This 15-day luxury Cambodia & Laos Adventure showcases the highlights of a region incredibly rich in history, landscapes, and traditions.
Laos captivates the inner explorer, urging them to journey further and deeper into the ‘unknown’. From the rolling mountains of the north to the river islands of the south, the country embraces its uniquely laid-back lifestyle and the heartfelt generosity of its people. Cultural attractions such as temples can be found throughout the country, and amazing fauna, including elephants, are in abundance. The people are genuine and welcoming and their continuous smiles are universally contagious. As the least visited country in Indochina, Laos offers a plethora of off-the-beaten-track adventures!
Cambodia has many different faces and certainly offers something special for any traveller who views traveling as more than just staying at a beach resort – although that’s possible as well! Cambodia is a country with a very rich culture, and unspoiled nature, and it is also a place with genuinely friendly people, who are open-minded, easy-going, and keenly interested in learning about and making contact with visitors to their country. Of course, no visit to Cambodia would be complete without a visit to the Angkor Wat Temple Complex.
This Laos & Cambodia Tour can be tailored to best suit your travel needs! Longer/shorter, active/relaxing, luxury/mid-range…we will create the ideal Cambodia & Laos Adventure to suit your travel style. Contact us for more info.
Highlights
STARTS AT
USD per Person
THIS IS A CUSTOMIZABLE ITINERARY FOR GROUPS OF ALL SIZES.
DATES ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.
DAY 1: WELCOME TO LUANG PRABANG, LAOS
Meals: –
Welcome to Laos. Upon arrival, obtain your Laos visa on arrival if you haven’t already obtained this prior to travel, then clear Immigration and Customs. Proceed into the arrival area and meet your private guide and transfer to your hotel for checking in.
The rest of the time free at your leisure.
Overnight at Satri House (Deluxe Room) – Luang Prabang
DAY 2: LUANG PRABANG
Meals: B
Observing the Almsgiving
The bells of the town‘s monasteries toll at dawn when golden lines of monks emerge to receive their morning rice from the townspeople.
If you rise early, you will have the opportunity to respectfully witness this sacred ritual typical of old Laos-long lines of barefoot monks weaving through the streets on their alms rounds. In keeping with our respectful stance regarding local cultures, please observe this sacred ritual from a respectful distance. We also encourage that if you must take photographs that it does not interfere with this highly revered Ritual. Afterward, visit the Morning Market and see an array of meats, vegetables, and spices the locals use in their cooking.
Return to your hotel for breakfast.
Pearl of the Mekong (bike)
Meet your guide at your hotel and explore this historic and charming heritage town by bike.
Begin your journey at the most popular temples – Wat Xieng Thong. This 500 year old temple is exquisite and is the best example of the classic Luang Prabang style. You will also visit nearby Wat Mai and Wat Sene.
From here, explore some local and interesting small side streets, along back alleys, and through temples – a city that could have been designed with slow travel in mind, a morning walking tour allows you to soak up the ambiance and appreciate the hidden charms of Luang Prabang.
Through your guide, feel free to ask the locals questions as they go about their daily lives. Continue wandering up the peninsula, stopping at temples and other sites as you wish. Visit the National Museum, which is the former Royal Palace. Relics from Laos’ royalist past remain here. Overlooking the palace is Phousi Mountain. It is said that those who do not climb the 328 steps up have not really made it to the city. Venture up the hill and be rewarded with remarkable views of the area.
Overnight at Satri House (Deluxe Room) – Luang Prabang
DAY 3: LUANG PRABANG
Meals: B L
The Home Cooking Class
A full day of exploring Lao food firsthand from market to home cooking, snack making, and whiskey tasting.
Today you will be picked up by your guide and continue by car to a local fresh market, where you will meet your chef and teacher for today, Ms. Noy. After learning about local produce you will soon be boarding a boat to cross the Mekong River where you will be greeted by friendly villagers and the family of Noy. Don’t expect a star-awarded kitchen but a simple private cooking lesson in the family’s home with local specialties.
