Laos
Suggested Itinerary
Day 1 – Vientiane
Arrive in Vientiane, Laos' relaxed capital, and check in to the luxurious Settha Palace Hotel, a lovely, turn-of-the-century French colonial architectural gem, with immaculate landscaped gardens and custom-designed furniture, ideally located near the city center.
Explore the city on foot, visiting the exotic Talat Sao market and various interesting private shops, including Sandra Yuck's Caruso gallery of ebony wooden creations, and Carol Cassidy's Lao Textiles. World renowned, Carol uses local weavers to create exquisite contemporary weavings with traditional motifs. This is a great opportunity to talk with locals while they work on their looms, and the operation is housed in a fantastic colonial home, worth a visit of its own. Go to meet wood- and stone-carving experts where you can have a hands-on demonstration, and stop by the Vientiane Silk Museum, recognized for its fine collection. Visit the striking golden That Luang Stupa, Vientiane's most revered temple and Lao's national monument, which is attended daily by numerous local pilgrims.
In the evening, a prominent local family will host you for a dinner prepared by one of Vientiane's premier chefs. Laotian food is a spicy melange of Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese cuisines, never served without sticky rice and the ubiquitous local chili paste. Taste a variety of luscious dishes and try the very popular Beerlao, but skip the "Lao wine" which is a fiery concoction made from fermented rice. Instead, have some French wine, which is widely available in Indochina at reasonable prices.
Day 2 – Luang Prabang
Following breakfast, fly to Luang Prabang, Laos' celebrated UNESCO World Heritage Site and the former capital of the Kingdom of Laos. Check in to the charming old colonial Maison Souvannaphoum Hotel (stay in the old wing which feels like a private home), formerly the home of the eponymous Prince. Visit Wat Xieng Thong, a Buddhist monastery considered to be the most outstanding in all Luang Prabang, featuring its classic sim (ordination hall) and meticulous design. Visit the private chambers of one of the top monks and have tea and snacks with him, and chat with him about his life and his beliefs.
In the afternoon, go to see the Royal Palace Museum, originally built during the French colonial period as a residence for King Sisavang. This fascinating museum features the original royal chambers, paintings depicting traditional Lao life, a throne room, and four of the old royal cars including and Edsel.
Have dinner at the l'Elephant, an exquisite little French restaurant that's the best in town.
Enjoy a postprandial stroll through the nearby Hmong Night Market, where the hill tribe people sell their textiles and other handmade creations every evening.
Day 3 – Luang Prabang
Take part in the age old tradition of making rounds for alms. Awake at sunrise, and join a procession of monks as they make their way to homes and shops to receive their daily rice, an event of great merit for all Lao people.
After this, board a small boat and head upriver to visit the Pak Ou Caves, famed because they are filled with gold lacquered Buddha statues. On the return trip, stop at a village where no other tourists go, and watch how they collect and prepare Mekong river seaweed, known as kai. Visit a village family for a simple lunch of fish and vegetables, and of course the tasty dried local seaweed.
Return to Luang Prabang for a dinner of Royal Lao cuisine, served by a master chef, where several remarkable and accomplished local people will join you for dining and discussion.
Day 4 – Luang Namtha
FOR THE ADVENTUROUS: Take a leisurely six-hour drive through the gorgeous countryside to the remote northern village of Luang Namtha, near the borders with Burma and China. Luang Namtha is home to the largest number of ethnic groups of any province in Laos, including many different hill tribes. These tribal people, with names such as the Black Tai, Red Tai, White Tai, Tai Lue, Khmu, Oo, Lao Bit, Lanten, Mien, Hmong, Akha, Lahu, and Phou Noi, live lives that are almost completely untouched by the outside world. They dwell in modest shelters they build themselves, eat unprocessed natural foods, and live lives uncomplicated by the trappings and complexities of more technologically advanced societies. They are not Buddhist like the rest of Laos, but practice a religion that is a synthesis of animism and Taoism, worshiping their ancestors and various spirits.
En route to Luang Namtha, visit a hill tribe village and have lunch with a family in their home.
