Vientiane, Muang Fueang Houseboat & Vang Vieng, 6 Nights

You are met on arrival in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, and driven to your hotel. After a rest the afternoon is free to look around the city on your own. No meals are included today.

A full day in the capital. It starts at Wat Sisaket, the city's oldest surviving temple, known for its rows of small silver and ceramic Buddha images, and Haw Phra Kaew, the former royal temple of the Emerald Buddha, with its courtyard of frangipani trees. After a stop for lunch at a local restaurant you walk through the old part of the Morning Market. The afternoon continues to Pha That Luang, the great golden stupa, to Patuxai, the victory arch you can climb for a view over the city, and out to Buddha Park, a riverside field of Buddhist and Hindu concrete statues that includes a reclining Buddha 40 metres long. Meals included today: breakfast.

After breakfast you drive for about three hours, by expressway and then dirt road, to Muang Fueang, a small town in a valley of rivers and karst hills that is popular with Lao visitors. You stay on a houseboat moored on the water, with rafts to swim from in the clear river. The rooms are spacious and have a river view. You check in for the first of two nights on the houseboat. Meals included today: breakfast.

If you wake early you can join the morning alms-giving, when monks come by to receive offerings in front of the houseboat. After breakfast a boat trip takes you along the river past villages and rice paddies. In the afternoon you visit Wat Sin Xay, the best-known temple in the town, and its Buddha images. The day ends with sunset from the houseboat. Meals included today: breakfast.

After breakfast the morning is free until the drive to Vang Vieng. There you visit Tham Chang cave, once used as a refuge in times of invasion, and Tham Nang Fa cave, then kayak down the Nam Song river into the centre of town. The day ends on a small boat on the Nam Song at sunset. Meals included today: breakfast.

A day on bicycles in the country west of Vang Vieng. You ride to Tham Phu Kham, the Cave of the Golden Crab, with its chambers of stalagmites and stalactites. The trail beyond is rougher, following the narrow Houay San stream to Pha Daeng, the red cliff; after rain there are muddy stretches where you may have to carry the bike. You reach Phonxay village on the Nam Khouang river, follow an easier dirt road along the river to the crossroads at Ban Nathong Tai, and ride back over the Nam Song bridge to Vang Vieng for a cold drink at sunset. Meals included today: breakfast.

A sunrise hot-air balloon flight can be added at extra cost. The morning is free in Vang Vieng. You are then driven back to Vientiane by expressway, about an hour and a half, and dropped at your hotel, at the airport or at the Friendship Bridge, where the package services end. A hotel in Vientiane tonight is not included. Meals included today: breakfast.