Multisport - Central Laos Explorer

📍 Transfer from Vientiane Airport to Hotel: 30 min

Sabaidee and welcome to Laos!  Upon arrival your guide will be waiting and will escort you to your hotel for check-in and an opportunity to freshen up.

In the evening we will pick you up at the hotel and dive straight into the local lifestyle. Prepare yourself for a true ‘taste’ of Laos with an evening exploring the best food in Vientiane. 

Start the evening the local way by heading to a beer shop for a sundowner. Sip on cold BeerLao as the sun sets over the Mekong River. Beer shops are popular post-work watering holes and the atmosphere is always enjoyable. 

After dark, the street stalls fire up their grills and start cooking. Take a walk through Sihom, an area of small stalls selling cheap but tasty snacks. This crowded street market is popular with locals, especially on the weekends. Wander from stall to stall stopping to taste items such Lao-style donuts, bowls of steaming noodles and pork meatball wraps. 

Continue to nearby Ban Anou night market, the city’s culinary hub. The market is a hive of activity in the evening with Vientiane’s residents who come to dine with friends and family. Walk through the endless rows of food stalls and rub-elbows with the locals. The market is a great place to sample exotic snacks such as fried insects or classic Laos favourites like grilled pork skewers. 

Having filled up on savoury treats, venture to a hidden sweet shop for dessert. The specialty here is ice cream with sticky rice, a perfectly delicious combination. 

With a full belly, it is time to return to the hotel for a good night’s sleep. 

Overnight in town

Inclusions:

🍗 Dinner

📍 Transfer from Vientiane to Phu Khao Kuay 2hrs Trekking: Up to 5 hours Difficulty: Medium

We start our adventure early today and depart the hotel by 7.30am. Our first stop is at the village of Ban Hatkhay, around 9:30, for a short break and we then continue by vehicle to Pha Say along roads that lead to stunning views of rice fields. Our trek will start at Pha Say which holds views of an impressive gorge reaching 40m high and nestled in thick jungle. We venture on small trails and discover a variety of different forest type, semi-deciduous jungle and bamboo, accompanied by our guide(s), expert in flora and fauna. You’ll be amazed by the abundance of orchids in what is an extraordinary habitat. We will also have the opportunity to learn about medicinal plants and other plant families such as Gingers and Dipterocarpus. Along the way we’ll stop and enjoy a local picnic lunch. In the afternoon we’ll end our first day of trekking with a swim at Tad Say waterfall, the perfect way to cool down before heading to our village where we’ll stay overnight in a local homestay.

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🥘 Lunch, 🍗 Dinner

📍 Transfer: 3 hours 30 min

Wake to the sounds of nature and then enjoy a simple but tasty breakfast of rice porridge or eggs and toast with the local family. It’s a truly wonderful experience to experience the daily morning rituals of our host family. It’s then time to say our goodbyes as we hit the road again for our drive to Kong lor. 

We’ll be having some rest stops along the way today to break up the journey and learn more about what this region has to offer. Stops include Wat Pra Bath Phoun Sun temple, well known by locals, and we can learn how to make charcoal and dry fish freshly caught that morning in the mighty Mekong river. About an hour before the end of our ride we’ll stop at a stunning viewpoint, the karst-stone mountains are becoming more visible as the road starts to climb.

After arrival and check-in to our resort it’s time to relax before we head out to explore the area and rich farmland. The surrounding area is famous for its many tobacco plantations. 

Tonight we head out for a delicious local dinner.

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🥘 Lunch, 🍗 Dinner

📍 Kayaking: 3 up to 5 hours Difficulty: Easy / Medium

After a relaxing breakfast at the riverside restaurant, we head towards the famous Kong Lor caves. There’s the chance to take in your surroundings  before we  hop into a small boat and float through part of the cave system. After our initial exploration of these remarkable caves it’s time for some action. Close to the cave we’ll be hopping into the kayaks and we’ll paddle downstream to soak up the stunning nature and wildlife living along the banks of the river. We’ll also pass  local villages, don’t forget to wave! It’s about 3 hours of paddling before we reach a resort, and for the fitter ones we can do another 2 hours (depending on water level and fitness level) more to the next resort where we can have lunch while before being transported back to our resort. 

The remainder of the afternoon can be spent swimming in the river, relaxing at the resort, or you can kayak into the lagoon with which is only a short 15 minute paddle to a “private” jungle pool.

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🥘 Lunch

📍 Kong Lor - Tha Lang: 3 hours Thalang Village - Camp site (by boat): 1.5 hours

Following another riverside breakfast we’ll depart the resort. We’ll be heading to our next Adventure location via a scenic drive to the beautiful Thalang lake. On route we’ll stop for coffee and visit Dragon caves, a great spot to break up the journey.

We’ll arrive at the lake just in time for lunch.  After our break we embark by long tail boat and venture inside Nakai - Nam Theun National Protected Area (NPA). It’s the second largest protected area in Laos covering approximately 3,445,000 hectares in the heart of the Greater Northern Annamites range in central Laos. Nakai is a very important area for biodiversity in Southeast Asia, and the world, home to many endemic species of the Annamites only recently discovered by science, including the Saola, a rare species of Antelope also known as the Asian Unicorn. 

The scenic boat trip is 1.5 hours through the reservoir, then into the NPA. With some luck we’ll spot macaques, many bird species and hear the gibbons calling. 

The campsite is on a beach by the river. Upon arrival, the local guides will set up tents and light a fire. Enjoy swimming in the river before tucking in to a barbecue dinner by campfire. 

Overnight in tents

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🥘 Lunch, 🍗 Dinner

📍 Trekking: 2,5 hrs Difficulty: Easy Trekking: 2 hours Difficulty: Medium Transfer Tha Lang – Nakai: 30 mins

Wake up to the morning song of birds in a truly magical place. After breakfast, we begin a short trek through the jungle to a waterfall. The round trip trek takes about 2.5 hours. Once back at the camp site we get back on the boat and return to Thalang village.

We’ll be passing by the Nam Theun reservoir visitor center. Whilst large cement dams are an eyesore and controversial, the companies offered compensation to the locals, helped out building schools and made other efforts in helping the local communities. It’s impressive to study this project in pictures and via informational sheets and gain a closer understanding of how dams can also be beneficial to the environment. 

As a last stop of the day, we’ll head to the Laos “stairway to heaven”. Small, steep, steel stairs reaching over the top of karst-stone mountains and offering some of the best views in the country. A perfect place to soak up the views and get some great photos.

We then to Nakai town and the opportunity to relax before dinner.

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🥘 Lunch

📍 Transfer: 1 hour 30 min Climbing: 4 hours (incl. briefings)

A hearty breakfast is a necessity this morning as we prepare for an exhilarating activity. We’ll be driving for about an hour to the Green Climbers Home. A climber’s mecca in Laos. No worries if you don’t have any experience, the expert teachers will ensure a fun and safe experience for everyone.  

We’ll be covering some knots, the gear and how to use it along with some climbing techniques before we put our hands on the rocks and set of in a vertical direction.

After this half day experience, we head to Thakkhek, a trendy colonial town, for an afternoon at leisure. Take a walk around, stroll along the riverside and have a coffee while watching life go by. We meet up for at the riverside tonight and enjoy a tasty dinner.  

Overnight in Thakkhek

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🍗 Dinner

Enjoy a late breakfast and relax for check-out time. The trip has come to an end and no services are booked on this day. If you would like additional services, please let us know in advance. Optional extensions could be: 

• Transfer back to Vientiane
• Extra climbing days
• Transfer down south
• Transfer into Thailand

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast