Serene Discovery in Luang Prabang and Thailand (19D18N)

Duration: 19 Days
Travel theme: Thailand Laos tours

Welcome to Serene Discovery in Luang Prabang and Thailand in 19 Days!

Embark on an extraordinary voyage through the mesmerizing marvels of Southeast Asia with this captivating tour. Discover the ageless allure of Luang Prabang, where you can fully engage yourself in Lao culture by participating in a hands-on farming activity and admiring the magnificent Kuang Si Waterfall. Sail along the majestic Mekong River to the legendary Pak Ou Cave, which houses numerous Buddha statues that inspire a sense of awe and reverence.

Experience unparalleled luxury onboard the Shompoo cruise to Pakbeng, where you can indulge in delectable local cuisine while taking in the breathtaking views of the surrounding landscapes. Explore the vibrant city of Chiang Rai on a full-day tour and marvel at the intricate beauty of Wat Doi Suthep before embarking on a serene Mae Ping River cruise in Chiang Mai.

Interact with gentle giants at the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary, an encounter that will leave you with cherished memories. Unwind and relax on the picturesque beaches of Phuket and Koh Lipe, where you can bask in the sun and appreciate the stunning views of the Andaman Sea.

This meticulously crafted tour promises a rewarding and enriching experience, blending adventure, luxury, and cultural immersion in perfect harmony. Whether you seek relaxation or adventure, this journey will provide you with a profound sense of fulfillment and wonder. So, pack your bags and prepare for an unforgettable adventure through Southeast Asia’s most enchanting destinations.

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Journey Highlights

Luang Prabang:

  • Experience Lao culture with a farming activity and visit the stunning Kuang Si Waterfall.
  • Take a cruise along the Mekong River to Pak Ou Cave, famous for its Buddha statues.
  • Embark on the luxurious Shompoo cruise to Pakbeng, enjoying scenic views and local cuisine.

Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai:

  • Explore Chiang Rai’s vibrant city with a full-day city tour.
  • Visit Wat Doi Suthep and enjoy a relaxing Mae Ping River cruise in Chiang Mai.
  • Get up close with gentle giants at the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary, followed by a private city tour.

Phuket and Koh Lipe:

  • Enjoy free time to relax and soak up the sun on the beautiful beaches of Phuket and Koh Lipe.
  • Take a join-in ferry to Koh Lipe from Phuket, experiencing the stunning views of the Andaman Sea.
  • Depart Koh Lipe with a joint ferry back to Phuket before flying to Bangkok for the end of the journey.

Brief Itinerary

Day 1: Luang Prabang arrival 

Day 2: Luang Prabang City tour (B) 

Day 3: Luang Prabang- Cruise on Mekong- Pak Ou Cave (B) 

Day 4: Luang Prabang – Farming Experience – Kuang Si Waterfall (B)

Day 5: Luang Prabang – Embark Shompoo cruise – Pakbeng (B, L ) 

Day 6: Pakbeng- HouayXay – Disembark cruise- Cross border to Chiang Khong- Chiang Rai (B) 

Day 7: Chiang Rai – Full day city tour (B)

Day 8: Chiang Rai – Chiang Mai – Wat Doi Suthep – Mae Ping river cruise (B) 

Day 9: Chiang Mai – Elephant Jungle Sanctuary (join-in) – Chiang Mai City tour (private) (B, L)

Day 10: Chiang Mai – Flight to Phuket (B) No guide

Day 11: Phuket – Free time (-)

Day 12: Phuket – Free time (-)

Day 13: Phuket – Free time (-)

Day 14: Phuket – Join in ferry to Koh Lipe (-)  No guide

Day 15: Koh Lipe – Free time (B)

Day 16: Koh Lipe – Free time (B)

Day 17: Koh Lipe – Free time (B)

Day 18: Koh Lipe – Free time (B)

Day 19: Koh Lipe – Joint ferry to Phuket – Flight to Bangkok (B) 

Full Itinerary

  • Luang Prabang City Tour
    Day 1: Luang Prabang arrival

    Arrival at Luang Prabang international airport, get transferred to your hotel. Check-in time at hotel is between 13h30-14h00. Time for resting at hotel.

    Meals on your own. Overnight in hotel.

    Accommodation: At the hotel in Luang Prabang

    Meals: NA

  • Day 2: Luang Prabang City tour (B)

    An optional early start gives you the fantastic opportunity to participate in the daily morning alms giving ritual to saffron clad monks. This tradition is unique to Laos, being the only Buddhist nation still preserving this procession. Stop and visit fresh local markets and back to hotel for breakfast.

