Mekong Family Cruise Holiday

Pick-up from Chiang Mai Airport and transfer to your boutique hotel. Overnight stay in Chiang Mai, which is also called the Rose of the North, due to the area’s scenic beauty. As the second largest city in Thailand, Chiang Mai has a lot to offer. Your hotel room will be available from around 2 pm.
Overnight in Chiang Mai.

After a relaxed breakfast in the hotel, you begin your exploration of Northern Thailand with a small tour of the city for orientation, including a visit to the local mountain of Chiang Mai, offering a spectacular view over the city. There you can visit the Wat Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai’s most important temple on the hilltop. According to a local legend, the widely respected Monk Sumana gave the King a relic of Buddha at the time. He tied the relic to the back of an elephant, which then wandered through the jungle for days. Eventually the elephant settled in the place where Wat Doi Suthep stands today, and died there. The afternoon is yours to enjoy, relaxing at the hotel pool, or to go exploring on your own.

You also have the option to go on a half-day guided cycling tour through southern Chiang Mai. On this journey, you learn more about Chiang Mai, its people and history along the quiet countryside roads. The tour takes you to small temples, a monastic or primary school for the children from the surrounding mountain villages, stops off at a small potter’s workshop and much more. You can try local delicacies at a small bakery and at the market you can watch the colourful goings-on and taste exotic fruits or other snacks.

Overnight stay in Chiang Mai.

During a guided day-trip to an elephant camp not far from Chiang Mai, you learn more about these grey giants. You also go on an elephant ride (1 hour), an ox cart journey, and you glide through the jungle on a bamboo raft and can watch the mahouts and elephants at work and bathing together in the river. You enjoy your lunch in the elephant camp today. On the return journey to your hotel, you also visit an orchid farm.

Overnight stay in Chiang Mai.

After breakfast in the hotel, you will first go to the bustling market on the border between Thailand and Burma close to Mai Sai. From here, you continue your journey along a stunning rural route into the Golden Triangle. Of course, your sightseeing programme includes a visit to the multimedia hall of the Opium Museum, since now you are in the centre of the notorious Golden Triangle. Your trip also takes you to the photogenic Golden Buddha and to the temple complex of the old coronation city of the Chiang Mai kings. You then move on to Chiang Khong, where you board the Mekong Sun. Your boutique ship offers you a discovery tour with style—you are travelling in an exclusive small group. Over a welcome cocktail, your cruise director will give a little talk about the route you will take. Later, your friendly Laotian ship crew will greet you at the welcome dinner.

Today your boutique cruise ship Mekong Sun casts off and you leave Thailand for Laos. The villages on both sides of the river are small, and almost none of them are connected by road—the Mekong is the main thoroughfare here. In small boats you go on a journey to a village of the Khmu people, and observe a local village school, funded by guests of the Mekong Sun.

The Mekong is one of the most spectacular and fascinating rivers in the world! The journey on the river is exciting—navigating just like how Mark Twain reported over 150 years ago from the Mississippi: sailors punt with bamboo poles, and report the water level every minute. Onboard the Mekong Sun, you can discover the most powerful river in South-East Asia and all it has to offer in comfort and style. Exciting talks from your cruise director give you an idea about the flora and fauna of Laos, also known as the Land of a Million Elephants. You can test your knowledge taking an elephant quiz. Near to the market town Pakbeng, you have the opportunity to meet the grey giants in an elephant camp. Back on board, you can enjoy the panoramic landscape or watch local fishermen on the river banks. For your evening meal, which is served in the onboard restaurant or on land, you enjoy regional specialities.

Go on a trip to the famous Pak Ou caves, in a steep cliff face – inside, you find over a thousand Buddha statues. After a short walk through the jungle (approx. 45 minutes, optional) you reach a village where you can watch how the local rice spirit Lao-Lao is traditionally distilled. You will experience the untamed river up close and personal: In the evening when you’re relaxing on a sandbank, listening to the region’s fairy tales around the campfire.

In the morning you will arrive in one of the most beautiful cities in South-East Asia, Luang Prabang. Here, your comfortable river cruise ship docks in the city centre, perfect for sightseeing in the charming old town. Luang Prabang’s world-famous Buddhist cultural monuments along with its well-preserved buildings from the French colonial period, its manageable size, and the almost complete absence of motor traffic in the centre make it a fascinating place. During your stay in the UNESCO World Heritage city, you go on a guided tour around town and visit Wat Xieng Thong, the monastery of the golden royal city. From the summit of Phou Si, 5 to 10 minutes away by foot, you can take in the amazing panoramic view of the Mekong, the Nam Khan river, the old town and the surrounding mountains. In the evening, you can walk around the charming night market—beautifully lit up, without all the hassle, and with a good selection of arts and crafts and textiles offered by the colourfully dressed residents of the mountain tribes.

Early risers have the chance today to get up close to the Buddhist lifestyle. At 6 am the town’s numerous monks go about their regular morning walk, where the faithful donate their daily portion of rice to them.

After breakfast on board, the rest of the day is at your disposal, for buying souvenirs, sightseeing on your own, or a final walk through the picturesque old town, stopping off in one of the nice French cafés. You can also rent bicycles there to explore the surrounding area with its paddy fields and waterfalls you could even take a shower in.

On the final evening, you enjoy a performance of classic Laotian music and dance, with the traditional Baci friendship ceremony rounding it off.

Checkout after breakfast, followed by your transfer to the airport and a flight to the Thai capital, Bangkok, from where a 3- to 4-hour transfer takes you to your comfortable hotel in Cha Am in the Gulf of Thailand.

Today is your free day, you can enjoy sunbathing or swimming.

It is also your free day today. You can do whatever you want to relax

Checkout after breakfast. Your journey ends with your transfer to Bangkok for onward flight.