| Day 1: Arrival - Luang Prabang (D) |
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Pick you up and transfer to hotel. Dinner of good Lao cuisine at Pakhuay Mixai restaurant.
Overnight at hotel, Luang Prabang. |
| Day 2: City Tour & Pak Ou Caves (B, L) |
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Breakfast at the hotel. Full-day sightseeing of Luang Prabang to include the former Royal Palace now a museum, Wat Sene, Wat Mai, Wat Visoun and the best of them all Wat Xieng Thong. Lunch at Visoun Restaurant.
Take a cruise by boat to the Pak Ou caves crammed with hundreds if not thousands of Buddha images of all sizes. See rice-wine distillation by traditional means in Sang Hai village before returning to Luang Prabang. Walking tour of Thanon Sisavangvong lined with coffee cafes, boutiques and small stores. Go up the 329 steps of Mount Phousi to watch the sun set over the city and Nam Khan River. Upon our descent the hill tribe night market at the foot of this hill will be in full swing.
Overnight at hotel, Luang Prabang. |
| Day 3: Luang Prabang - Vientiane (B, L) |
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Breakfast at the hotel. At 9.30am transfer to the airport for the flight to Vientiane by QV102, dep.1140/arr.1220 (Mon / Tues / Thurs / Sat). On the way drop in at the central market for an insight into the daily purchase of the local people. A vast range of goods and fresh produce are on sale in this market.
Upon arrival at Wattay airport, meet and transfer to your hotel.
Sightseeing of the city follows to include Haw Pha Kaew which used to house the much-travelled Emerald Buddha image, the That Luang Stupa which is most revered by Laotians, Patuxai which is Laos's very own Arc de Triomphe, and the fine Si Saket temple built in 1818 by Chao Anou who was educated in the Siamese court and which the Thai invaders did not destroy.
Overnight at hotel, Vientiane. |
| Day 4: Vientiane - Siem Reap - Angkor Temples (B, L) |
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Breakfast at the hotel. Early morning transfer to Vientiane's airport to board the flight to Siem Reap by QV512, dep.0630/arr.0900 (Wed/Fri/Sun). Upon arrival at Siem Reap airport, meet and go on a full-day tour of the Angkor temple complex, visiting Angkor Thom (the Bayon, Phimeanakas, Terrace of the Leper King, the Elephant Terrace, the unfinished Baphuon) and mystical Ta Prohm still in the embrace of the jungle – all built by the great King Jayavarman VII (reigned1181-1218).
Lunch at Angkor Reach Restaurant.
In the afternoon visit Banteay Srei the only pink sandstone temple with the most exquisite carvings of apsaras found in Angkor. Proceed to Kbal Spean in the Kulen mountains to see the fantastic ''River of a Thousand Lingas'' choked with stone phallic carvings in the river bed with clear waters flowing over them. Its significance for the Khmer civilization is all-consuming. There are over 20 temple ruins and huge images of Hindu gods in this area that is strewn with unexploded American bombs and so we will not visit any of them due to the potential danger.
Overnight at hotel, Siem Reap. |
| Day 5: Rolous - Angkor Wat (B, L) |
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Breakfast at the hotel. Morning visit to the Rolous group of temples (Lolei, Preah Ko and Bakong) built in the early era before Angkor Wat to see what pre-classical Angkor temple architecture is like.
Lunch at Angkor Cafe restaurant.
Afternoon tour of the grandest of Angkor’s monuments, Angkor Wat, which was built earlier than Angkor Thom. Along the walls of its galleries the glories of the Angkor civilization are carved in bas-relief. We will fully explore this largest Hindu-Buddhist temple in the world, the highlight of any tour to Angkor. As the sun sinks to the horizon, climb the steep incline up Bakheng Hill to the ruins of Bakheng Temple to see the magical play of the fading light on Angkor Wat and the Tonle Sap in the distance.
Overnight at hotel, Siem Reap. |
| Day 6: Siem Reap - Phnom Penh (B, L) |
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Breakfast at the hotel. Morning excursion to the Great Lake for a boat cruise to see village life on the Tonle Sap. There are floating villages of fishermen who harvest fish in the lake, which is a natural wonder as the tide reverses during the wet season to bring silt to refertilize the land for cultivation. Visit a typical Cambodian village to compare it with the Laotian villages you have seen in Luang Prabang. Return to Siem Reap at about noon.
Lunch at New Bayon restaurant.
Transfer to the airport for the flight to Phnom Penh.
At Pochentong airport meet and transfer to hotel.
Overnight at hotel, Phnom Penh. |
| Day 7: Phnom Penh city tour (B, L) |
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Breakfast at the hotel. Morning city sightseeing to include the Royal Palace of the present King, the Silver Pagoda tiled with 5,000 silver plates each weighing one kg, the National Museum housing a large amount of artefacts of the Angkor civilization, Wat Phnom on a man-made hill worshipped at by the people, and other city sights.
Lunch at Chung Hsing restaurant.
Afternoon tour to Tuol Sleng Prison-Museum and the ''Killing Fields'' at Choeng Ek made infamous by the mindless Khmer Rouge who killed a million Cambodians during their 4-year rule. Dinner at Peace Restaurant.
Overnight at hotel, Phnom Penh. |
| Day 8: Phnom Penh - Departure (B) |
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Free time for shopping or optional visit before transfer to airport for flight back home.
End of services. Our staff will give you the warmest goodbye and hope to see you again. |