    This morning, depart to visit Wat Visoun, the site of the impressive Thad Makmo stupa. The rounded dome is stylistically more Sinhalese than Lao.  Continue to visit Wat Aham. Then, visit to the most photographed temple, Vat Xiengthong. Located at the end of the peninsula closed to the confluence of Mekong and Khan River.

     

    This afternoon, continue to former Royal Palace, now the National Museum. Visit Wat Mai, a temple renowned for its golden bas-relief. During Pimai, the Lao New Year, the Prabang normally housed in the Royal Palace Museum is brought and put on public display in this temple. 

     

    Meals on your own. Overnight in hotel.

     

    Accommodation: At the hotel in Luang Prabang

    Meals: Breakfast

  • Lang Prabang
    Day 3: Luang Prabang- Cruise on Mekong- Pak Ou Cave (B)

    This morning, ferry to otherside of Mekong to visit Ban Xiemienne village.  Take a walk to discover Wat Long Khoun temple, located in the jungle. This monastery historically had important ties with the royal family of Luang Prabang. From its beginnings Wat Long Khoun served as a retreat center for spiritual revitalization. It was traditional practice that the new king-designate spend three days there in ceremonial bathing and meditative retreat.

    Then, embark on a traditional long trail boat, for a relaxing cruise upstream on the mighty Mekong River. Enjoy stunning mountain scenery and witness the simple rural lifestyles. You will reach Pak Ou caves at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Ou Rivers. In these 2 caves are displayed hundreds of sacred centuries-old Buddha images which are the object of pilgrimages during the Lao New Year festivities around mid-April. Cruise back Luang Prabang. Stop and visit Ban Xangkhong, a weaving village, where you can jump into wooden looms with local expert for practical and experience.

    Meals on your own. Overnight in hotel.

    Accommodation: At the hotel in Luang Prabang

    Meals: Breakfast

     

  • Day 4: Luang Prabang – Farming Experience – Kuang Si Waterfall (B)

    After breakfast, spend the morning exploring the rice culture and farming experience with some hands-on activities along the way. Be welcomed by the hospitable farmers who will show you how rice is grown and harvested. You can plant rice in the rice paddy together with the farmers while seeing the buffalos plough the rice paddies. Discover what rice can be used to produce different products

    This afternoon, driving through green rice paddies and farms. On your arrival at the Kuang Si waterfall, enjoy your short walking on trails of falls to visit the bear rescued centre. Enjoy spectacular views and the surrounding of orchids inside the park and falls cascade over many calcified tiers and down several hundred feet into a series of cool, turquoise pools. Return to Luang Prabang.

    Meals on your own. Overnight in hotel

     

    Accommodation: At the hotel in Luang Prabang

    Meals: Breakfast

     

  • Thailand and Laos
    Day 5: Luang Prabang – Embark Shompoo cruise – Pakbeng (B, L)

    Pick up at your hotel in Luang Prabang and transfer to the pier. The boat leaves Luang Prabang at 7:00am for upstream the Mekong to Pakbeng.
    French Breakfast is served on board.
    In the morning, we will stop to visit Pak Ou Caves (Tham Ting) and its over two thousand Buddha statues. It is one of the most important Pilgrimage places for lao people. After the visit, our English-speaking guide will organize a small lecture and will explain the different
    ethnicities here in Laos. Lao traditional Lunch set is served on board. In the afternoon, quick visit at Ban Baw village, a complex but harmonic mixed of three ethnicities: Lao Loun, Shan and Tai Lue. Today the village is famous for its laol ao whiskey making. The boat arrives in Pakbeng before the night. Overnight in Pakbeng

    Accommodation: In Pakbeng Lodge 

    Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

  • Laos
    Day 6: Pakbeng- HouayXay – Disembark cruise- Cross border to Chiang Khong- Chiang Rai (B)

    Embark at 7:00am on the boat. Normally your hotel in Pakbeng must have prepared a take away breakfast box for the shompoo cruise travelers that they can eat on board. In the morning, our guide and cooker will make a short demonstration on how to make some Laos desserts and local drinks that travelers will eat later in the afternoon. Just before lunch, the boat will stop to visit a traditional Kamu village (Ban Houa Phalam), a tinycozy place which host about 90 families. Travelers will learn about rural lifestyle in a very remote area. Lao traditional Lunch set is served on board.

    Before to reach Houay Xay pier, enjoy the homemade desserts and drinks made by our team and the travelers. The boat will arrive at destination before 4:30pm. Pick-up at Thai Border Control and Immigration Check Point in Chiang Khong, transfer to Chiang Rai. Check-in at the hotel and free time. Overnight in Chiang Rai.