After you have enjoyed your lunch in the local village, you will continue by boat downstream to visit some more villages where the famous river weed snacks, rice crackers, and other delicacies are produced.
At the end of the day, while floating gently down the water, enjoy a Lao rice whiskey tasting while slowly approaching Luang Prabang.
Overnight at Satri House (Deluxe Room) – Luang Prabang
DAY 4: LUANG PRABANG
Meals: B
Visit the Pak Ou Caves
Depart through Lao‘s scenic countryside to the Pak Ou Caves, a mystical pilgrimage site perched high above the Mekong River 27 miles outside of Luang Prabang.
On the way to Pak Ou Caves you will stop at some local villages. One of the villages is a wonderful silk weaving village called Ban Sang Khong. The weaving techniques employed in Ban San Khong date back many centuries and are used to create some of Asia‘s most highly prized textiles. Some villagers are also engaged in Sa Paper production.
After a brief stop, continue your tour to Ban Pak Ou, where you will board a boat to reach the Pak Ou caves. Peering into dark corners, your eyes gradually adjust to reveal the serene faces and figures of more than 3,000 Buddha images, some inlaid with semiprecious stones. That these images remain undisturbed in this remote site in one of the world‘s poorest countries is a testament to the devotion of the people. Return by boat to Luang Prabang, cruising along the Mekong, and enjoy the lush river life along its banks while sipping a drink and tasting some Lao snacks.
Spiritual Encounters
In the late afternoon, your guide will pick you up at the hotel and drive to a local home where the whole family will come together for a private Baci ceremony, which can be held for a number of different occasions. After this, we will continue to a hidden temple that is rarely visited by foreign travelers. Here it is time for a special encounter with the monks who will teach you the fundamentals of meditation. After getting your insight on the techniques of meditation, you will have the opportunity to join the monks in their daily chanting. After having spent some time with the monks, your guide will be translating any questions you might have to the monk. This is an exciting and educational experience you will not forget very fast.
At the end of the day, return to your hotel.
Overnight at Satri House (Deluxe Room) – Luang Prabang
DAY 5: PAKSE – CHAMPASAK OR DONG DENG ISLAND
Meals: B L
This morning you will be picked up from your hotel and transfer to the Luang Prabang Airport for flight to Pakse.
QV513 (1040-1220)
Economy class
Arrive at Pakse Airport and process into the arrival area to meet your guide.
Jeep Safari on the Bolaven Plateau
Today you are in for a truly one-of-a-kind experience on the Bolaven Plateau where you will explore coffee plantations and remote waterfalls by jeep and on foot. First, you will be picked up from the meeting point at 1:00 P.M and driven to Paksong where you can enjoy a fresh cup of local coffee before meeting your local guide.
Hop on his Jeep and Kham will take you through the backroads of the Bolaven where you can take in the spectacular scenery of the mountains and highlands formed from an ancient supervolcano. After a short (and bumpy) ride you will arrive at Kham’s coffee plantation where you will have a tour of his plantation followed by a coffee roasting and cupping demonstration. Next, you will drive to the secluded Tad Moun waterfall where you can take a dip in the crystal-clear water – make sure to bring your swimmers!
Near the end of the day, you will make your way to Ban Beng where your driver will be waiting to take you to your resort in Champasak or Done Deng.
Today, you will arrive at your lodge/resort in the early evening, and the rest of the time free at your leisure.
Overnight at La Folie Lodge (Superior Room) – Done Deng
Or
Overnight at the River Resort (Riverfront Room) – Champasak
DAY 6: CHAMPSAK / DONE DENG
Meals: B
Discovery of Khone Phapheng waterfalls and Don Khone Islands
This morning you will cross the Mekong River by long trail boat to Ban Muang and overland to the south and visit the amazing Khone Phapheng waterfalls. It has been dubbed “The Niagara of the East” due to its sheer size and volume and was a serious obstacle to French efforts to use the Mekong as a backdoor to China.
