INSPIRATION

Get funky with the Gibbons in forest canopy tree houses of the Gibbon experience in Bokeo Nature Reserve, an innovative conservation project dedicated to the protection of the forest’s Black Gibbons, Bears and Tigers. Enjoy the forest trails and the numerous fun zip wires, which lead from your tree house through the jungle as you search out the wildlife.

Renowned for its charming atmosphere, the city of Luang Prabang is an authentic window into the Asia of antiquity and subsequent colonial French heritage, with its richly decorated temples and traditional Laotian houses sitting in curious harmonic fusion with later European structures. Nestled on the shores of the Mekong and Nam Khan Rivers, the remarkably preserved city sits beneath the sheltering presence of the sacred Mount Phousi and is famed for the alms procession.

The early morning parade of monks through the streets of Luang Prabang is a wonderful sight, and despite the mass attention the daily ritual now receives from visitors, it affords a glimpse into the pre-colonial world of the Laotian way of life in a ceremony that dates back to the 14th century.

As the monks gather the food offerings from the reverential locals, visitor participation is encouraged, providing proper respect for traditional values is observed.

More Zip Wires! Check out this exhilarating adventure location at Paksong Jungle Hotel, among the impressive waterfalls and gorges of Champasak province.  

The cables, the longest of which is four hundred metres, crisscross the forested valley and culminate with an amazing zip-line journey across the face of the hundred metre high Kamet waterfall. The accommodation is in tree-houses, ten metres above the forest floor, likewise interconnected by zip lines. Brilliant and unforgettable fun.

Follow the mighty Mekong River to the ‘Four Thousand Islands’ archipelago and explore the waterways of Mekong at their widest point, enjoying the laid back atmosphere and visiting the largest of Asia’s waterfalls, Khone Papheng, which although not the highest, is the world’s widest, stretching an impressive 14 kilometres during the monsoon.

One of the most prominent geological features of Laos is the Mekong River, along which many of the country’s main attractions are situated, which make a cruise of the river a relaxing and interesting alternative to land transport or air travel to see the nation’s finest treasures in Luang Prabang, Vientiane and Champasak province, while enjoying the slow passing of its landscapes and culture.

Discover the little known history of the American bombing of Laos during its conflict with Vietnam, often described as the ‘Secret War’.  

The UXO Lao Visitor Centre in Luang Prabang opens the lid on the continuing problem of unexploded ordinance as a result of the two million tons of cluster bombs, a third of which failed to explode, that the US dropped on Laos during its 580,000 bombing missions.

If you really want to appreciate the lives of the local Laotians, try out the insightful half-day Rice Experience at the Living Land Organic Farm, near Luang Prabang, where you’ll try out for yourself out the 14 practical stages that bring rice from the seed to the plate, including a muddy ploughing session with a Water Buffalo and hand plough. An invaluable experience for the true traveller.

If you’re in travelling along the Mekong or planning to cross the border to or from Laos over the Second Friendship Bridge with Thailand, the area around Talaat Yen Plaza in Savannaket is an interesting and charmingly crumbling architectural window into the French colonial era in Laos. The local Museum provides useful supportive historic background.

Enter the wartime world of the headquarters of communist forces in the Pathet Lao Caves at Vieng Xai, which provide a fascinating insight into the structure of the eventual winning forces of the Second Indochina (Vietnam) War. 

A visit to this amazing complex of caves, complete with some of their original furnishings, is brilliantly supported with an informative audio tour. Set in gardens amid lovely Karst scenery in northeastern Laos close to the Vietnam border.

Close to Vientiane, Buddha Park is an unusual sculptural fusion of Buddhist and Hindu themes, created in the 1950’s by a mystic priest, Luang Pu Bunleua Sulilat.

Just across the Mekong, his sister creation, Sala Keoku in Thailand has similar statuary and also houses his mummified body. Although these are modern sculptures, they give the appearance of antiquity and are of unusual style.