North Laos Photography Holiday
28 November - 11 December 2024
Laos, a small country nestled in the heart of Southeast Asia, is a photographer's paradise. With its lush jungles, towering waterfalls, and traditional hill-tribe villages, Laos offers a wealth of off-the-beaten-track locations for those looking to capture the country's natural beauty and cultural heritage.
We have tailor-designed an incredible 14-day photography tour with our local partners in Luang Prabang: this includes stunning off-the-beaten track locations in North Laos: Buddhist temples, waterfalls, home stays with local tribes, rice farms, river cruises.
In recent years we have been working hard with our local partners in Luang Prabang to put together a truly unique and off-the beaten track experience in the north of Laos, one that has been designed with photographers in mind, but equally one that is focused on authentic, local experiences that benefit the local communities as much as our participants.
What we’ll cover, visit and photograph
Luang Prabang
Our tour will start and finish with a few days in Luang Prabang - former royal capital of the Kingdom of Laos and a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1995, situated at the confluence of two mighty rivers, the Mekong and the Nam Khan (sunrise and sunset photo opportunities galore!) famous for its well-preserved traditional and colonial architecture, and home to more than 30 Buddhist temples and monasteries.
One of the highlights of our photographic experiences will include the mesmerising early morning alms giving ritual (Tak Bat) - that has been going on for more than 600 years. Hundreds of Buddhist monks and novices from Luang Prabang’s many temples walk in silence just before sunrise, meditating as they collect their alms from devotees - and well-briefed tourists. This is a fascinating process to observe and photograph: the symbiotic relationship between the monks and alms-givers, the former granting merit to the devotees that counts towards their future lives, the latter generating good karma!
Our Luang Prabang ‘home’, a traditional Lao architecture family-ran boutique hotel is right on one of the roads that the procession runs through, so we won’t even have to travel far, although it is always interesting to walk along the procession as many photographic opportunities arise. But we have a couple of mornings to witness and capture this special event, and what’s better is that we are then in the right place to watch the sunrise over the river Nam Khan. Then it’s the morning market, brimming with fresh produce and plenty of weird and wonderful things to photograph. Other photography highlights in Luang Prabang will include temples, architecture, the colourful night market, and of course sunrise and sunset from various locations including the top of Phousi mountain.
Only an hour away from Luang Prabang is Kuang Si, one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Laos, with its turquoise waters and never ending tiers that you keep discovering as you make your way up the mountain through lush tropical forests (an easy walk along rustic yet well-maintained paths): it’s the photographic gift that keeps on giving. You can try your hand at some long exposures or channel your inner street photographer to capture tourists competing for the best ways of immortalising their being there - and once you’ve put your tools down, you can also go for a dip if you wish! We are aiming to spend about half a day in this location after which we will head towards the nearing countryside for our fantastic home stay on small family rice farm.
Here your only neighbours will be gentle-looking buffalos gazing towards your camera from their rice fields, and we will experience life in the countryside, home cooking, and a specially arranged Sou Khuan (Baci) ceremony just for our group. This is a Laotian ritual performed by a respected elder in the community who chants blessings while tying strings of white cotton around the wrist of the recipients, calling the soul to return to harmony. Don’t worry about being in the middle of this instead of photographing it - as we will most likely witness and photograph this ceremony as we travel up north since it is traditionally performed at all happy and sad events in families, as well as when the new year approaches. While in this area, we have another amazing experience lined up, which is meeting some elephants - in one of the non-ride sanctuaries where these majestic animals are rescued and kept safe and well - you will be able to come close to an elephant and even feed them bananas, an experience which we promise you won’t forget!
After a couple of days in the countryside we will return to Luang Prabang for another night in town before heading up north to the north village tribes. Get ready to step off the beaten track as we head towards the Phongsali region. The next part of the trip will involve visiting tribe villages, local markets, ancient traditions, river boat trips and some truly stunning scenery along the way. As we start driving north - in our private minibus accompanied by our well-versed local guide who also has a keen eye for photography, we will make frequent stops wherever a photography opportunity arises, such as local markets or village events. We are heading into Akha, Hmong and Khmu territory, just a few of the hill tribes that are prominent in the far north of Laos. The Hmong and other animist tribes typically celebrate the New Year at the beginning of December so we are at the right time to come across such events - typically centred around the Sou Khuan (Baci) ceremony which we have ourselves experienced. It’s a family and friends affair, spanning across several days and weeks where people go from one home to another to venerate their elders and receive blessings.