Drive to Ban Nakasang, the local pier to take a long trail local boat to Don Khone Island, 4000 Islands area.
Your bikes will be waiting at the hotel, along with a map and route description. It is entirely up to you how you want to explore Don Khone, but we recommend that you follow the route on the map provided. During this half-day exploration, you can bike through rice paddies, small villages, and organic gardens, to visit the old narrow gauge railway that was built by the French colonists enabling them to bypass the waterfalls, the li phi waterfalls themselves, and walk around an old railway engine car. Li phi means ‘spirit trap’ in Lao and many locals believe that the falls tend to catch wayward spirits and ghosts.
After that, you will be transferred back to Nagasang by boat to meet your driver there, then transfer back to your lodge/resort in the same way.
Then, transfer back to Champasak or Don Deng for overnight.
Overnight at La Folie Lodge (Superior Room) – Done Deng
Or
Overnight at the River Resort (Riverfront Room) – Champasak
DAY 7: CHAMPSAK / DONE DENG
Meals: B
Day Free
Today, you will be free at your leisure
Overnight at La Folie Lodge (Superior Room) – Done Deng
Or
Overnight at the River Resort (Riverfront Room) – Champasak
DAY 8: SIEM REAP
Meals: B
This morning, meet your guide and driver, then private transfer to visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Wat Phou. This ancient Khmer temple actually predates Angkor Wat!
Then you will be transferred back to the Pakse Airport for your flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia
QV513 (1300-1400)
Economy Class
Welcome to Cambodia. Upon arrival in Siem Reap International Airport, you will meet your private guide and driver for your transferring to check in hotel.
Overnight at Jaya House River Park, Deluxe room
DAY 9: ANGKOR WAT
Meals: B L
Gazing at sunrise with the majestic beauty of Angkor Wat Temple.
This morning at 5:00am you will depart your hotel for Angkor Wat, the largest and most breathtaking monument at Angkor. Built as the funeral temple for Suryavarman II who ruled from 1112 to 1152, Angkor never fails to reward the first time or repeat visitor with its grand scale, surreal bas reliefs, and unbelievable attention to detail. We enter the temple complex from the quiet east side of Angkor Wat to avoid the crowds and will spend the morning exploring one of man’s most magnificent creations before returning to the hotel for a late breakfast.
After breakfast, you will start your full day visit to the South Gate of Angkor Thom and the temples of Bayon, Baphoun, Phimean Akas, The Royal Enclosure, the terraces of Elephants, the Leper King,, and Preah Khan.
Lunch at Malis restaurant
Next, we’ll explore Ta Prohm. This jungle-clad temple with overgrown trees exudes a haunting and exotic atmosphere. The magnificent tree roots push between the temple’s huge stone blocks in a strange embrace. Ta Phrom is particularly amazing in the late afternoon light after most of the crowds have left. Today you will finish the tour with an unforgettable sunset at Pre Rup or Srah Sarong before returning to your hotel.
Note: Visiting temples or other religious sites in Cambodia, visitors are advised to follow a dress code consisting of long trousers or skirt which covers the knees as well as covered shoulders. Skirts, short shorts, tank tops and revealing clothing are culturally insensitive and not allowed.
Overnight at Jaya House River Park, Deluxe room
DAY 10: KULEN HIKING BANTEAY SREI & PHARE
Meals: B L
After breakfast, your private guide and driver will take you on a journey through the stunning countryside for a visit to the mysterious waterfall at Phnom Kulen.
