Visitez Luang Prabang, et le reste du Laos

3-day trek around Luang Namtha

Benolaos — 2019-11-22T11:15:10Z

Day 1
After a 35 minutes drive you will reach the start of the trail at the edge of the Nam Ha National Protected Area (NPA).

First, the ascend is quite steep up but soon the trail levels out and you will find yourself surrounded by beautiful nature. Most of the forest you will see today is secondary forest, meaning that the trees are less old but sure the forest very diverse and beautiful.

Your guide will explain all about nature there is to see and will be happy to answer your questions along the way.

Together with your guide you will forage food and herbs from nature and learn how to cook jungle style using bamboo and other material for cooking and eating.
In the afternoon we reach the Khmu minority village of Tasae where you will be hosted by a local family.

Day 2
This morning the trail leads us to a remote Khmu settlement inside the Nam Ha National Protected Area (NPA). You will walk through a beautiful part of the NPA and you'll have lunch in the mountains along the trail.

After lunch you will descend to the village on the bank of the Nam Ha River. Your guide will explain all about the local tradition and customs of the Khmu tribe. After a walk through the village you can have a refreshing swim in the Nam Ha river. Later, you can sit around the campfire with the villagers or help them prepare dinner. You will spend the night in a villager's home.

Day 3
After breakfast, you will walk for two hours along a small dirt road tracking the Nam Ha River that connects the two villages. After ninety minutes you will reach the Khmu village Ban Nalan Tai. Along the way you may see people working in the rice fields or collecting food from the jungle. Walk a bit further on the road to arrive in the Lanten village of Ban Nam Koy for lunch.

After lunch, we will trek further through the jungle and after a few hours you will find yourself in the upland rice fields that provide the livelihood for the next village, Ban Nam Lue. After visiting the local people, a tuktuk will pick you up and drive you back to Luang Namtha.

4-day trek & kayak around Luang Namtha

Benolaos — 2018-04-02T08:17:59Z

Day 1: On the first day we can trek to a small Khmu community inside the National Protected Area following a not too challenging but beautiful trail through lush mostly primary forest. Our English speaking guide will explain you all about the way the people live and show the guests around the village. You will experience rural life in this remote village where there is no electricity or roads connecting the village. The night will be spent with a Khmu family in a traditional Khmu house.

Day 2: The second day we can kayak all the way down the Nam Ha river to our fishermen camp in primary forest area. The river runs straight through the forest and at the camp it is really nice for swimming. We can forage jungle veggies and the guides will teach how to cook with bamboo. We will make a nice bonfire and listen to the jungle sounds when the sun goes down.

Day 3: The next day we will kayak a bit further down the Nam ha and Nam Tha river and get out the boats at a small Tai Lue community. We will have lunch in the village and the guide will show them around. Then we hit the jungle trail again. A 4 hour trail will take them high up the mountain where we have yet another camp. This camp has a beautiful view over the NPA and we will watch the sun go down over the forest.

Day 4: In the morning, if the weather conditions are good, we will find ourselves above the clouds and watch the sun color everything red. After breakfast we will descend the mountain following a 5 – 6 hour trail that leads to primary, secondary and bamboo forest. We will cross the Nam Tha river and get the guest back to Luang Namtha.

For info: a 3-day trek is also possible in the same area.

3-day Jungle trek close to Luang Prabang

Benolaos — 2017-06-21T05:33:10Z

Day1. Luang Prabang – Hill Tribe Khmu Villages [../L/D]

In the morning, around 8am, your guide will pick you up at your hotel.
The first part of this journey consists on a 4-5 hours trek to Khmu villages. This bring you completely out of town and comfort, in areas where no electricity.

You will see and experience the local rural way of life of the remote villages. Life here is punctuated by the sun cycle, fully connected to the nature and the elements, with traditions and culture from another time. Medicine is mostly found through plants, food is mostly made from picking and hunting, and you will be a part of the village, during this end of the day.

You will have a dinner with locals and overnight in one of the family of the Ban Long Louak village.

Day2. Hill Tribe Khmu Villages [B/L/D]

The 2nd day, early morning, you will wake with local people to observe the local life. After a local breakfast, it will be time for you to say goodbye, and to go further to the next village. You will go through the jungle and dense forests, before reaching Hmong and Kmou minorities, living in small and remote villages avec 5-6 hours of trek.

Same as for the first day, you will probably want to participate to the preparation of the dinner, learn about the people and the local way of life, eventually assist to a little music instrument show. Interacting with the inhabitants is one of the goal of the visit, and your experienced guide will be there to facilitate and translate...

Overnight at the Kalungkong village

Day3. Hill Tribe Trek – Hill Tribe Villages – Luang Prabang [B/L/..]

After your breakfast, you will continue your trek (on this day, about 5-6 hours of walk) through villages an jungle.

In the afternoon, you will reach the meeting point, where a vehicle is waiting for you. You will be driven back to Luang Prabang and transferred at your hotel.

End of service.

