The Essentials of Laos and Cambodia

Stop: Luang Prabang
Welcome by your English-speaking guide, transfer and check-in at your hotel. Meet at sunset for an excursion to Mount Phousi. The panorama over Luang Prabang is exceptional! Dinner at your own expense and overnight stay at your hotel.

Stopovers: Luang Prabang, Kuang Si Falls
Breakfast
At the first light of dawn, many monks collect donations from the villagers. A surprising spectacle to be completed, at your own pace, with a stroll through the market, a visit to the National Museum (former Royal Palace), and the city’s main temples.
After lunch at your own expense, you will be driven to the famous and refreshing Kuang Si Falls, for a sight of great beauty. This favorite spot for Luang Prabang residents is a blessed place during high heat.
Return to the city in the late afternoon. Dinner at your own expense and overnight stay at your hotel.

Stops: Luang Prabang, Pak Ou Caves
Breakfast
In the morning, embark on a boat trip on the Mekong to the famous Pak Ou caves carved into the cliff. A holy site, for centuries Laotians have deposited thousands of Buddha relics here. Visit the Tham Ting and Tham Phoume caves.
Lunch at your own expense in a restaurant on the banks of the Nam Ou, a tributary of the Mekong. Return to Luang Prabang by car, stopping at the two villages of Ban Xang Khong, famous for paper making, and Ban Xieng Lek, where silk and cotton are woven.
Sunset at Wat Siphouthabath. Dinner at your own expense and overnight stay at your hotel.

Stop: Vang Vieng
Breakfast
Departure for Vang Vieng, the center of the country. The road is superb. Stops at the very colorful markets of the villages of Phoukhoune and Ban Houn Xay. Lunch at your own expense in a local restaurant. It is at Phatang that you can admire the high karst cliffs covered with lush vegetation that announce the arrival in Vang Vieng.
At the end of the day, check-in at your hotel and a short cruise on the Nam Song.
Dinner at your own expense and overnight stay at your hotel.

Stop: Vientiane
Breakfast
Departure for Vientiane, the country’s capital, which is unlike any other Asian capital as it has managed to preserve its human scale. En route, stop at the site of Van Sang, “the elephant lake,” an ancient sanctuary over 300 years old attributed to the creation of the kingdom of “Lane Xang.” Large-scale Buddhas have been carved directly into the rock.
Lunch at your own expense in the capital, then a visit to the essential heritage sites before ending the day with a stroll along the Mekong.
Dinner at your own expense and overnight stay at your hotel.

Stops: Pakse, Paksong, The Bolaven Plateau
Breakfast
Flight to Pakse. Welcome by an English-speaking guide specializing in the South and drive to the Bolaven Plateau. The terrain consists of plateaus and plains suitable for agriculture and livestock. Depending on the season, discovery of a coffee plantation. Stop at the market in Paksong, the capital of Lao coffee, home to many Mon-Khmer minority groups. Lunch at your own expense then continuation to Tad Lo, famous for the freshness and beauty of its three waterfalls. Stop in a village of the Katu minority and arrival in Champassak in the late afternoon.
Dinner at your own expense and overnight stay at your hotel.

Stop: Champassak
Breakfast
8km from Champassak, the magnificent temple of Wat Phou, a UNESCO World Heritage site, reveals a part of the history of the Chenla kingdom. Smaller but older than the city of Angkor in Cambodia, it exudes a magical atmosphere. Visit the museum before climbing the steps leading to the site. Lunch at your own expense in a local cuisine restaurant then drive to Oum Muang, a contemporary temple of Wat Phou, built on the banks of a Mekong tributary in the middle of a forest, formerly a relay point for boats coming from Cambodia.
Return to Champassak. Dinner at your own expense and overnight stay at your hotel.