We will spend a couple of nights in home stays, being welcomed by local tribes that are well known to our Lao partners and guides but where you are unlikely to come across another tourist - so much so that we will at times feel like curiosities to kids quizzically pointing, running and hiding in fits of giggles. An evening in the house of the local chief and his wife is a memorable and humbling event, as they welcome us in their hut and cook a local meal all from produce that could not be fresher. Locals are not used to foreigners in these remote villages but with the help of our guide we will make friends and with their permission end up with some lovely portraits and street scenes. An important aspect of our ethos is to give back to the communities we visit, and in addition to ensuring that all the money we spend on accommodation and food goes directly to local families, we will also make a donation of stationery to a couple of local schools. In the past, we bought all essentials from family stores along the way and donated it to kids and their teachers - even getting rewarded with a couple of songs and a lot of smiles, plus some great photos in the process.
Rivers, karst mountains and weaver villages best describe the next part of our journey as we continue our circular journey back towards Luang Prabang, via Muang Khua, Muang Ngoi and Nong Kiew. For portions of this trip we travel by boat along the Nam Ou river, an interesting journey considering it is no longer possible to travel the entire distance by boat, given the large number of dams that have been erected over the past decade, breaking the river in no less than eight sections - those interested in the impact this had on local people and environment will find this a good photojournalism topic to document. But, fear not - the idyllic has not been lost, and perhaps one of the most stunning locations we will spend some time in is the tiny village of Sop Chem, only accessible by boat, and home to a small number of families forming a lovely weaving community - not only we will spend some time to get to know them but this is also a great location to do some shopping for presents or souvenirs made by the locals: scarves, table runners or traditional Lao skirts (sinh).
On our way back to Luang Prabang there will be one more riverside stop, this time on the Mekong, the fascinating Pak Ou caves, home to many thousands of artefacts, prabangs and Buddha statues of various sizes, materials and levels of deterioration, brought here by people over hundreds of years by worshiping, to the spirits of the river before Buddhism became the main religion, then as buddhist offerings especially during special times of the year. We will return to Luang Prabang via the Mekong, admiring the sunset as we arrive.
What you’ll get
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Private airport transfers on arrival and departure
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13 nights accommodation with breakfast in single occupancy as standard (no supplements), 9 x lunches and 3 x dinners
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Basi (blessing) ceremony during rice farm stay; visit to elephant sanctuary; entrance to temples
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On-demand, unlimited creative and technical photographic advice from 2 professional photographers including post-trip image review
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Exclusive local guide for all trips. Private minibus travel with local driver and guide, private river boat travel with guide
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Small group (min 4, max 8 participants)
£4200pp
including everything outlined in the ‘what you’ll get’ section.
Not included in the price:
international flights to/from Luang Prabang
entry visas as applicable (usually visa-on-arrival)
any meals or drinks not specified
travel insurance (required)
Price
✺ Frequently asked questions ✺
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Absolutely not. Feel free to bring your favourite tool for capturing images or video as you wish, be it a smartphone or field camera!
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It is reasonable to assume that there will be some walking involved at every location. At a few spots including the Pak Ou caves, Phousi mountain or the river locations only accessible by boat, there will be steps to climb so you will need to be comfortable with going up/down these, although you can do so at your own pace.
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Not at all. We are very experienced in working with a mix of complete beginners as well as technically and creatively accomplished photographers, ensuring that everyone gets a lot out of the experience.
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Just let us know what is required and we will arrange something to suit your needs for the meals that are included, and you will be able to find options for the meals that aren't. Lao cuisine is very diverse so you will still be able to enjoy some traditional cuisine if you're vegetarian for example.
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No. The price includes accommodation in single occupancy as standard. Bear in mind that a couple of nights on the itinerary (for example the rice farm or home stays) may have shared sanitary facilities, but otherwise all rooms will be en-suite.