Included in this tour:

English speaking trekking guide
Local Lao guide (different in each area)
Meals as specified (B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner)
Accommodation in Homestay on day 1 and 2 in ethnic villages
Minivan for transfers from town / starting point / town
2 bottles of water per day
Taxes (local, provincial, and state)
Assistance 24/7

3-day trek meeting the ethnics

Benolaos — 2017-02-20T06:30:58Z

1st day trek, meeting the Hmong people (L, D)
Your guide will be meeting you at 8:30am at your hotel to drive first up north for about 1 hour before reaching a village where will start our journey. For our trip, a village-based guide will join our day journey, and will first assist the visit of this village, and help you buying the last thing you need for your journey. The trek can then start.

On the morning, we shall take around 4-5 hours through primary forests, beautiful upland rice paddies field, dense mixed jungle with a remarkable diversity of tree species, before having lunch.

We will choose the top of a mountain offering an exceptional panoramic viewpoint, where the guide will prepare the Lao lunch.

After lunch, we will also walk for another 4-5 hours surrounded by a nature that provides food, water, and medicine. End afternoon, we will reach the Hmong village of Ban Mock Choung. This ethnic is very special and knowledgeable for medicinal plants, and for the powerful shamans.

Local dinner
Homestay

2nd day of trek, meeting with Khmu (B,L,D)
The weak up will be probably very early, with the melody of the cocks, and the quick general activity to prepare the breakfast and go to work, mostly on fields around. Hmong people are considered as very hard workers.

We shall take a bit time to look around, and at 9am max should start our wild walk to reach our next "meeting point". This morning is a 3-4 hour trek. If we are not too noisy, we shall see a dear, a jungle fawn, a wild pig, a monkey, a civet cat or a saguaro, otherwise you might only see their tracks.

When hunger meets a beautiful point of view will sounds time for lunch. Your guide will prepare it when you can take time to relax, go around, and take pictures.

Depending on the time you did start, the second part of the day might be more easy, and you shall arrive to our next homestay mid-afternoon. You will discover there the Khmu way of life, largely considered here as the most Epicurean ethnic in Laos.

Local dinner
Homestay

3rd day of trek, back to Luang Prabang (B,L)
After breakfast, we shall start our last day journey with an old grown jungle park walk, crossing Hmong and Khmu villages where we always take time to visit, to have a fresh coconut, or simply a little pause.

Like every day, we will find the right place to have lunch in a nice area with a nice view and feeling.

The trek will finally ends with the arrival in Ban Luay Lueang (or Ban Lath Tha Hae, depending on the season) settled nearby the Nam Ou River's bank. There a transportation will bring us back to Luang Prabang.

End of the service.

Price for a group of 4 persons:
182 USD / person

Included:

Transportation
Local English speaking guide
Village-based guide fees
Trekking
Meals as specified (B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Diner)
Drinking water (not unlimited)
Homestay
Taxes (trekking permits, local taxes, village fund fees)

1-day trek, kayak & fishing

Benolaos — 2017-02-15T10:12:14Z

At 8:30 am, your guide will meet you at your hotel. Your journey can start.
First, we will have a 30 min drive out of town through the Road #13, to reach the village of Ban Suan. This area is well known for the pineapples and oranges that grow around... This is also our last stop to buy things before our day adventure.

After having first crossed the river by local pirogue or by the bamboo bridge, depending on the season, starts our "Hmong trail journey". It will bring us to a part of Northern Laos countryside inhabited by the Hmong Hmong ethnic by Wikipedia. In Laos, Hmong people are considered as a part of the Lao Sung ethnic group (see the 3 main ethnic groups in Laos), called "the mountain People", mostly living in the highest part of the country, sometimes only reachable after several days of walk. On many points, they can be seen as the most singular ethnic in Laos.

Our walk will bring us to top mountains, then down again before another up-hill, through the forest, the jungle, and the paddy fields, walking on this hunting trail used by locals and connecting villages around, to approach another way of life, very close to the nature, very respectful to their traditions, very attached to their values, very proud on their culture.

After these 3-hour trek, time will come to reach the kayak meeting point. En chemin, we will have a stop in a Kamu ethnic (part of Lao Theung ethnic group) before ending to the village of Ban Ann, sticking the Nam Khan River.

We embark there into the kayak down to Tadsae waterfall. On the way, we will stop for a local fishing lesson, on this river well known to host several of the tastiest fishes around. After a visit to the famous waterfalls (particularly beautiful during the raining seasons) it will be time to prepare the barbecue lunch on the beach, with local fishes and products.

After a while more kayaking on the river, you will end on the meeting point in Ban Xiang Lom or Keng where our Took-Took will bring us back to the city-centre of Luang Prabang.

Included in the activity:

Transportation with chauffeur
Local English speaking guide
Fishing/Kayaking
Lunch
Bottles of mineral water
Tour permit, local district & villages taxes
Entrance fee to Tad Sae Waterfall

6d / 5n: Trek & Cruise in Northern Laos

Benolaos — 2014-12-01T10:00:00Z

Here a proposal for a loop around Luang Prabang. It starts with a 1 day cruise on the Mekong River, followed by a 3-day trek in a remote area. You will pass through beautiful scenery, explore minority ethnics in authentic villages, when finishing with a cruise on the Nam Ou River, wonderful and peaceful region with karst mountains in dense and pristine jungle.

