Enjoy a private or shared group boat tour to the Pak Ou Caves and Kuang Si Waterfalls departing from Luang Prabang. You will be picked up at your accommodation and travel straight to the pier. Hop onboard a long tail boat for a relaxing journey aong the Mekong River. Enjoy the views from the water as you pass by local villages and fishing communities. After the first hour and a bit, the boat makes its first short stop at the popular Ban Xang Hai, also known as ‘the whiskey village’. Explore the village, see the process of making Lao Lao, the country’s beloved rice whiskey, and taste the finished product. Continue by boat traveling slowly along the Mekong in the direction of the glorious Pak Ou Caves. Arrive at a small boat landing dock where stairs lead you straight up to the cave. These limestone Buddhist caves have been a place of worship for thousands of years, over this time a collection of Buddha statues and idols have filled these spiritual natural caves Enter the Ou River to visit the limestone cliffs. Then, after a 30-minute boat ride down the Mekong River, arrive at Manifa Elephant Camp for lunch. Enjoy a full buffet-style lunch at the restaurant overlooking the Mekong river and free-roaming elephants. After lunch break, travel by car to the Kuang Si Waterfalls. Enjoy 2 hours of free time to explore the three-layered Kuang Si Waterfalls. Walk the trails of the nature reserve and swim in the refreshing turquoise water pools and visit the bear rescue center. Depart for Luang Prabang, with a short stop at Ban Na Uan Hmong village on the way. Return to the city with drop-off at your hotel.

Spend a full day cooking traditional and authentic Lao food and exploring the Kuang Si falls. Begin your journey with a tuk-tuk pick-up from your hotel at 8.30 AM and head to a rustic pavilion modeled on a traditional Lao house in a picturesque setting.  After a warm welcome, your guide will explain how bamboo is a key part of Lao culture and how numerous items found in Lao households are made from the versatile bamboo plant, including fishing tools and musical instruments. Then, try your hand at weaving a souvenir mat made from strips of the bamboo plant. Your local teacher will guide you through techniques that have been used for hundreds of years. Learn how to sharpen knives and cut bamboo into strips, then make a small mat using an overlapping weaving process. After admiring your finished creation, learn how the bamboo plant also plays a vital role in everyday Lao cuisine. In a hands-on workshop, you will then assist a chef in cooking traditional local dishes such as bamboo shoot soup, bamboo shoot steamed in banana leaf, and bamboo shoot dip. After class, relax on the terrace and enjoy your culinary creations along with views of the countryside. After lunch, you will visit the most beautiful waterfalls in Luang Prabang, the mighty Kuang Si falls. You will also get to see the sun bears living in the rescue center inside the falls. Finally, enjoy swimming in the turquoise pool inside the falls before being transferred back to your hotel in Luang Prabang in the evening.

Day 1 Meet your guide early in the morning for preparation and departure. Take some time to store your luggage and ensure that you travel light. Travel north along the Mekong river and then the Nam Xeuang river for 1.5 hours.  Cross the river by local boat to the trailhead and trek straight into the jungle on trails that locals use to travel between the remote villages. The trek is 4-5 hour route of medium grade walking through rice paddies and jungle.  Stay overnight in a welcoming Hmong village with basic, comfortable conditions to explore local and meet the locals. Enjoy a dinner prepared by your guide and local family. Day 2 Rise to the sounds and activities of daily Hmong hill-tribe life and breakfast prepared by your guide. Embark on the shortest hike, a 4-hour long journey along valley streams to an amazingly remote and very large mixed Hmong and Khmu village situated in a valley surrounded by large mountains. You’ll arrive mid-afternoon and have more time to explore these expansive villages and their schools. Your guide will help you explore the villages and experience the local life. Enjoy your evening and relax for tomorrow’s mountain peak hike. Day 3 Set off on a hike for 6-7 hours to mountain tops with panoramic views looking over the villages and stunning views of the remote Lao landscapes. Go down to the Nam Xeuang River where the trekking ends. You will be hiking the very trails that locals take to tend their steep mountain-top rice fields and visit a Hmong mountain village along the way. You can go for a well-deserved swim in the river at the trail’s end before our return trip about 1.5 hours to Luang Prabang from this unforgettable adventure trip.

