Your tour experience begins with a transportation service pick up from your accommodation between 8:15 am – 9:00 am then we head off our way and have a short stop at the popular Ban Xang Hai Village, also known as ‘the whiskey village’. Here you can see the process of making lao lao, the country’s beloved rice whiskey and for some maybe even an early morning sample!
We then embark a boat trip from Ban Xang Hai to Pak Ou Caves on the Mekong River. We see a breathtaking view of the tranquil countryside as well as the mysterious nature on the way. 30 minutes boat trip takes us to Pak Ou where the confluence of the Nam Ou and Mekong Rivers. Pak Ou Caves are two linked caves crammed with thousand of lacquered Buddha Status of various shapes and sizes left by devoted pilgrims.
Exploring the caves about 40 min, the boat trip takes us to Manifa Elephant Camp. After a few important introductions and a brief orientation, you will get straight into interacting with the Manifa elephants and start “FULL DAY – MAHOUT BASIC PROGRAM“ – get used to being close to and comfortable with one of the 17 elephants.
After finishing morning program, we enjoy a beautiful buffet style lunch at the restaurant – overlooking the Mekong river.
At about 1 PM, we resume Mahout program until afternoon. In the end of program, we take elephants to their night resting place in the forest on our property. Then we get to Luang Prabang by 4:00 PM.