Phnom Kulen (or Kulen Mountain) translates as “Mountain of Lychees”. It is located in Svay Leu District roughly 48km north of Siem Reap. Phnom Kulen is an isolated chain of small mountain plateau of moderate height lying south of the Dângrêk Mountains and appears as a long silhouette on the horizon. Geologically Phnom Kulen is formed of sandstone and it was important as a quarry in Angkorian times. Kulen is now a protected area and as of 1992 has acquired World Heritage status from UNESCO. The Samré tribe was formerly living at the edge of Phnom Kulen, quarrying sandstone and transporting it to the royal sites at Angkor and beyond. The area is also easily defended as the infamous Khmer Rouge used the location as a final stronghold as their regime came to an end in 1979. Recently Archeologists have located some 30 temples on Phnom Kulen using helicopter-mounted lasers to measure variations in ground height through dense vegetation. Phnom Kulen is widely regarded as the birthplace of the ancient Khmer Empire. During the constructioneriod of the ancient temples in the ninth century, sand stones were brought from this sacred mountain to Angkor. It was here at Phnom Kulen that King Jayavarman II proclaimed independence from Java in 802 A.D.
The site is known for its carvings representing fertility and its waters hold special significance to the people of Cambodia. Just a few inches under the surface of the water, over 1000 carvings of Yoni and Linga are etched into the sandstone riverbed. The waters are regarded as holy, given the sacred carvings which also include a stone representation of the Hindu god Vishnu lying on his serpent Ananta, with his wife Lakshmi at his feet. A lotus flower protrudes from Vishnu’s navel bearing the god Brahma. We will also visit Preah Ang Thom that houses a large statue of Buddha. It was built in the 16th century and is eight meters high. Preah Ang Thom is the sacred and worshipping god for Kulen Mountain. Besides Preah Ang Thom, Chhok Ruot, footprints of Preah Bat Choan Tuk, Peung Chhok, Peung Ey So and Peung Ey Sey, can also be seen. The river then ends with a beautiful waterfall. We will also visit the Terrace of Sdach Kum Ling has a small brick-built ruined temple in its centre. It was covered by lava for hundreds of years. After a cool refreshing swim in the waterfall you will have a local Khmer lunch and relax a little before we continue the trip via motorbike to visit two distinct life-size stone elephants deep in the jungle.
Afterward, on the return to Siem Reap we’ll take a scenic drive to Banteay Srei, loosely translated as “Citadel of Women.” It houses some of the finest and best-preserved examples of classical Khmer bas-relief. The temple’s relatively small size, pink sandstone construction and ornate design give it a fairyland ambiance.
Today you will finish your day tour with the sunset at Pre Rup Temple, The beautiful rusty-red hue of the laterite stone and brick used to build Pre Rup is accentuated during sunset and stands in brilliant contrast to the lush green of the jungle in the distance.
This evening enjoys a show at the Cambodian Circus. The show starts at 8:00 PM and lasts about an hour. Phare Ponleu Selpak means “Brightness of the Arts”. This is a circus-like none other and it’s very different to a western-style circus. Phare is a Cambodian non-profit art organization founded in 1994 by eight young Cambodians returning from refugee camps along the Thai border. The purpose is to improve the development of local communities by providing education and professional artistic training. The circus performers are very talented, and passionate and have traveled all of the world giving performances. The shows are constantly rotating depending on the time you visit. All of their shows are fantastic and focus on both traditional and contemporary themes. Some people credit Phare with the rebirth of Cambodian dance and culture.
Overnight at Jaya House River Park, Deluxe room
DAY 11: KOH RUSSEY
Meals: B
K6 133 (1100-1210)
Economy Class
Pick up from the hotel by your private vehicle and guide for transferring to the airport for your onward departure flight to Sihanoukville.
Pick up from the airport by private transfer (no guide) for transferring to the jetty where you will board a speedboat (shared) to the resort.
Overnight at Alila Villa – Koh Russey, Garden Pavilion
DAY 12: KOH RUSSEY FREE DAY
Meals: B
Free at your own leisure
Overnight at Alila Villa – Koh Russey, Garden Pavilion
DAY 13: KOH RUSSEY – FREE DAY
Meals: B
Free at your own leisure
Overnight at Alila Villa – Koh Russey, Garden Pavilion
DAY 14: PHNOM PENH
Meals: B
This afternoon, take the shuttle boat (shared) transfer back to the mainland. Upon arrival, you will meet your private driver and guide for transfer to Phnom Penh (an approximate 5-6hours drive). Upon arrival drop off at the hotel for check in.