Arrive in the late afternoon in Luang Namtha and check into your hotel, The Boat Landing Guest House and Restaurant, a simple but comfortable ecotourism lodge. The bungalows are constructed from local materials in a traditional Lao style, and each has a private bathroom.
Enjoy a delicious dinner of freshly prepared Luang Namtha delicacies at the hotel's restaurant, which is reputed to serve some of Laos' most delectable food.
Day 5 – Luang Namtha
Explore this breathtaking region of highland forests, jungles, waterfalls and pristine rivers. Go trekking, mountain biking, kayaking, rafting, or boating down the lovely Nam Tha River. Take a bicycle to the lovely waterfall at Ban Nam Dee, and watch the villagers making bamboo paper nearby. Visit the Luang Namtha Museum and the wat (temple), and the local fresh food markets.
Have dinner with a local village headman and his family. They will give you an informal Lao cooking demonstration and tasting before you sit down to a traditional Laotian meal of sticky rice that you roll into a ball in your hand, dip into chili paste and then eat together with vegetables and meats. No need to sample the ant larvae!
Day 6 – Tad Fane
Drive three hours to Udomsai airport, then fly down to Vientiane and on to Pakse, the regional capital of southern Laos. Upon arrival, drive up into the nearby mountains, where you will be staying in the Tad Fane Resort. The Resort is located on the cool Bolaven Plateau overlooking the pristine Tad Fane twin waterfalls, which cascade over 800 feet. The plateau is also home to Laos' finest coffee beans, which grow in the cool and moist climate, and you can visit plantations nearby the resort.
Dinner is back at the Tad Fane Resort, in their fine restaurant overlooking the breathtaking falls.
Day 7 – Tad Fane
Charter a boat to Champasak, a village on the banks of the Mekong River, and home to Wat Phu, a Khmer temple set in a stunning location above the Mekong that precedes Angkor Wat and is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The site of Wat Phu is much smaller than Angkor, but has been compared in beauty and setting to the famed ruins in Cambodia. Return to the Tad Fane in the late afternoon in time for a massage before dinner.
OR, FOR THE ADVENTUROUS: A home stay in Don Daeng. Take a boat to nearby Don Daeng, a small island that is one of 4,000 in the Mekong group, uncovered every dry season when the Mekong recedes and reveals thousands of tiny islets. Don Daeng is very rustic and traditional, inhabited by farmers and fishermen, and you will have the opportunity to do a home stay with the warm, friendly family of a local fisherman.
Meet the village elders, tour the local school, and help out with the daily chores. At dinnertime, see a cooking demonstration of some of the traditional foods such as som tam (papaya salad) served with grilled fish and sticky rice.
Day 8 – Don Khone
After a leisurely morning, take a boat to another island, Don Khone, an untouched and sleepy place, noted for its coconut and bamboo cultivation.
Settle in to the romantic Auberge Sala Don Khone, built in a restored, French-era hospital, and spend the afternoon touring French colonial villas and the old narrow-gauge railway built by the French across the Mekong during WWII.
Some of the village elders here were around during the war, and you can meet with them for a personal lesson in Don Khone's history and it's strategic significance during colonial times.
Day 9 – Don Khone
Visit the famed Irawaddy dolphins, an endangered species indigenous to the Mekong River area, usually only spotted here and in Cambodia. The dolphins are often seen swimming off the southern tip of Don Khone, and seeing them unobtrusively by boat is a memorable experience.
Afterwards, proceed by boat and road up to the spectacular Khone Papeng Falls, the largest and most dramatic waterfalls in Southeast Asia, located in a gorge that the Mekong funnels through.
Other options include kayaking along a more tame stretch of the Mekong with local guides, perhaps spotting a dolphin up close, or for the intrepid, going with an experienced kayaker into more challenging waters. You can visit nearby islands and the silk weaving village of Ban Saphai to get a weaving demonstration from locals, or just do as the inhabitants of Don Khone do, settling into a hammock, going for a swim in the Mekong, and watching the world go by.
Day 10 – Vientiane
Drive back to Pakse and fly to Vientiane, and check back into the Settha Palace Hotel.
Celebrate your last evening with dinner at the luxurious La Belle Epoque, noted for its sumptuous French and Lao cuisine.
Day 11
Fly home from Vientiane.