay Mixay restaurant.
Overnight at the Phousi Hotel (3-star) or Maison
Souphannaphoum (4-star), Luang Prabang.
Day 07: Luang Prabang - Pak Ou Caves
(Breakfast/Dinner)
Buffet breakfast at the hotel with a splendid
river view from the terrace. Morning sightseeing
of Luang Prabang to include the city's oldest
temple of Wat Sene and the magnificent Wat Xieng
Thong with its roofs sweeping low to the ground
in the grand style of Lao classical temple
architecture.
We then board a boat to cruise up the Mekong
River to the Pak Ou caves. The riverine views
soothe the eyes and conjure up bygone days of
simplicity and serenity as the countryside slips
by. Visit the interesting and mysterious Pak Ou
caves crammed with thousands of gold-lacquered
and other Buddha statues of various shapes and
sizes. Along the way, we stop at the village of
Ban Xang Hai, where they make the potent local
rice wine. On the return, we take a short drive
to Ban Xang Khong and Ban Xienglek, well known
for its hand-made jute and sar papers. We drive
back to the city following the scenic river as
it flows down the valley. Have a French set
dinner at “L’Elephant Blanc” restaurant.
Overnight at the Phousi Hotel or Maison
Souvannaphoum Hotel, Luang Prabang.
Day 08: Luang Prabang - Khouangsi Falls
(Breakfast/Lunch)
This morning you may want to rise early at about
6am to participate in the daily morning Buddhist
ritual of giving food to a file of saffron-robed
monks carrying their black alms bowls and
walking slowly pass along the street in single
file while devotees knelt by the roadside and
reverently put things into the alms bowls to
gain merit for themselves and others. Return to
the hotel for our buffet breakfast. This morning
we visit the morning Phosi Market where you will
see such diverse products as dried buffalo hide,
skinned live frogs, local tea and saltpeter
among the chickens, vegetables and hill-tribe
weavings. Not to be missed is the National
Museum at the former Royal Palace, which
displays a unique collection of artefacts
reflecting the richness of Lao culture dating
from the days of the early kings right through
the last sovereign. Laos is also known for its
traditional crafts, and today you will visit the
pottery villages of Lao Loum at Ban Xom and Ban
Thapene.
Lunch at Indochina Spirit restaurant of Lao
cuisine.
Then we drive to the lovely Khouangsi waterfall
where you can splash around in the pools or walk
along the shady forest paths. A stop at Ban
Phanom, a local village well known for its
weaving to see the simple lifestyle and local
handicrafts can be made before we return to
Luang Prabang by late afternoon. From Wat
Siphouthabath we can see a lovely sunset before
returning to the hotel.
Overnight at Phousi Hotel or Maison
Souvannaphoum Hotel, Luang Prabang.
Day 09: Luang Prabang - Vientiane
(Breakfast/Lunch)
Buffet breakfast at the hotel.
Morning visit to the central market as we drive
to the airport to board our flight to Vientiane.
At the airport, our local guide will meet us and
transfer us to our hotel to check-in.
We go on a half-day city tour seeing 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 now in Bangkok. We also
visit the imposing Patouxai Monument well known
as Vientiane's own Arc de Triomphe before
continuing to the imposing sacred structure and
symbol of Laos, That Luang Stupa.
Lunch of Lao cuisine at Kua Lao restaurant.
Overnight at Royal Dokmaideng or Lao Plaza
Hotel, Vientiane.
Day 10: Vientiane - Xieng Khouang (Breakfast)
Buffet breakfast at the hotel.
A short morning flight to Xiengkhouang for an
excursion to the mysterious "Plain of Jars"
where hundreds of large stone jars are littered
in a vast plain. In spite of severe devastation
by American bombings between 1964 and 1973, many
of these artefacts remain intact. Here is a
unique and impressive archaeological site that
scholars are still debating over. We will have
time this afternoon to see the old capital of
Muang Khoun Province and the nearby villages,
home to the Hmong hill tribe and Thai Dam
people. They have an interesting local culture
and a colourful history.
Overnight at Phou Chanh or Phou Pha Daang Hotel,
Phonsavanh.
Day 11: Xieng Khouang - Vientiane (Breakfast)
Breakfast at the hotel. Visit the central
market, then free at leisure for your own
exploration of the town before we catch a flight
back to Vientiane. After checking into hotel, if
time permits, we continue our sightseeing tour
of Vientiane visit the impressive Lao-Thai
Friendship Bridge and the Buddha Park, a display
of Buddhist and Hindu sculptures created by a
mystical monk on parkland located by the Mekong
River. A view of the spectacular sunset over the
Mekong River is a nice way to finish the day.
Overnight at Royal Dokmaideng or Lao Plaza
Hotel, Vientiane.
Day 12: Vientiane - Pakse - Khong Island
(Breakfast)
Buffet breakfast at the hotel.
Transfer to the airport for the early flight to
Pakse, departing at 6.30am. Pakse on the
confluence of the Mekong and the Sedon rivers
was the French administrative capital of
southern Laos since its establishment in 1905
until they were forced to retreat in 1954. Pakse
has a population of half a million people made
up of Phu Thai, Khmers, Mon-Khmer communities
like Chieng, Inthi, Kaseng, Katang, Lavai,
Laven, Salao, Tahang and eight other groups.
