Northern Laos Crossing: Dien Bien – Luang Prabang, 5 Days

The vehicle and the guide meet you at the drop-off point of the Hanoi – Dien Bien coach, at about 05:30–06:30, and we set off early for the Tay Trang international border gate to complete the exit formalities into Laos.

Breakfast is Vietnamese pho, brought over into Laos and cooked in a thoroughly Lao style, at Muang Mai. We then drive another hour or so to Muang Khua, a small town on the Nam Ou. There we board a boat to explore the beautiful Nam Ou and the landscapes nature has given it, stopping along the way at ethnic minority villages on both banks. Lunch is in a restaurant in the lovely village of Muang Ngoi, before we take the boat again for the superb stretch of the Nam Ou down to Nong Khiaw.

15:00 a car is waiting at Nong Khiaw to take us to the old capital, Luang Prabang.

18:00 arrival in Luang Prabang, check in and rest.

19:00 dinner at your own choice in the food market, then the night market and Luang Prabang after dark.

05:00 if you can get up early, we walk out to watch the monks of the old capital on their alms round, then climb Mount Phousi for sunrise over the Mekong and Luang Prabang.

07:30 breakfast, then a tour of the old capital: the palace and the ancient temples, interwoven with French colonial architecture.

11:00 lunch before heading to Luang Prabang railway station.

12:30 transfer to the international station of Luang Prabang for the high-speed train, departing at 13:45 and reaching Vientiane at 15:45. A bus takes us into the city centre; check in at the hotel and explore Vientiane by night at your own pace.

After breakfast we go to the station for the 09:10 train from Vientiane. Two hours and ten minutes later we get off at Kasi station, where a car is waiting.

We carry on across the land of a million elephants along Asian Highway 13, stopping for lunch at a restaurant on top of the Phou Khoun range, then take Route 7 towards the Plain of Jars — a place heavily bombed during the war against the Americans, and a World Heritage site worthy of the name, with hundreds of stone jars lying scattered about, still holding mysteries that science has not yet explained. We watch the light over the Plain of Jars before returning to the hotel.

07:00 breakfast and a visit to Phonsavan market before setting off for a new day of exploring. Today the road leads to Houaphanh province — the land the Later Lê dynasty called Tran Ninh from 1478, taken by King Lê Thánh Tông during his campaign to extend the realm (from the kingdom of Bon Man) and once part of Dai Viet. It was only in 1893, under French rule in Indochina, that the area was returned to Laos.

This is the wildest and poorest part of Laos, and in exchange it has primary forest and biological reserves lying between 800 and 1,800 m above sea level.

We follow Routes 7 and 1C through empty, untouched country, stopping for the views and to visit the ethnic minority villages along the way.

Lunch at a restaurant beside the Nam Neun, then Route 1C through primary forest where tigers are said to remain — the warning signs are there by the roadside.

In the evening we stay at a guesthouse in a small village.

After breakfast we continue on Route 1C to Pak Mong, then take Route 13 over the mountain passes to Oudomxay and on to the Tay Trang border gate for the entry formalities back into Vietnam.

Dinner in Dien Bien Phu city before the coach picks you up for Hanoi.

End of the programme