Rural Indochina Family Adventure

Luang Prabang, Laos

Evening Game of Petanque

One of Laos’ most popular past times and sports, you’re likely to see many locals playing a friendly game of Petanque (Boules) as you wander the streets. Experience this evening activity for yourself as you battle it out on the green with locals. The team who rolls their balls closest to the stationary ‘jack’ will come out on top! Battle weary, you will end the night with a lovely local-style dinner before heading back to your hotel.

Luang Prabang, Laos

Luang Prabang Full Day Tour

Visit some of Laos’s timeless monuments on a full day tour around the old city, now under UNESCO protection as a World Heritage Site. At about 8.30am head off with your guide to visit Wat Xieng Thong – often said to be Luang Prabang’s most beautiful. It is characterised by roofs sweeping low to the ground and the impressive “tree of life” mosaic. Next visit Vat Visoun, the site of an impressive stupa, That Makmo. Then walk to the nearby Vat Aham, which is one of the city’s major tutelary shrines.

After lunch at a local restaurant visit Luang Prabang’s National Museum, formerly the Royal Palace (not open on Tuesdays). Displayed inside is a collection of personal artifacts of the former Laotian Royal Family. Continue on to visit nearby Wat Mai – the five-tiered roof epitomises the graceful Luang Prabang architectural style. There is also time to take a stroll through the Hmong Market where locals and ethnic minorities from the surrounding villages sell an overwhelming array of handicrafts. Phou Sii hill stands right in the centre of this small city. Climb its 350 steps to enjoy commanding views for many miles in each direction. Wat Phu Sii sits atop the mountain, alongside the skeletons of Indochina war anti-aircraft guns! Sunset can be enjoyed with a cold drink at one of the cafes located along the Mekong River.

Luang Prabang, Laos

Breakfast at Kuang Si Falls

After a stroll through the morning markets, you’ll head out to the remarkable Kuang Si falls to enjoy a gourmet picnic breakfast in a peaceful and tranquil setting before most other tourists visit the area. Journey back to Luang Prabang on a private cruise down the Mekong, with an opportunity to visit the famous pottery village of Ban Ou.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

The Magnificent Angkor Wat

The jewel in the Angkor crown, Angkor Wat is inevitably at the top of every visitor’s wishlist. As one of Southeast Asia’s most recognisable sights, it can feel crowded at times – but with the help of our in-the-know guides and carefully curated Signature Angkor Experience, it can still feel magical.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Ancient City of Angkor Thom and Bayon

More than just another temple, the great Angkor Thom is in fact an ancient city, dating back to the 12th century,  that was once the capital of the whole Khmer Empire. The city itself, its Bayon temple and Terrace of Elephants are a must-see when travelling to the region.

On our Signature Angkor Tour, you’ll explore the vast city walls with your guide, accessing intricate canals and dusty corners of the complex via avenues of stone gods and demons.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Tonle Sap Floating Villages

Just a short drive south of Siem Reap, you’ll reach the northern tip of Tonle Sap Lake – the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia.

Tonle Sap is Cambodia’s lifeline, providing food, transport, and homes for millions of people. Although the water levels rise and fall dramatically throughout the year, you can visit the lake in any season (ask us for the most magical times to visit).

Hop aboard a wooden motorised boat and cruise across the open water to take in the lake’s sheer scale. Countless floating villages scatter the surface, where nomadic fishing families live in stilted houses and boats. They grow vegetables in floating garden plots and pots set on rafts, while dogs and pigs (somehow) roam this buoyant environment. This experience offers a rare, eye-opening look into a way of life few outsiders ever see.

You can visit the floating villages on our half-day tour from Siem Reap, either in the morning or afternoon (though the cooler morning hours are your best bet). Your driver will pick you up from your hotel and take you to the quay to step aboard the boat.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Phare Circus

This is a fun evening with impressive performances that all ages will enjoy, but importantly – it supports a fantastic initiative for young people in nearby Battambang.

At the circus, a traditional folk tale is told through modern theatre, acrobatics, contemporary dance, and live music. It all takes place in a high-top tent where the audience watches in the round while enjoying popcorn, drinks, and beer.

All profits from the circus support the Phare Ponleu Selpak school, set up in 1994 by nine returning refugees from the Khmer Rouge era. Inspired by an art teacher who had helped them through drawing therapy, they decided to found the school to offer other disadvantaged children a similar experience. Phare thus began as an art school before expanding to cover music, theatre, and eventually the circus school. Students can hone their skills at the school and earn a good wage – many go on to perform around the world.

The young performers you see will have been taught at the school, and profits are fed back in to support its current pupils.

Hoi An, Vietnam

Hoi An Cooking Tour

Hoi An is renowned for its simple but divine cuisine. Many of the mouthwatering dishes served in the many restaurants here are not found elsewhere in the country. This distinction and the superb array of fresh food products found in the local market make for an insightful and fun cooking experience.

We include a short walking tour of the town with Ms. Vy, a well known and respected local restaurateur who has helped bring Hoi An’s superb cuisines to a wider audience. Ms. Vy will escort you through the market place, bringing an in depth explanation and local knowledge to the herbs, spices, fruits and seafood that will need to be purchased in preparation for her cooking lesson that day. Guests will have the opportunity to learn more about Vietnamese foods and prepare their own dishes under Ms. Vy’s guidance, before enjoying these dishes for a sumptuous lunch.

Hoi An, Vietnam

Ancient Ruins of My Son

Often referred to as the mini “Angkor Wat” of Vietnam, the Cham ruins at My Son are well worth the slightly arduous journey needed to reach them! Your day will begin with an early morning drive from Danang/Hoi An through 60 km of rolling countryside, passing through small towns with markets in full swing, often journeying alongside the wide reaches of the Han River. As you draw closer to My Son, which translates literally as “Beautiful Mountain” the condition of the road begins to deteriorate and the last few kilometres of track are often rutted and potholed. On arriving at the My Son area and after crossing a bamboo “Monkey Bridge” you will transfer to a local jeep for the last spectacular 3 km bump and jolt along a river gorge. Finally, a 500m walk through lush hillsides, trees and brush, before emerging into the main site.

There are over 70 classic Cham monuments at My Son, dating from the 7th – 13th Centuries. Set against the backdrop of the appropriately named Cat’s Tooth Mountain, they would have been an awesome sight in their prime. Until 1968 they remained, remarkably, in almost perfect condition, having been sheltered from the worst excesses of weather by the surrounding hills. Regrettably however, man achieved what nature could not and B52 bombers destroyed most of the towers when My Son found itself in a free-fire zone during the Vietnam War.