Traveling with your girlfriends can be a great escape and there is nowhere better for a girlfriend escape than Luang Prabang, Laos. A mecca for shopping, spas, culture and adventure, Luang Prabang offers something for everyone and is a great place for the girls to “fit it all in” and still leave feeling rested. Enjoy a massage at the lovely Phou Vao Spa, stroll the famous Night Market, and learn how to weave side-by-side with the locals. So get your girlfriends, mothers, and sisters together and have an adventure!
Day 1 Luang Prabang: Arrival and Orientation Tour
Catch your flight – Laos Airlines QV634 departing Bangkok at 10:25 & arriving Luang Prabang at 12:05. After your arrival in Luang Prabang, you’ll be picked up from the airport and driven to the main part of town for a quick orientation tour. Your guide will give you an introduction to the city, showing you the main roads, some restaurants and the night market area, before dropping you off at your hotel to check in.
Meals Included: None
Overnight at Satri House Hotel – Deluxe Room
Day 2 Luang Prabang: Sunrise to Sunset
Wake up at sunrise to give monks morning alms. You’ll be accompanied by your guide who can demonstrate the proper method of alms giving and explain this daily Buddhist ceremony. Return to your hotel for breakfast. After you eat, your guide will take you on a tour of the city, which will include visits to The National Museum, Wat Xieng Thong, Wat Visun, Wat Aham and Wat Sen.
Enjoy lunch at the Ock Pop Tok Living Crafts Center located on the Mekong River surrounded by a garden and artisans on the outskirts of town. Enjoy the early afternoon relaxing or walking around before you continue your tour, visiting the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Museum and finishing with a hike up Mt. Phou Si in the late afternoon to see a sweeping view of Luang Prabang and watch the sunset.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Overnight at Satri House Hotel – Deluxe Room
Day 3 Luang Prabang: Ock Pop Tok Weaving Course and Tamarind Evening Cooking Class
You will be picked up at your hotel and transferred to tranquil Ock Pop Tok’s Living Crafts Center on the bank of the Mekong River for the Half Day Weaving Class, which will give you an introduction to weaving on a loom. Each student is assigned a loom and has a guide and a weaver to help them learn the art of weaving. You will select two colors and will create a placemat sized piece with a Lao motif to take home. After your class, you will be transferred back to your hotel or dropped into town before lunch time.
Enjoy learning the secrets of Lao cuisine in an early evening cooking class at the Tamarind Cooking School. You will have a hands-on opportunity to cook your own Lao feast, and will learn how to make the local staple – Lao sticky rice. You will be instructed by the owners of Tamarind Restaurant in the lush and beautiful surroundings of their cooking center just outside of town. After you learn about local ingredients and preparation methods, you’ll cook your own version of these local dishes and afterwards sit to enjoy your well-deserved dinner.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight at Satri House Hotel – Deluxe Room
Day 4 Luang Prabang: JWOC Village School Sponsorship
Meet with a Laos Journeys Within Our Community (JWOC) representative for lunch and to discuss the JWOC’s ongoing projects in Luang Prabang. You will be prepped on the day’s activities in which you may participate in at the village school. Leave town and head out to a picturesque village hidden away in the hills surrounding Luang Prabang. When you arrive in Phik Noy (Little Pepper Village) you will visit the primary school which JWOC supports through donations like yours. During your visit, you will have the opportunity to interact with the teachers and students through a little English lesson and an art activity. Your visit will also include the delivery of needed uniforms, books or other school essentials that JWOC is committed to help provide.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Overnight at Satri House Hotel – Deluxe Room
Day 5 Luang Prabang: The Living Land- Rice Cultivation and Kuang Si Waterfall
Today you will learn about Laos’s most cherished and cultivated crop – rice! The Living Land Company is a community enterprise that specializes in growing organic vegetables and rice for the development of the local community and seven families that live on the farm. You will arrive at the Living Rice Farm and be introduced to your guide and farming expert. You will learn the 12 steps of rice farming from the seeding of the soil to cooking the coveted sticky rice for everyday consumption. You will have the opportunity to truly experience the life of a farmer by trying your hand at some of the activities, like helping to plow the muddy soil by guiding Susan the farm’s water buffalo or husking the rice with a traditional foot rice pounder. You will also learn about some of the other traditional skills of the farmer like blacksmithing and bamboo weaving.
Enjoy the breathtaking view of the expansive rice fields, organic garden of herbs and vegetables, and the fish pond from the balcony of the farm’s traditional Lao wooden house. You will not only have the opportunity to learn about rice farming, but you will have the opportunity to talk to Lao farmers and gain an understanding about their way of life and gentle friendliness. After your morning cultivating rice, spend a relaxing afternoon at the Kuang Si Waterfall. To head out to the waterfall, you will take a scenic drive and if you desire, stop along the way to visit local villages and see traditional Lao communities. Before reaching the waterfall you can visit the Kuang Si Butterfly Park and the Free the Bears Projects to learn about these local organizations plight to educate on and protect native species. Once you reach the falls, enjoy a picnic lunch amongst the beautiful scenery and then wind down with a relaxing afternoon dip in the serene pools.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Overnight at Satri House Hotel – Deluxe Room
Day 6 Luang Prabang: Temples and Villages on the Mekong
Today you will explore the villages and livelihoods of the locals living off of the Mekong River. After breakfast you will meet your guide and transfer to the boat pier on the Mekong. You will cross the river for Xieng Mien, in the district of Chomphet. Even though Xieng Mien and Luang Prabang are only separated by a short distance, you will quickly be able to see the differences between the two. Walk through the village lanes and visit three historic temples Wat Xieng Mene, Wat Chomphet and Wat Long Khoune. Afterwards you will join your boat and pick up your picnic lunch on the Luang Prabang side of the river before heading down to the pottery village of Ban Jan. Stroll around to observe this village which is centuries old and home to some interesting handicrafts. You might even want to further support the village and pick up one of the fun handmade trinkets sold by the locals.
Afterwards, head down river and take in the lush hilltops and serene river while on the less traveled stretch of the Mekong. Once you reach the fishing village of Ban Chompjua you will transfer to one of the local families’ fishing boats to join as they check traps. The styles and traps will vary depending on the season and level of the Mekong. Learn how time consuming the art of fishing is from the locals as they demonstrate the making of one of their gigantic fishing nets. You will then return to your long tail boat for a picturesque coast while you enjoy your picnic lunch and head for Ban Xing, the Lion Village. Take a walk around this village, believed to date from the 16th century, and see the remnants of a previous time. This farming and fishing village holds some of the oldest traditional homes near Luang Prabang.
You will then join your village hosts in their home for a Lao baci ceremony. Your guide will explain this traditional blessing ceremony as you receive well wishes from elders in the village. After the ceremony you will travel up river back to Luang Prabang while taking in the setting sun.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Overnight at Satri House Hotel – Deluxe Room
Day 7 Luang Prabang: Departure
You will be transferred to the Luang Prabang airport in time for your – Laos Airlines QV633 departing Luang Prabang at 07:40 & arriving Bangkok at 09:20.
Meals included: Breakfast
Tour Rate Starting at: $2,565.00 per person based on two people traveling (double occupancy) with $1,650.00 single supplement
Price includes:
- Air tickets Bangkok – Luang Prabang – Bangkok
- Boat tickets as specified above
- Accommodation as specified above
- Air-conditioned car/van with driver
- Licensed English speaking guides
- Tours and admission fees as mentioned above
- Meals as specified in itinerary, including water
Price excludes:
- Personal expenses
- Visa fees
- Airport tax
- Drinks (except water) and meals not mentioned in itinerary
- Tips
