Land of Mystery:
The Cave City, Standing Stones and Plain of Jars
Code: LAO109 |
“Just getting here is an adventure - and you are following in the footsteps of illustrious company; Fidel Castro slept here. Stark natural beauty of deceptively unforgiving geography must have amplified the paralyzing terror felt by the new government born in these caves, as they endured the unimaginable:– American B-52s dropped a load of high explosives. Meet the local people who survived and hear their stories. Ponder the origin of mysterious stone jars found on the plain.”
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| 7D / 6N ROUTING: |
Luang Prabang Nong Khiew Sam Neua Viengsay Caves Hintang Menhirs Xieng Khouangs Plain of Jars
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| GETTING THERE: |
Guided service starts at Luang Prabang airport or town. The tour ends in the Plain of Jars. This point and others can be customized to your specific needs. Ask our destination specialists to fine tune services to fit your itinerary.
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| Day 1: Luang Prabang Nong Khiew |
Today meet your guide and begin your journey out of town 3 hours north to Nong Khiew. Pass lush countryside and traditional villages. On arrival, enjoy lunch and check into your bungalow overlooking the incredibly scenic Ou River. Enjoy your day at leisure exploring the area or relaxing on your balcony. Dinner is on your own at local restaurant.
Meals: Lunch
Accom: Nong Kiau Riverside
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Day 2: Nong Khiew Sam Neua
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Eat breakfast and get an early start on the road to Sam Neua. Stop along the way to admire virgin forests and for lunch. The 340 km journey will take a good deal of time as the road twists and turns along a paved mountain road. Arrive in the evening and check in to your guesthouse. Enjoy dinner in a local restaurant. Notice the distinctly cooler air here as we are almost 1 km above sea level. Bring a light jacket as the mornings and evenings can be chilly!
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accom: Lao Hung Hotel |
| Day 3: Sam Neua Viengsay Cave Tour |
Today after a leisurely breakfast, take a walk through the morning market along the Xam River. See the interesting produce available. Then check out and transfer with your guide to Viengsay. Marvel at the amazing karst landscape in the middle of town! Visit the Information Center near the guesthouse to learn more about the interesting historical significance of the area during the Indochina War. With the help of a local guide, travel to some of the nearby caves to see how the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party lived during the war. Enjoy lunch in a local restaurant. Relax in this charming town on your own.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accom: Naxai 2 Guesthouse
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| Day 4: Viengsay Hospital Cave |
Today after breakfast, travel to the nearby Hospital Cave. This extensive cave was used as a hospital during the war. Inside you can see intact medicine bottles still strewn about the rubble. After the bombing raids ended, a new hospital building was built in front of the cave. Now the site is a local school. Return to your guesthouse and enjoy your afternoon and evening at leisure.
Meals: Breakfast
Accom: Naxai 2 Guesthouse
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| Day 5: Sam Neua Hintang Menhirs Thampiu Cave Xieng Khouang |
After breakfast, travel with your guide on the road to Xieng Khouang (about 8 hours total). Visit the mysterious menhirs (standing stones) at Hintang. No one is quite sure who built them or why, perhaps burial sites or markers of some sort. The stones were first inconclusively studied by the archaeologist Madame Colani and her expedition in the 1930s. Enjoy a local lunch in Nam Neun. Continue on to Thampiu Cave, the scene of a tragic loss of a huge number of lives during the Indochina War. In the early evening, arrive in Xieng Khouang, check in to your hotel and relax.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accom: Vansana Plain of Jars |
| Day 6: Xieng Khouang Plain of Jars |
The Plain of Jars is an extensive area around Phonsavan, surrounded by mountains, where massive stone urns of mysterious origin are scattered about in a least a dozen major groupings. Site 1, or Thoung Hai Hin (Stone Jar Plain), is 15 km southwest of Phonsavan, and the largest of the sites, featuring 250 jars, mostly weighing from 600kg to one ton each; the biggest of them weighing as much as six tons!
This morning after breakfast, travel to the Plain of Jars, an impressive archeological site where hundreds of large stone jars are littered all over the plateau. Have lunch at a local restaurant, and then continue to visit the old capital of Muang Khoun Province, whose temple suffered near total destruction by bombs over 30 years ago. Depending on timing, also visit a nearby hill tribe village. They have a fascinating culture and a colorful history your guide can help explain to you. Return in the late afternoon to your hotel for dinner and overnight.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accom: Vansana Plain of Jars
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| Day 7: Xieng Khouang Onward |
This morning after breakfast, relax on your own until time to transfer to the airport for your flight onward.
Meals: Breakfast
Accom: none |
End of Services |
| Rates
and Other Information |
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Update 19 Feb 09 |