Northern Laos: Hill Villages, the Nam Ou & Nong Khiaw, 9 Nights

Your guide and driver meet you on arrival in Luang Prabang and take you to your hotel. After a rest the afternoon is free to walk around the heritage town on your own. No meals are included today.

The morning covers Wat Xieng Thong, Wat Visoun and the former Royal Palace, now the National Museum, followed by the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre, with its displays of clothing, tools and ritual objects from Laos's ethnic groups, and Heuan Chan Heritage House, once the home of a royal guard and now a collection of traditional Lao household tools. In the afternoon you take a boat upstream on the Mekong to the Pak Ou caves, two caverns that hold thousands of Buddha images, stopping at the craft villages of Ban Xang Hai and Ban Xang Khong on the way. You return to Luang Prabang by late afternoon. Meals included today: breakfast.

The day starts before breakfast with tak bat, the dawn alms-giving to the town's monks, which you can watch or take part in, followed by a walk through the morning market. After breakfast you drive to a working rice farm about 45 minutes from town, set among old rice terraces. Over half a day you see how rice is grown and can try each stage yourself, from planting to threshing and ploughing with the farm's water buffalo, or simply watch from the terrace. Lunch is served on the terrace over the paddies. Afterwards you walk for about an hour to Kuang Si waterfall, where the water drops over pale limestone tiers into a string of turquoise pools, and the bear rescue centre beside it, with a stop at the Hmong village of Ban Na Ouan on the way. In the late afternoon you climb the 328 steps of Mount Phousi for the view over the town at sunset, then come down to the night market, open from dusk until about 22:00. Meals included today: breakfast and lunch.

After breakfast you take the morning train to Oudomxay, a ride of about 45 minutes. In town you climb to the Phou That stupa for the view, then drive out to Chom Ong cave, the largest in northern Laos, whose passages run for some 16 kilometres through the mountain. You return to Oudomxay and continue to a resort in the Nam Kat Yorla Pa forest park. The park's activities can be booked on the spot at extra cost. Meals included today: breakfast.

After breakfast you drive to Muang La, a small town among forested hills, and visit the Buddhist temple of Wat Pha Chao Sing Kham. A 4x4 then climbs to about 1,000 metres, with views over the whole district, to the villages of the Khmu, Ikhor (Akha) and Hmong. The first stop is an Ikhor village, a people with roots in Yunnan and Tibet who have kept much of their traditional way of life. After lunch a 45-minute walk on a path with wide views leads to the Hmong village of Ban Tauser, where you learn about its customs. You return to the resort in the afternoon. Meals included today: breakfast and lunch.

Straight after breakfast you drive to the town of Muang Khua and board a boat down the Nam Ou river. On the way you stop at riverside villages, among them the Khmu village of Ban Sop Jam, which can be reached only by boat. You arrive at Muang Ngoi Kao, a fishing village between limestone peaks, in the afternoon, with time for a walk before dark. Meals included today: breakfast.

After breakfast you walk around Muang Ngoi to see daily life in the village. You then follow the farmers' paths through the rice fields, about two and a half hours each way, to a cave and to villages of the Khmu and Tai Daeng. You are back in Muang Ngoi in the afternoon, and the rest of the day is free. Meals included today: breakfast and lunch.

After breakfast you board a boat down the Nam Ou to the Khmu village of Ban Sop Kong, where your guide shows you around. A walk of about an hour each way leads to a waterfall where you can swim. The boat then carries you down to Nong Khiaw, where you check in and rest. Meals included today: breakfast.

If you wish, you start at about 6:00 with the climb to the Pha Xom Nang viewpoint above Nong Khiaw for sunrise, returning for breakfast; otherwise the early morning is free. After check-out and a look at the local market you drive to Luang Prabang, stopping at Ban Na Yang, a village where silk is raised and woven into traditional Lao dress. You check in to your hotel in Luang Prabang on arrival. Meals included today: breakfast.

After breakfast the time is your own until the transfer to Luang Prabang airport. The package services end at the airport. Meals included today: breakfast.