    Accommodation: At the hotel in Chiang Rai

    Meals: Breakfast

     

  • Thailand
    Day 7: Chiang Rai – Full day city tour (B)

    Morning after breakfast, we will visit the local market to discover the local products. After that we visit the world famous Wat Phra Kaew where the Emerald Buddha image was once enshrined. 

    Move on to Wat Phra Singha where one of Thailand’s most beautiful Buddha images is now enshrined. 

    Then, visit Black House, (Baandum Museum); belongs to the national artist Thawan Dachanee who is celebrated for his eerie sculptures made from horns and bones, reptile skins, traditional African sculptures, old boats, Lanna-style woodcrafts and art installations housed across 32 buildings, most of which are Lanna-style pavilions made from black wood.

    Lunch at local restaurant and afternoon we will continue to Blue Temple (Rong Sued Ten Temple); designed by the local Chiang Rai artist who used to the team work of White Temple before. The main temple building is a distinctive blue colorwith the new philosophy of Buddhist art

    You will also visit to White Temple (Rong Khun Temple); designed by the famous national artist. The main temple building is a distinctive white color, decorated with fragments of reflective glass which can be seen from afar. 

     

    Check-in at the hotel. 

    Overnight in Chiang Rai.

    Accommodation: At the hotel in Chiang Rai

    Meals: Breakfast

  • Day 8: Chiang Rai – Chiang Mai – Wat Doi Suthep – Mae Ping river cruise (B)

    After breakfast, depart to Chiang Mai. Lunch on your own at local restaurant in Chiang Mai. 

    Then, visit Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, the most famous pagoda Chiang Mai. It is reached after climbing a staircase of 290 steps with ramps represents two giant naga. From the square, you can admire the panorama of the whole Chiang Mai Valley.

    We continue to embark on a cruise leaving from the jetty at Wat Chai Mongkol and travel north out of the city (2 hours trip). The river soon shows its true rural identity as city bridges pass from view and are replaced by scenes of wide water stretching from green tree-lined bank to bank. Kids play, daring each other to swing through an old motor tyre and plunge into the cool river below. Smiles, Yells and the boat chugs on to reach its destination point, the ‘’Thai Farmer’s house”  Agriculture remains Thailand’s largest source of income and here the visitor can discover the basic elements – rice, local herbs, fruits, fishing – all thriving in a chemical – free environment.

    Then transfer back to the hotel. 

    At night, you are free exploring the Chiang Mai Night Market, full of exotic handicrafts and wonderful fabrics.

    Overnight in Chiang Mai.

    Accommodation: At the hotel in Chiang Mai 

    Meals: Breakfast

  • Day 9: Chiang Mai – Elephant Jungle Sanctuary (join-in) – Chiang Mai City tour (private) (B, L)

    06:30 – 07:00 Pick up from your hotel or accommodation

    07:00 Drive approximately 1.5 hours South of Chiang Mai through rolling hills, forest, and local farming areas.

    08:30 Arrive at the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary. Learn about the elephants and change into traditional Karen clothing.

    09:00 Meet the elephants. Feed, interact, and play with the elephants in a natural environment as you learn about their behavior and history. Take photos with the elephants.

    09:45 Mud Spa with the elephants

    10:30 Walk with the elephants to a river and bathe them.

    11:30 Eat a traditional meal and then say goodbye to the elephants.

    12:00 Leave the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary and drive approximately 1.5 hours to Chiang Mai.

    13:30 Drop off at your hotel or accommodation.

    * Please Note: At the Sanctuary, we will allow you to spend as much time as possible with the elephants. Therefore, there is no formal schedule and aside from pick-up times, the times shown here are approximations.

    The afternoon will be mainly devoted to visit the old city with a stop at the ancient wall, the moat and a door of the old city. You will see more   beautiful temples in Chiang Mai:   Wat Prah Singh Temple, Wat Phan Tao temple and the temple Wat Chedi Luang. Then you will stroll along streets lined with traditional houses, where you make a rickshaw ride. From there, you’ll be at large Central Market Warorot. 

    Return to the hotel for free time.

    Overnight in Chiang Mai.

    Accommodation: At the hotel in Chiang Mai 

    Meals: Breakfast, Lunch 

  • Day 10: Chiang Mai – Flight to Phuket (B) No guide

    After breakfast, free time until transfer to the airport for flight to Phuket. Upon arrival at Phuket airport, you will be met by our driver and transferred to the hotel. Free time to relax. 

