THE LOAS TOUR -- fotop.net photo sharing network

This trip was designed based on a 5D4N promotional package of the Settha palace Hotel in Vientiane. The budget was around HK$10,000 per person and considered as a leisure and luxurious trip. The promotional package from Settha Palace Hotel was based on 2 nights in Settha Palace Hotel at Vientiane and 2 nights in Villa Santi Resort/Hotel at Luang Prabang. There is no direct flight between Hong Kong and Vientiane. So I flew AirAsia and changed at Kuala Lumpur.

Day 1: I took the last flight of the day to KL after work. It took off at 21:05 and arrived at KL at 00:50. You may wish to take a bath or have a little rest at the Tune Hotel near KL LCCT, or just wait at the airport to catch the morning flight at 08:05. But you have to check in at 06:00. The cost of one night at the transit hotel was about HK$300-400 depends when you book on-line (the earlier the cheaper).

Day 2 : The flight for Vientiane departed at 08:05 and arrived at around 09:40. A gentleman in white uniform had already been waiting at the arrival hall. He was the driver of Settha Palace Hotel. We were picked up by a green London Taxi. We did enjoy the 20 min ride along the Mekong river bank. The hotel is a French colonial building with about 30 rooms. Although I have seen the pictures of the hotel before, I was still surprised by the decorations of the reception, restaurant and of course the room. The package price was really value of money. We should have joined the half day tour which was included in the package that afternoon. But we decided to character a taxi for a journey of 170 km to visit the Vang Vieng, a famous holiday resort west of Vientiane. The cost for the taxi journey was US$120. It was nearly 18:00 when we reached there. The only thing we could do was to take a 45 minute river cruise on a speed boat to appreciate the rock formations. But there were still a lot of things to do. According to the local guide, it is worth to spend a night there. So it would be a good idea to insert one or two nights at Vang Vieng between Vientiane and Luang Prabang. My Vang Vieng video on You Tube has attracted more visitors than other two cities. Vang Vieng may be more popular to the Western tourists than Vientiane and Luang Prabang.

Settha Palace Hotel

Vang Vieng

Day 3. We enjoyed the facilities of the hotel in the morning and of course a yummy full course American breakfast. There were a lot of local restaurants, some of them were operated by foreigners, e.g. French or Germen supplying local and western food. The price was cheap. Main course with soup and drinks for 2 persons costs only HK$120-160. Our half day city started after lunch. We have visited the Patu Xay, Pha That Luang, Wat Si Saket and That Dam. We had an opportunity to appreciate the famous sunset on Mekong river after the city tour.

Patu Xay

Pha That Luang

That Dam

Wat Si Saket

Day 4. The flight for Luang Prabang departed at 09:10 and arrived around 09:50. The price of this return ticket to Luang Prabang by Lao Airlines was about HK$1,000, pretty expensive. But that is the only service on this route. A young lady in hotel uniform met us at the arrival hall again. She was a bit late because of the bad road conditions after heavy rain. There were two hotels from the group. We were allocated to the resort with more rooms. We were supposed to stay in the one at town centre, which is another French colonial building with 28 rooms. Because of the renovation, all rooms were full at the high season. But there were regular hourly bus service connecting two hotels. We got nothing lose to stay at the Santi Resort. The resort area is huge with rice fields, ponds, tennis course, swimming pool, massage etc. But we joined a local tour to the Kuang Si Waterfall for US$56 pp. There were good photo opportunities along the forest trials. We enjoyed the Laos cultural performance at dinner time.

Lao Airlines

Santi Hotel

Santi Resort

Kuang Si Waterfall

Day 5: This morning was the highlight of the tour. We booked a taxi to the town centre opposite the Santi Hotel at around 05:30. Monks lined up the road around 06:00 and received the alms from the local people and the tourists. The tradition is also practicing in Thailand and other Indochina countries. We joined another day tour to visit the Pak Ou Cave, a famous local attraction (US$60 pp). The 2 hour Mekong river cruise was more interesting than the cave. We then enjoyed another quiet evening at the resort.

Pak Ou Cave

Giving Alms to the Monk

Day 6: We started the half day city tour in the morning. The itinerary included National Museum, Phousi Hill and Wat Xieng Thong. But it was more enjoyable to walk along the river side, stop for a coffee, ride on a bicycle and enjoy a lazy afternoon. But we had to catch the 18:35 flight back to Vientiane and connect another flight to KL the next morning then back to Hong Kong.

National Museum

Phousi Hill

Wat Xieng Thong

I would recommend to extend the tour to 8D7N, 2 nights in Vientiane, 2 nights in Vang Vieng and 3 nights in Luang Prabang, 6D5N was too short. You may wish to enjoy the rafting, bathing in Vang Vieng, leisure life in Luang Prabang and old city life and fusion food in Vientiane. Laos is a pretty safe country and the people are very friendly, helpful and never chase after you to buy their things. Landing visa for HKSAR and BNO passports is needed on arriving Vientiane airport, you should have 1 passport photo and US$35 ready for collection on spot.