Discover Luang Prabang yp Phonsavanh ( Xieng Khouang )

During the Secret War, untold numbers of relics were blown to bits and the scars of war are still easy to see.
The jar fields are pockmarked with bomb craters a few meters deep and several meters across. The non-profit Mines Advisory Group (MAG) has cleared 175 UXO including bombs, rockets, artillery shells, mortars, and paths at the four major sites. Everywhere that we take you is completely safe to walk.

ITINERARY
Day 1
• After breakfast, we meet at our office or pickup at your hotel in Luang Prabang.
• Enjoy your elephant safari through green jungle and enjoy feeding the elephant bananas. ( All Lao Elephant Camp the best elephant camp in the Lao PDR )
• Drive from Luang Prabang to Phonsavanh (Xieng Khouang). On the way we stop to visit ethnic minority groups and learn about their culture and lifestyle. You will see huge mountains topped with jungle, sticky rice fields and dotted with small tribal villages.
• Lunch en route
• Continue to Phonsavanh. There are rolling grassy hills covered with pine trees and we stop to visit Tham Phra ( Buddha Cave ).
• Accommodation and dinner at the hotel.

Day2
• Breakfast at the hotel.
• We start our program to Muang Khoun. On the way, we stop to visit the Plain of Jars, the final resting place of clusters of ancient stone vessels. No one knows where the stones came from or how they got there, but the jars are known to between 1800 to 2000 years old.
• As we continue to Muang Khoun, we stop to visit a Thai Dam village where they produce noodles from sticky rice.
• Lunch at a local restaurant.
• Continue on to Muang Khoun. Visit Old Xieng Khouang, which was once was the royal capital city of the Phuan Kingdom. In the 16th century it was described as “a large and beautiful city whose numerous population was protected by a circle of deep ditches and by forts perched on the surrounding hill. The opulence of its sixty-two pagodas and their sparkling stupas were covered in treasure, attracted reknown from far and wide”.
• Though Old Xieng Khouang was heavily bombed during the ‘Secret War’ from 1967 – 1973, a few French buildings remain along with Vat Paivat. Worth a short hike to the outskirts are the ancient Stupa That Foun and nearby That Chomphet, both overlooking the town.
• That Foun was built in 1576 – the same time as the original That Luang Stupa in Vientiane. The stupa was erected to cover statues of Lord Buddha that were brought from India during a time when Buddhism was proliferating in Laos.
• That Chomphet was built in the same way and at the same time and created to evoke Buddhist values, inspiring truth and charity. At the core of Buddhism is the belief that only merit-making will bring happiness, progress and prosperity.
• Return to Phonsavanh City
• Dinner and accommodation at the hotel

Day 3
• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Visit the local market where ethnic minorities ( Thai Dam, Hmong, and Phuan )
from the surrounding villages gether every morning.
• We transfer you to the Tham Piu Cave north of Muang Kham about 56 km east of Phonsavanh which was one of the places where people had taken refuge during the Indochina War.
In November 1968 a rocket fired from an American jet fighter caused the death of 374 people. Many of those who died were farmers living in different villages surrounding the site.
• Now many of the unexploded ordinance or UXO have been defused and the bombshells casings are now used in many creative ways: from fence posts to foundation pillars or columns for huts, bungalows, or buildings. Some are even split in half and used as troughs for animal feeding.
• We then can continue to the Vietnam border at the Nam Kan immigration checkpoint and end our tour;
º Or we drive you to either Vang Vieng or Vientiane, the capital of Lao PDR,
º Or we drive you back to Luang Prabang,
º Or you have the option to fly by Lao airlines to Vientiane capital of Lao PDR.

Included in above tour price:
• Accommodation in twin sharing room with daily breakfast • Meal plan: full board from lunch on Day 1 to lunch on Day 3 • Transfers and tours as per program with private A/C vehicles (car, Minivan, or Coach) • Services of English speaking guides for transfers as per itinerary • Service charge, room tax and baggage handling • One person goes free of charge (single room accommodation) when there are 15 or more paying passengers in your group.
Does Not Include in our tour price:
• Lao visa fee upon arrival (US$30 per person +2 photos) • Air ticket for Xieng Khouang to the Vientiane capital of Lao PDR • Domestic airport tax due upon departure (US$1 per person) • Drinks, tips and other personal expenditures such as telephone, laundry, etc. • Personal insurance.
Accommodation:
Hotel class Phonsavan City Deluxe Vansana Hotel & Resort - 4 Star Superior Chittavan Hotel / Duangkeomany Hotel - 3 Star