    Overnight at the hotel in Phuket

    Accommodation: At the hotel in Phuket  

    Meals: Breakfast

  • Day 11: Phuket – Free time (-)

    You have free time to enjoy resort pool or relax at the beach 

    Accommodation: At the hotel in Phuket  

    Meals: Breakfast

  • Boost your mood in Vietnam and Thailand
    Day 12: Phuket – Free time (-)

    You have free time to enjoy resort pool or relax at the beach 

    Accommodation: At the hotel in Phuket  

    Meals: Breakfast

  • Day 13: Phuket – Free time (-)

    You have free time to enjoy resort pool or relax at the beach 

    Accommodation: At the hotel in Phuket  

    Meals: Breakfast

  • Day 14: Phuket – Join in ferry to Koh Lipe (-) No guide

    Early morning, transfer to Rassadar Pier to take the joint ferry to Koh Lipe island (08h30 – 13h30). Arrival in Koh Lipe, check-in at the hotel. Overnight in Koh Lipe.

    Accommodation: At the hotel in Koh Lip 

    Meals: Breakfast

  • Day 15: Koh Lipe – Free time (B)

    You have free time to enjoy resort pool or relax at the beach 

    Accommodation: At the hotel in Phuket  

    Meals: Breakfast

  • Day 16: Koh Lipe – Free time (B)

    You have free time to enjoy resort pool or relax at the beach 

    Accommodation: At the hotel in Phuket  

    Meals: Breakfast

  • Thailand and Luang Prabang
    Day 17: Koh Lipe – Free time (B)

    You have free time to enjoy resort pool or relax at the beach 

    Accommodation: At the hotel in Phuket  

    Meals: Breakfast

  • Day 18: Koh Lipe – Free time (B)

    You have free time to enjoy resort pool or relax at the beach 

    Accommodation: At the hotel in Phuket  

    Meals: Breakfast

  • Day 19: Koh Lipe – Joint ferry to Phuket – Flight to Bangkok (B)

    After breakfast, you will take the joint ferry to return to Phuket (09h00 – 14h30). Arrive at Rassadar Pier, pick up and transfer to the airport for your flight to Bangkok. End of services.

    Accommodation: NA

    Meals: Breakfast

Price

Private tour price
Price in USD per person based on group size of private tour - Validity from 01/05/2024 - 30/09/2024
2-3 pers. 4-6 pers. 7-10 pers. Single Suppl.
Superior
1st class
Deluxe
- Child under 3 year old shares bed with their parents - ----> free of charge
- Child from 3 to 12 year old share rooom with their parents --------> 50% of adult price
Private tour price
Price in USD per person based on group size of private tour - Validity from 01/07/2023 - 30/04/2024
2-3 pers. 4-6 pers. 7-10 pers. Single Suppl.
Superior
1st class
Deluxe
- Child under 3 year old shares bed with their parents - ----> free of charge
- Child from 3 to 12 year old share rooom with their parents --------> 50% of adult price

Accommodation

Superior
Location Accommodation name Star Room Type
Luang Prabang Villa Chitdara Deluxe
Chiang Rai Laluna Hotel & Resort Garden Bungalow
Chiang Mai White Boutique hotel Deluxe
Phuket Baan Krating Phuket Deluxe
Koh Lipe Idyllic Concept Resort Deluxe Garden View
1st class
Location Accommodation name Star Room Type
Luang Prabang Souphatra Hotel Deluxe Pool
Chiang Rai Le Patta Chiang Rai Resort & Hotel Superior
Chiang Mai Bohdi Serene Superior
Phuket Burasari Phuket 4* Premier
Koh Lipe Idyllic Concept Resort Deluxe garden Cabana
Deluxe
Location Accommodation name Star Room Type
Luang Prabang Satri House Deluxe
Chiang Rai The Riverie Chiang Rai Deluxe Garden
Chiang Mai NA Nirand Romantic – Boutique – Resort 5* Romantic Lanna Deluxe
Phuket The Nature Phuket Deluxe
Koh Lipe Idyllic Concept Resort Deluxe premium garden view

Trip Note

Inclusion

  • Accommodation in the room category indicated in the program or similar (subject to availability)
  • Meals as mentioned in the program: B= Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner
  • Transfer from and to the airports by private /shared vehicle with A/C.
  • All entrance fees and sightseeing as mentioned in the program
  • Local English speaking guides as as mentioned in the program 
  • Jont ferry/speedboat from Phuket to Koh Lipe and vice-versa
  • Sharing Shampoo cruise from Luang Prabang to Houayxay 2 Days 1 Night on lodge 
  • Elephant Jungle Sanctuary (Join-in) 
  • All transfers with the air-conditioned private car
  • Mineral water
  • Government taxes & service charge 

Exclusion 

  • International flight, domestic
  • Alcoholic beverages, bottled water, beverages other than those included with meals.
  • Telephone call charges.
  • Laundry and dry cleaning.
  • Travel insurance (mandatory).
  • Personal purchases such as souvenirs, cigarettes, etc.
  • Tips to guides, drivers, luggage handlers.
  • Visa
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