Itinireray at a glance:

Day 1: Luang Prabang - sacred Pak Ou Caves - Pakbeng (cruise).
Day 2: Pakbeng - Muang Khua by road.
Day 3: 1st day Trek. Overnight homestay.
Day 4: 2nd day Trek. Overnight homestay.
Day 5: 3rd day trek back to Muang Khua, and cruise to Nong Khiaw.
Day 6: Return to Luang Prabang by road.

Tour Details:

Day 1: One day cruise from Luang Prabang - Pakbeng [.../L/D]
In the morning the minivan with the guide takes you to the pier where a boat will be chartered for a private day cruise on the Mekong River.
This 1st day will evolve under the sign of contemplation of the local life, watching the nature and the inhabitants living of the banks of the great river.
After 2 hours sailing, you will stop to the sacred caves of Pak Ou, where hundreds of Buddha images are hosted.
Lunch will be served on board.
You reach the village of Pakbeng in the late afternoon and can enjoy the sunset from the resort where you will spend the night.

Dinner and overnight at Pakbeng Lodge *** (1)

Day 2: Pakbeng - Muang Khua by road [B / ... / ...]
After breakfast, you will have time to visit the elephant camp run by the Lodge (additional cost) or even a ride on the back of the pachyderms.
Then take the road to reach the trek point (approximately 6 hours of travel), located in North Laos, near the Vietnamese border.
Along the way you will make stops to discover and observe different villages, inhabited by many different ethnic minorities in this region.

Overnight at Hotel Sernalli **

Day 3: Trek [B / L / D]
You will meet your local guide in the morning, which will assist you during three days to visit the region, the villages of local ethnic minorities, including the nature and medicinal plants whose inhabitants of these remote areas retain knowledge and transmit the virtues and preparations.
Meals are served with the guide, meals made on site, in the villages.
With guides, you will also be introduced to the lifestyles and customs of different ethnic groups that you will cross.

Overnight homestay

Day 4: Trek [B / L / D]
2nd day of trek. You will continue the exploration of this region and will slepp again with the locals.

Day 5: Trek - Back to Muang Khua - Cruise to Nong Khiaw [B / L / ...]
3rd day trek in the morning only because you need to reach the village of Muang Khua which will be chartered a private boat. This 4 hours cruise will bring you in one of the most beautiful area of Laos (Nam Ou River), with its karst moutainous scenery. On the way, you will stop in fishing villages.
Picnic lunch on board or stop on a beach bench for lunch time.

Overnight in Nong Khiaw Or at Mandala Resort ***

Day 6: Nong Khiaw - Luang Prabang [B / ... / ...]
According to your wishes, you will reach Luang Prabang on the morning or have a half-day exploration of the Nong Khiaw village and surroundings, including caves that served as the command base during the secret war.
Return to Luang Prabang takes about 3 hours by road.
If you're interested, take 1 hour to meet a Thai Lu Village (Ban Nagnane), specializing in the production of cotton products and indigo dye. Arrive in Luang Prabang before sunset. Transfer to your hotel.

End of tour.

Rates:

With Recommended accommodations:

1 person: 2404 USD
2 persons: 1265 USD
From 3 to 5 persons: 788 USD
De 6 to 9 people: 722 USD

Included in the program:

English speaking guide throughout the tour
Private cruise on a traditional boat from Luang Prabang to Pakbeng
Private Minivan, air conditioning, driver, between Pakbeng and Muang Khua
3-day trek with local trail guide (English)
Accommodation in double room shared
Homestay, including villages security fees
Private Cruise between Muang Khua and Nong Khiaw
Private Minivan between Nong Khiaw and Luang Prabang
Meals as mentions: B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner
All government taxes and service fees
All entrance fees to visit the sites
Baggage Handling
2 bottles of drinking water and 2 cool tissues daily

Information about accommodation:

Pakbeng Lodge: Superior Rooms
Mandala Ou: Bungalow on the banks of the Nam Ou River

(1) This selected hotel is our recommendation. You can ask to change the comfort category: Mekong Riverside Lodge**+, or Monsavanh**

1-day easy trek close to Luang Prabang

Benolaos — 2014-06-10T09:34:00Z

Your guide & minivan will pick up you at hotel and will drive out of town about 25 minutes.

After crossing the Khan River on a fishing boat, you will start your trekking with visiting Hill Tribe villages through on the rice paddies and local plantations along the way.

After 2-3 hours of walk, you will arrive at a remote local village; you will then be able to see and to note what is the local daily lives for the majority of Lao people, specially minority groups. Learning (tradition, culture, architecture, religion, social structure) and interacting (with locals) are the main goal of the visit.

After lunch you will continue the trekking to Tad Sae Waterfall where it's possible to swim (July to November-December, depending on the raining season) and relax.

The minivan is waiting close to the waterfall. So you will go back to Luang Prabang depending when you want (before sunset). You will then be transferred to your hotel.

End of Service.