Timber is its main source of revenue. It has
extensive acreages of coffee, tea, cardamon and
rattan. Its central market is very lively with
an astonishing range of local produce. Now in
Lao hands, Pakse is a laid-back town and the
main tourist attraction is the ancient Wat Phou
Champassak 8km to the southeast. On arrival in
Pakse, we drive on the National Road 13
southwards to Champassak and visit the ruins of
Wat Phou, which is well known as the most
important Hindu sanctuary of the Khmer Empire
between 9th -13th centuries. It is smaller than
the temples in Angkor (Siem Reap) and the ones
in Buriram and Phimai (both in Thailand) but it
has a grandeur of the Chenla kingdom of the 6th
century and the Khmer kingdom of the 13th
century. It was a Cambodian satellite town
within the great Angkor empire until Angkor’s
demise in the 15th century. Here is also a
chance to visit some nearby Khmer temples and
Hindu-Buddhist shrines. We continue our way to
Khong Island by a local slow boat admiring the
views as we sail along.
Overnight at Villa Muang Khong, in Khong Island.
Day 13: Khong Island - Surrounding
(Breakfast)
Breakfast at the hotel. Today we enjoy a cruise
venturing into the widest reach of the Mekong
River from where thousands of islets jut out in
the dry season, giving this area a lovely name
"Si Phan Done".
In this stretch of the Mekong River are
fast-flowing sheer-drop rapids, thunderous
waterfalls and a rare species of river dolphins.
Villages where time stood still scatter around.
Villagers are self-sufficient growing their own
rice as a staple, sugarcane for sugar, coconut
for oil and a variety of uses, vegetables
supplemented by fish from the bountiful Mekong
River, and weaving their own textiles for
clothing. Along the way, we stop at the Liphi
waterfalls and the fishermen village of Ban
Khone. On the return, we take a short drive to
the Lao-Cambodia border at Weukham and the sight
of Khone Phapheng, which is reputedly Southeast
Asia's largest waterfall, with frothing rapids
and tumbling cascades. At Hat Sai Khun on
National Route 13 we cross by ferry to Khong
Island, a large 18km by 8km island in the middle
of the Mekong River. It is a scenic island with
hills and rice-fields in the centre and
vegetable gardens and villages with 100-year-old
wat of their own around the sides. It is famous
nationally for its smoothest of lao-lao liquour.
Muang Khong on the eastern coast is the largest
village on the island.
Overnight at Villa Muang Khong in Khong Island.
Day 14: Khong Island - Talto - Pakse
(Breakfast)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Upon leaving Khong Island, we continue our
journey towards Tatlo, through the Bolaven
plateau where tea and coffee plantations produce
high quality tea-leaves and coffee beans that
are among the most expensive in the world. The
vegetation is lush and the scarlet basaltic soil
all along the way is incredible to behold. En
route, there are some opportunities to explore a
part of the Bolaven plateau and visit some hill
tribe villages of the Katu, Alak and Nge ethnic
minority peoples. Arrive in Pakse by late
evening.
Overnight at Pakse Hotel or Hotel Residence du
Champa, Pakse.
Day 15: Pakse - Departure (Breakfast)
Breakfast at the hotel. There is free time for
your own exploration of Pakse town before either
catching a flight to Siem Reap (Cambodia) to
enjoy another tour with Mekong Treks, or be
transferred overland to exit Laos at the
Chongmek border checkpoint to Ubon Rachathani
(Thailand) airport or railway station.
End of Tour & Services
Trip Requirements
Visa:
At the Thai immigration upon
arrival, be sure to check your passport
immediately after stamping. Overworked officials
sometimes make mistakes. Point out any errors
before you leave the immigration area at your
port of entry. Mistakes will be rectified. If
you don't notice the mistake made at the port of
entry, go to the Immigration Office near Chiang
Mai airport and plead your case. For Laos and
Cambodia visa-on-arrival with fees of US$30 and
US$25 is available. For Yunnan (China) and
Vietnam visa is best applied for at the
embassies.
Once a visa is issued, it must be used to enter
Thailand within 90 days. The Royal Thai Embassy
in Washington DC, maintains one of the best
Internet sites for information about visas for
Thailand : www.thaiembdc.org/visa/visa.htm
Other visas validity varies from one to two
months.
Transit/Tourist Visa: For Thailand, no
visa is required for people of 57 different
nationalities to enter the country for 30 days
at no charge. People of 78 other nationalities,
such as those from smaller European countries
like Andorra or Liechtenstein or from West
Africa, South Asia or Latin America, can obtain
a 15-day Transit Visa on arrival upon payment of
a 300 Baht fee. A few nationalities (e.g.
Hungarians) must obtain a visa in advance of
arrival or they will be turned back. It is
always prudent to check with an embassy or
consulate in advance about the requirement
pertaining to you. Without proof of an onward
ticket and sufficient funds for the period of
stay, any visitor can be denied entry; but in
practice your ticket and funds are rarely
checked if you are dressed neatly for the
immigration check. Next in length of validity is
the Tourist Visa, which is good for 60 days and
costs US$15. Two passport photos must accompany
the application form. Usually it takes only one
or two days to get your visa, but check this.
Things to bring: Light clothings
preferably of cotton material for good sweat
absorption. Add a jacket for the cool season of
Nov.-Feb. especially for northern Thailand and
the mountains in Yunnan. A pair of slippers,
sunglasses, a hat with brim, sunscreen lotion -
all these you can buy in the cities anyway. Your
special medication.
Health Precaution: No vaccination
certificate is required unless you come from
Latin American countries and tropical Africa.
Drink plenty of bottled or boiled water instead
of alcohol when in the country. Avoid roadside
stalls food unless it is hot - and we are not
talking of chillies. Try not to smoke.
Insurance: Travel insurance is advisable
although in many of the "dangerous" activities
you would be covered already.
Direction to meeting point: At airports
look out for a signage of your name or group's
name after having cleared Customs.
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