Discover Laos' varied and scenic landscapes on this guided tour. After getting picked up from your hotel in Luang Prabang, head north to the Nam Ou Riverside where you will begin your kayak tour. This is an easy river for kayaking where you can enjoy breathtaking views of the tranquil countryside and see naturally-formed limestone cliffs.  Kayak your way towards Pak Ou, where you will visit the famous Pak Ou Caves – 2 linked caves crammed with thousands of gold-lacquered Buddha statues of various shapes and sizes left by devoted pilgrims. Enjoy a guided tour of the caves before starting the second section of your kayak on the Mekong River. Paddle down the Mekong for 30 minutes to reach your lunch destination. Sit down to a delicious buffet lunch as you admire breathtaking views of the Mekong. After lunch, continue to the Kuang Si Falls and enjoy some free time to explore these unique 3-layered falls. You could go for a walk through the trails of the surrounding nature trails, take a dip in the refreshing turquoise water pools or pay a visit to the bear rescue center. Finally, begin the journey back to Luang Prabang. Stop at Ban Na Uan hmong village and get the chance to experience Hmong village life, meet some of the local people and see their traditional embroidery crafts. Get dropped off back at your hotel at the end of the day.

Visit the Pak Ou Caves and Kuang Si Waterfall on a full-day tour, with a scenic drive up and down the length of the Mekong River. Start with early morning pickup and relax on the 40-minute drive to Pak Ou Village. Admire locally-produced crafts, before crossing the mighty Mekong River in a small boat to the base of a limestone cliff. Enter the impressive Pak Ou Caves, filled with Buddhist statues and relics. Take your time to explore this incredible place, scented with burning incense and overlooking the impressive landscape. Climb a winding set of stairs, grab a flashlight, and find another fascinating cave to visit. After enjoying the caves, stop for lunch at the base of the caves. Cross back over the water and drive downriver for 1.5 hours, to reach the famous Kuang Si Waterfall. Stop at the popular Whiskey Village along the way, to sample local Lao Lao. Admire the rushing turquoise waters of the falls, surrounded by beautiful jungle scenery. Visit the bear sanctuary while there. We drop you back in Luang Prabang where your tour ends.

Depart your hotel at 8:30 AM for a 50-minute drive in a westerly direction to the village of Nong Tok, the starting point for today’s hike. This rustic village is little-visited by tourists, is nestled inside a picturesque valley and consists of ethnic Hmong and Kamu enclaves. The Hmong people are known as ‘Lao Seung’ highlanders, who traditionally inhabit the higher peaks of the mountainous Lao countryside – however the village in the Nong Tok valley has re-settled to this lower altitude. A Hmong trekking guide will join you and your Lao guide, to lead your hike of six to seven hours of walking time. Begin first with an ascent to a skyline ridge, offering views over Nong Tok village and its enclosing valley. On the way, you might see crops of rice, coriander, chilli, and local herbs planted by local villagers who live in the valley. Follow a marked trail, which will be steep in parts, and slippery in the wet season (from April to September). Make a stop at Nong Long koot, a watering point for local animals, and in a picturesque setting. Around half way in to your hike, stop for a picnic lunch (provided) and take a short rest, admiring views of surrounding hills. The latter half of your walk will be a descent through forests towards Ban Long Lao. Here, you will be met by your driver for the return to Luang Prabang. Expect to arrive back at your hotel by around 4:00 PM, after a day of walking in the wilderness of Luang Prabang Province

Start with a morning transfer from your hotel in Luang Prabang 25 minutes out of town to the adventure camp. Cross the Nam Khan River by boat to the trailhead and begin the hike through rice paddies and middle canopy. Your first stop will be a Khmu village named Ban Houay Fai where your guide will introduce you to the local life and customs. Continue along ridges, limestone grottos, and rocky slopes for lunch at a Hmong village known as Ban Thin Pha, which gives this trail its name. Experience a variety of flora and fauna in the mountains and valleys, and weave your way through paddies and countryside. Stop, look, listen, and ask your guide about the life teeming around you. Chat with villagers and ask questions about life in Laos before ending the trek in the riverside village Ban Houay Yen. There, a boat will be waiting to take you down a beautiful stretch of the Nam Khan with a stop at the Tad Sae Waterfall. Relax and soak in Tad Sae Falls before returning by boat and vehicle to Luang Prabang. By choosing this adventure, you are contributing funds to support the local communities you visit. The total trekking distance is about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles), which takes about 4-5 hours through deciduous forest and farmland with elevations of 300-900 meters (984-2953 feet). During the low water season from February to July, the itinerary is the same with the exception that the Tad Sae Waterfall can be very low or dry and may be omitted. You can choose to take the tour in a public, small group or in a private group.