Stops: Champassak, 4,000 islands
Breakfast
A rock formation blocks the course of the Mekong, creating 15m high falls over a width of more than 10 km. This obstacle to river traffic led the colonial administration to create a railway line, the remains of which can be seen on the islands of Don Det and Don Khone. This part of the river forms a group of 4,000 islands (according to legend), without cars, with rice fields, which can be explored on foot, by bicycle, or by motorcycle.
Lunch at your own expense on the banks of the Mekong on Khone Island. Navigation on the river, through a landscape of islands and rapids unique in Southeast Asia.
Dinner at your own expense and overnight stay at your hotel.

Stops: 4,000 islands, Preah Vihear
Breakfast
Border crossing from the small port of Nakasang, located on the mainland. En route, stop at the Khone Phapeng falls whose flow breaks the nonchalance of the Mekong. Assistance with formalities at the Voeung Kam / Tra Peang Kreal border post and entry into the Kingdom of Cambodia. Continuation to Preah Vihear province and lunch at your own expense.
Dinner at your own expense and overnight stay at your hotel.

Stops: Preah Vihear, Siem Reap
Breakfast
Early departure for the temple of Preah Vihear, one of the most majestic temples of the Angkorian era, built over 2 centuries and completed by Suryavarman II, the builder of Angkor Wat. The various buildings, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, are spread over the slopes of a rocky promontory overlooking the Cambodian plain, 500m from the Thai border.
Lunch at your own expense and continuation through the Khmer countryside to other temples: Koh Ker, a pre-Angkorian complex, then Beng Mealea, a prototype of Angkor Wat, overgrown and broken apart by vegetation. A vision almost identical to those of the first explorers.
In the late afternoon, arrival in Siem Reap, a large town located near the temples.
Dinner at your own expense and overnight stay at your hotel.

Stops: Siem Reap, The Temples of Angkor
Breakfast
In-depth visit of Angkor Wat, a masterpiece of Khmer art, the most famous and imposing of all Angkor monuments. Its five golden-pink towers have become the emblem of all successive Cambodian regimes. Lunch at your own expense in a local restaurant then visit “Artisans d’Angkor,” a mixed Cambodian company whose vocation is to develop, in a sustainable and fair way, artistic craftsmanship in the Siem Reap region. If time permits, stop at Neak Pean, a basin intended for purificatory rites, and Preah Khan, the “sacred sword” which covers a large area surrounded by moats.
Dinner at your own expense and overnight stay at your hotel.

Stops: Siem Reap, The Temples of Angkor
Breakfast
Morning exploration of Angkor Thom, a vast architectural ensemble accessed through five monumental gates, with the Bayon mountain temple at its center, famous for its towers with 172 faces of Avalokiteshvara. The visit continues with Prasat Baphuon and its large reclining Buddha. Stroll along the Terraces of the Elephants and the Leper King. Lunch at your own expense followed by a visit to the Ta Prohm temple, a former monastery whose ruins are overgrown with vegetation. Depending on the timing, visit Ta Keo, the Sanctuary of the Crystal Jewel, Banteay Kdei, and Srah Srang Lake.
Dinner at your own expense and overnight stay at your hotel.

Stops: Siem Reap, The Temples of Angkor
Breakfast
Discovery of the Roluos group of temples, composed of Preah Ko, Bakong, and Lolei, then a stroll through a local market.
Lunch at your own expense then visit Banteay Srei (Citadel of the Women), considered by many to be the jewel of classical Khmer art.
On the way back to Siem Reap, stop in a village making palm sugar harvested from October to April. Tasting. Depending on the time of day, stop at the Banteay Samre sanctuary, a small masterpiece of the classical period, masterfully restored.
Dinner at your own expense and overnight stay at your hotel.

Stops: Siem Reap, Battambang, Tonlé Sap Lake
Breakfast, Lunch
Calling all lovers of Asian cuisine, this morning you have an appointment at a local specialty restaurant for a Cambodian cooking class. Tasting lunch of your creation. This afternoon, embark on Tonlé Sap Lake and its floating villages. This true inland sea was classified as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1997 due to the incredible diversity of its ecosystem. A true natural monument.
Dinner at your own expense and overnight stay at your hotel.