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Northern Thailand and Laos Tour
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Code: |
IDCN32 |
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Routes: |
Chiang Mai - Chiang Rai -
Doi Mae Salong village - Mae Sai -
Tachileik - Chiang Saen - Chiang Khong -
Houy Sai - Hongsa - Luang Prabang -
Vientiane |
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Duration: |
08 Days |
Itinerary in brief
Day 01: Chiang Mai - Chiang Rai - Arrival
Day 02: Chiang Rai - Houy
Sai
Day 03: Houy Sai -Hongsa
Day 04: Hongsa
Day 05: Hongsa - Luang Prabang
Day 06: Luang Prabang
Day 07: Luang Prabang - Vientiane
Day 08: Vientiane - Departure
Detail Itinerary
Places
Covered: Chiang Rai
Night Market, Golden Triangle, Statue of a huge
Buddha, the Opium Museum, Wat Chedi Luang, Wat
Chom Kitti, Fort Carnot, Lao Lu village, Ban Pak
Tha, Hmong Village, Ban Houei Lumpane, Ban
Thasouang, Ban Lat Hane, Pak Ou Caves (Tham Ting
& Tham Phoume), Ban Sang Hai, Wat Visoun, Wat
Aham, Wat Mai Souvannaphoumarame, gold-leaf
making village, weaving village of Ban Phanom,
Wat Xieng Thong, the National Museum (former
palace of King Sisavangvong), Phousi Hill, Wat
Phabath Tai, market, Thanon Sisavangvong, Wat Si
Saket, Haw Pha Kaew, Patuxai, That Luang Stupa,
Lao National History Museum, Central Market,
Main Shopping Centre
Day 01:
Chiang Mai - Chiang Rai - Arrival (Dinner)
Arrive in Chiang Mai, meet at airport and
transfer to Chiang Rai 180km farther north, a
drive of about 3 hours through undulating hills,
valleys and teak forests. Or meet at Chiang Rai
airport and transfer to hotel.
Orientation tour of Chiang Rai city. Dinner in
the hotel or outside restaurant.
Stroll in the Night Market where there are lots
of souvenirs and hill tribe handicraft on sale
and local music-and-dance in open-air stages for
entertainment as you sip your coffee, drink beer
or tea. Return to hotel.
Overnight Rimkok Resort (on the river) or Wiang
Inn (city centre), Chiang Rai.
Day 02: Chiang Rai - Houy Sai (Breakfast/
Lunch/ Dinner)
Buffet breakfast at the hotel. Morning tour of
Chiang Rai province visiting the Chinese Haw
settlement at Doi Mae Salong, the Thai border
town of Mae Sai opposite which is Burmese
Tachileik. Doi Mae Salong village was created by
the KMT refugees who fled from Mao Tse-tung's
armies in 1949. The Thai government permitted
them to stay after they were chased out of Burma
with the understanding that they help to prevent
communist infiltration into Thailand. The KMT
built up a huge trade in opium until lately when
they turned to cash crops farming. Today their
most famous product is the fragrant Oo-long tea,
fruits and vegetables that are free from
pesticides. Mae Sai has lots of stalls on both
sides of the wide main street selling
bric-a-bracs and gems from Upper Burma. There is
an option to cross into Tachileik (US$6 as
border fee) for a look at a Burmese border town.
It is full of goods from Thailand and China, and
duty-free cigarettes and liquor of dubious
quality. Mushrooms from Yunnan, clothings and
preserved fruits from China and Akha hill tribe
embroidery items are everywhere. In about an
hour we cross back to Mae Sai.
Lunch in a restaurant.
Then we travel on to the Golden Triangle to
stand on the spot where the borders of Myanmar,
Laos and Thailand meet on the Mekong River.
Views of the low hills of Laos across the river
are tantalizing. Arabica coffee from the
mountains of Chiang Rai is sold by the cup in
the coffee cafes at this spot. See the huge
golden Buddha by the river bank. Tour the Opium
Museum to know a little more about the opium
trade which once made the Golden Triangle
infamous. Proceed to ancient Chiang Saen which
was an early Lanna kingdom to visit a couple of
old temples like Wat Chedi Luang and Chom Kitti
before taking the road to Chiang Khong (54km
from Chiang Saen) where we do the immigration
formalities before going to our hotel in Houy
Sai. Dinner in a restaurant or at the hotel.
Overnight at Thaveesinh Hotel or Salika Lodge,
Houy Sai.
Day 03: Houy Sai -Hongsa (Breakfast/ Lunch/
Dinner)
Breakfast at the hotel. Before boarding our slow
boat to Hongsa, you are free to make an easy
trek into a hill tribe village to acquaint
yourself with the tribal culture. Nearby is the
high-walled Fort Carnot on a hilltop built by
the French during the colonial period and is now
occupied by Lao troops, and so is off-limit to
visitors. The slow-boat landing is at the
northern end of the town from where we sail down
the Mekong River to Hongsa about six-and-a-half
hours downstream. (A fast boat can do the trip
in 3 hours.)
