Northern Laos Loop: Nong Khiaw, Muang Ngoi & Pakbeng, 8 Nights

Your guide and driver collect you from your hotel in Luang Prabang after breakfast for the drive of about four hours to Nong Khiaw, on the Nam Ou river. On the way you stop at Ban Na Yang, a village where silk is raised and woven into traditional Lao dress, and walk through the village. After check-in in Nong Khiaw the rest of the day is free. No meals are included today.

At about 6:00 you climb to the Pha Xom Nang viewpoint above Nong Khiaw for sunrise, then return for breakfast. You look around Nong Khiaw on foot or by car, then drive to Tham Pha Tok, a cave that sheltered the provincial officials of Luang Prabang during the war years. The day continues to villages of the Khmu and Hmong, including a visit to a village school. You are back at the hotel in the late afternoon. Meals included today: breakfast.

After breakfast you walk to the boat for the trip up the Nam Ou. At the Khmu village of Ban Sop Kong you look around, then walk for about an hour each way, through rice fields and forest, to a small waterfall. The boat continues to Muang Ngoi Kao, where you walk from the pier to the guesthouse and spend the rest of the day in the village. Meals included today: breakfast.

Straight after breakfast you board a boat up the Nam Ou towards the town of Muang Khua, stopping at riverside villages such as the Khmu village of Ban Sop Jam, which can be reached only by boat. You change boats to pass the hydropower dam. From Muang Khua, reached in the afternoon, a car takes you into Oudomxay province and to a resort in the Nam Kat Yorla Pa forest park. The rest of the day is free; bicycles can be hired to see the park. Meals included today: breakfast.

In the morning you drive to Pak Khai, past rivers, rice fields and small villages, and start walking on the paths the local farmers use, meeting people at work in the fields. By lunchtime you reach Ban Phavie, a Khmu village on a hilltop with a view over the area. After lunch the walk continues to a waterfall near the village, where you can swim, then back to the starting point for the drive to the resort. Meals included today: breakfast and lunch.

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.

After breakfast you look around the Nam Kat Yorla Pa forest park, then drive to Oudomxay and climb Phou That hill for the all-round view of the town. The road to Pakbeng takes about four hours, with stops at Hmong and Khmu villages. You check in at Pakbeng and watch the sunset over the Mekong. Meals included today: breakfast.

After breakfast you drive to Luang Prabang by way of Hongsa, four to five hours on the road, stopping at Khmu and Hmong villages. Closer to the town you visit Green Jungle Park and a pottery village, then cross the Mekong by ferry into Luang Prabang. The rest of the day is free. 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.