A 3 day tour to admire a pleasant serenity of Vientiane, including a visit to a 16th century gilded monument at Pha That Luang and a local market.

Destination:	Vientiane, Laos
Activity:	Historic sites / Temple visits, Shopping
Price:	start from $181 per person
Duration:	3 Days / 2 Nights

Tour Rates* (Price/Person) in U.S. Dollars
Period	Single	Double	Triple	Group 4-6	Single Supplement
Deluxe Package – C
1 May 2011 – 30 Sep 2011	514	300	254	N/A	N/A
1 Oct 2011 – 30 Apr 2012	514	300	254	N/A	N/A
1 May 2012 – 30 Sep 2012	514	300	254	N/A	N/A
Superior Package – B
1 May 2011 – 30 Sep 2011	462	260	221	N/A	N/A
1 Oct 2011 – 30 Apr 2012	462	260	221	N/A	N/A
1 May 2012 – 30 Sep 2012	462	260	221	N/A	N/A
Standard Package – A
1 May 2011 – 30 Sep 2011	371	220	182	N/A	N/A
1 Oct 2011 – 30 Apr 2012	371	220	182	N/A	N/A
1 May 2012 – 30 Sep 2012	371	220	182	N/A	N/A

Rates include 7% VAT tax and 10% hotel service charge.  Major credit cards accepted. No extra charge, no minimum

Note: Booking should be made at least 7 days in advance.
The Triple rates are based on a twin sharing room with an extra bed for the third person.

Itinerary

Day 1 Vientiane

Arrive in Vientiane, meet and transfer to hotel.

PM: Visit to Pha That Luang – a symbol of both the Buddhist religion and Lao sovereignty.  Then proceed to Patuxai – a large monument in the style of the Arc de Triumph in Paris,Ho Pha Keo – the former royal temple of the Lao monarchy and now converted into a museum, Wat Si Saket contains more than 2,000 silver and ceramic Buddha images. Followed by visit to Wat Si Muang - a temple most popularly used as it acts as the home of Vientiane’s guardian spirits. The last stop is Talaat Sao - a Morning Market but also open all day – selling a wide range of fabrics, jewelry and electronic goods.

Overnight at hotel in Vientiane

Day 2 Vientiane (Breakfast)

Breakfast in the hotel. Take an excursion to the National Ethnic Cultural Park and Buddha Park.  Visit Wat Xieng Khuan – housing a collection of Buddhist and Hindu sculptures along the Mekong River.  The National Ethnic Cultural Park consists of attractive houses of different ethnic minorities.  It has a small zoo with monkeys and birds and a long distance view of the Friendship Bridge. Afternoon at leisure.

Overnight at hotel in Vientiane.

Day 3 Vientiane – departure (Breakfast)

Breakfast in the hotel. Transfer from hotel to Vientiane airport

Price Includes:

• 2 Nights accommodation with daily breakfast at hotel in Vientiane
• Tours and transfers as mentioned in the program
• English speaking guide

Price Excludes:

• International air ticket to / from Vientiane
• Airport tax
• VISA Fee
• Other services not mentioned in the program

Accommodation in the Package:

• The Deluxe Package – C includes accommodation at Settha Palace Hotel (deluxe room).
• The Superior Package – B includes accommodation at Lao Plaza Hotel (regular floor) or similar.
• The Standard Package – A includes accommodation at Beau Rivage Mekong Hotel (standard room).

Note:

• 25 Dec – 2 Jan & 12 – 17 April
  Peak season surcharge due to New Year and Song Kran Festival – to be advised upon booking.
• Laos visa is required to enter Luang Prabang and other provinces in Laos. We suggest you apply for the Laos visa in your country (if available) or at the Laos consulate in Bangkok before arrival.

About the Package

Laos is a strange place. It is a sleepy and curiously pleasant country with inhabitants among the friendliest people on earth. But it wasn’t always so. Bordering Thailand across the Mekhong River in the west, Myanmar and China in the north, Vietnam to the east, and Cambodia to the south, it is a miracle this former French colony wasn’t carved up as spoils to the ambitions of its powerful neighbours long ago. But it has survived somehow, in spite of having the dubious distinction of being the most bombed country per capita in history during U.S. carpet bombings of the Vietnam War.

City of Diversity
Today, Vientiane is a peaceful city of multi-cultural influences, most evident in its architecture: Lao temples, French colonial mansions, Sino-Vietnamese shophouses and Soviet-style administrative offices. Southeast Asia’s recent development has been slower here, so there are few tall buildings and little traffic, but hotels and foreign restaurants are multiplying as the communist government opens up to visitors.

Stupas and Sculptures
Vientiane’s majestic Pha That Luang is a 16th century gilded stupa surrounded first by a wall of 30 smaller stupas (also gilded), and then by a defensive cloister. This is actually the result of two restorations since the Siamese sacked Vientiane in 1828. The Bangkok-style Wat Si Saket (1818) is the city’s oldest temple, containing 2,000 small and 300 larger Buddha images, mostly from the 16th to 19th centuries. The Lao monarchy used to worship at Haw Pha Kaew, now a museum. Said to have once held the Emerald Buddha (now in Bangkok), it contains some of Laos’ finest and oldest Buddhist sculptures. The Patuxai monument, the Lao version of the Arc de Triomphe, commemorates pre-Revolutionary war heroes: climb the inner stairs for a view of the city and its avenues. 24 km south of Vientiane, Wat Xieng Khuan is really a park containing huge and unusual Buddhist and Hindu sculptures from the 1950s.