Overnight at White Mansion, Junior Suite room
DAY 15: DEPARTURE
Meals: B
Pick up from the hotel by your private vehicle and guide for transferring to the airport for your onward departure flight home.
Tour Exclusions
IMPORTANT NOTES
PLEASE NOTE: This itinerary is subject to change. Although we always do our best to stick to the itinerary, due to the ever-changing nature of Mother Nature, activities, hotels, and visits are subject to change due to forces beyond our control.
FLIGHTS: Please do not purchase your flights until this tour is confirmed.
REGIONAL FLIGHTS (Approx Pricing)
Luang Prabang – Pakse on Laos Airlines (QV): USD $160 per ticket
Pakse – Siem Reap on Laos Airlines (QV) USD $165 per ticket
Siem Reap – Koh Russey on Cambodia Angkor Air (K6): USD $160 per ticket
PASSPORTS: Must be valid for at least 6 months upon return date to your home country. Proper documentation is the responsibility of each traveller.
VISAS & VACCINATIONS: Responsibility of the traveller. VISAS (responsibility of the traveller) –
Date: Custom Departure available upon request
Prices from:
Oct -Mar prices from $4595USD per participant Double / Twin based on 2 people
Single supplement: +$2200USD
April – Sept prices from $3595USD per participant Double / Twin based on 2 people
Single supplement: +$1595USD
If there are more than 2 people, the price will be reduced.
*Please note, that the hotels and routing of this tour can be altered to best suit your needs. Prices may vary.
Travel Insurance
Cancellation, Travel, Flight, and Health insurance are required and are the responsibility of the participant to research and secure the appropriate coverage. Click HERE for a Travel Insurance Quote or please email nicola@finisterra.ca for a quote.
Check with your local travel agent /insurance provider/health plan for advice about traveling overseas.
Waiver Form
All participants will be required to sign a Waiver Form prior to departure.
Please note that these are just sample hotels and all accommodation is subject to change. We can upgrade hotels for an additional fee.
Luang Prabang – Satri House
Done Deng – La Folie Lodge OR Champasak – River Resort
Seim Reap (Cambodia) – Jaya House River Park
Koh Russey – Alila Villa
Phnom Penh – White Mansion
TRAVEL INSURANCE
Even though we wish you a flawless trip, things can happen, especially nowadays. Make sure you are prepared with a Travel Insurance policy that is right for you. Finisterra recommends Manulife Insurance or John Hancock Please feel free to ask us about Trip Cancellation & Interruption Insurance, Cancel for Any Reason Policies, Travel Medical Insurance, or any other questions you may have.
TRAVEL INSURANCE FOR CANADIANS
Travel with confidence knowing that you’re covered with Manulife Insurance.
TRAVEL INSURANCE FOR AMERICANS – JOHN HANCOCK
Explore the world, stress-free, when you book travel insurance with John Hancock International.
WHY TRAVEL WITH US?
At Finisterra Travel we help you discover, push personal boundaries, and explore the unknown.
We are super passionate about sustainable, transformational, and adventure travel. Definitely not “armchair travellers”, we have firsthand experience of where you’ll be heading.No one wants to feel like a tourist which is why when we plan a custom travel experience for you, we strive to make your adventure as authentic as possible. We offer an array of Small Group Adventures & Custom Trips, and have something for every type of traveller.
Our unique itineraries are designed to best showcase some of our favourite destinations around Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, North America, and Europe. All itineraries are fully-customizable.Not your typical online travel agency, nor are we quite a tour operator, we are international travel designers with a flair for unique experiences. We’d love to hear from you!
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