En route visit Lao Lu at Ban Pak Tha, Hmong
village at Ban Houei Lumpane.
Lunch on board.
Arrive at Ban Thasouang and continue by car for
2 hours to Hongsa 45km away to check-in at
hotel.
Dinner at hotel or at local restaurant in
Hongsa.
Overnight at Hongkham II Hotel, Hongsa.
Day 04: Hongsa (Breakfast/ Lunch/ Dinner)
Breakfast at the hotel. Morning excursion by
elephant safari to visit local villages in
Hongsa and see their traditional houses on
stilts of Lao Lue style.
Lunch at local restaurant or at hotel.
Afternoon, continue visiting local people by car
and participate in a Baci ceremony performed by
local people.
Dinner at hotel or at a local restaurant.
Overnight at Hongkham II Hotel, Hongsa.
Day 05: Hongsa - Luang Prabang
(Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner)
Breakfast at the hotel. Depart by road to Ban
Thasouang and board a traditional boat to Luang
Prabang. En route, stop to visit Ban Lat Hane, a
Lao Lue village, and sightsee at the Pak Ou
caves (Tham Ting and Tham Phoume) where hundreds
of Buddha statues are placed there by
worshippers. Picnic lunch on board. Continue our
cruise down the Mekong River to Luang Prabang
and stop to visit Ban Sang Hai where rice-wine
is being distilled in the traditional way. Buy a
bottle for your dinner tonight.
Arrive in Luang Prabang and transfer to hotel
for check in. Dinner of authentic Lao food at
Pakhuay Mixai restaurant.
Overnight at Phousi Hotel or Maison
Souvannaphoum, Luang Prabang.
Day 06: Luang Prabang
(Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner)
Buffet breakfast at the hotel. Tour of Luang
Prabang, visiting the main sights - Wat Visoune,
Wat Aham, and Wat Mai Souvannaphoumarame, a
gold-leaf making village and the weaving village
of Ban Phanom. It is a World Heritage site
adopted by Unesco and was the former royal
capital of the Lan Xang (Million Elephants)
kingdom. Its ancient traditions and serenity
still exist.
Lunch of French set menu at Elephant Blanc
restaurant.
Afternoon, visit Wat Xieng Thong the most
beautiful of Luang Prabang temples, and the
former palace of King Sisavangvong to look at
the royal regalia and obtain more insight into
Lao history and culture. Then climb the 329
steps up Phousi Hill to Vat Phabath Tai to watch
the sun set over town and river. When you
descend to the road below a market would have
been set up by hill tribesmen at the foot of
Phousi Hill. Traditional cloths of intricate
designs woven in the villages and tribal
ornaments are brought here for sale.
Dinner at Indochina Spirit restaurant for a
romantic evening with soft live Lao music and
candlelight.
Free to stroll in the interesting Thanon
Sisavangvong poking your heads into the small
shops lined alongside it and sit at a sidewalk
cafe for a cup of coffee.
Overnight at Phousi Hotel or Maison
Souvannaphoum, Luang Prabang.
Day 07: Luang Prabang - Vientiane
(Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner)
Buffet breakfast at the hotel. Visit the local
market on the way to the airport for departure
flight to Vientiane. Upon arrival in Vientiane
airport, be met and transferred to your hotel
for check in.
Lunch at Kua Lao restaurant of Lao food.
Afternoon, visit main highlights of Vientiane:
Wat Si Saket (the only temple not destroyed by
the invading Siamese because it looks so much
like a Thai temple), Haw Pha Kaew (a royal
temple which housed the Emerald Buddha now in
Bangkok and was converted into a museum),
Patuxai (Laos's own Arc de Triomphe), That Luang
Stupa (the holiest of Lao shrines and the
country's most important monument) and the Lao
National History Museum housed in the 1925
former French Governor's mansion, a good example
of French colonial architecture that can be
found scattered about in Vientiane. Dinner at Le
Cote d'Azur Restaurant of French cuisine.
Overnight at Royal Dokmaideng or Lao Plaza
Hotel, Vientiane.
Day 08: Vientiane - Departure
(Breakfast/Lunch)
Buffet breakfast at the hotel. Free until
transfer to the airport for departure flight.
(Suggestion: explore the central market and main
shopping centre or indulge in a herbal steam
sauna with traditional massage for US$2.)
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,
visa-on-arrival with fee of US$30 is available.
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 500 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,
sun-glasses, a hat, sunscreen lotion - all these
you can buy in the cities anyway. Your special
medication. And plenty of money?
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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