Day 1: Arrival in Luang Prabang

On day one you’ll arrive in Luang Prabang, a charming town in the mountains in the north of Laos. You’ll be transferred to your hotel with time to recharge before the adventure begins the next morning.

Day 2: Luang Prabang Monasteries and Pak Ou Cave

The first morning will be spent exploring the quaint town of Luang Prabang, focusing on the most architecturally stunning monasteries. We’ll stroll between these ancient gems before enjoying lunch in town. In the afternoon, we’ll board a longboat and wind our way through the hills to Pak Ou Cave. As we cruise back to town along the sleepy Mekong, we’ll have the chance to call in on riverside villages where we might the chance to interact with a variety of local people.

Day 3: Kuang Si Waterfalls and Evening Lanterns

After an early breakfast, we’ll drive to into the mountains to the magical Kuang Si Waterfalls. Here, we’ll have the chance to experiment with long exposure in the cascading falls, fed by natural springs above, as well as enjoy the rainforest scenery. You’ll also have the chance to swim in the crystalline waters before we return to town for lunch.

We’ll head back out in the afternoon, calling in at a local monastery where we’ll witness Buddhist monks making their final preparations for the incredible festival of Lai Heua Fai, or “Festival of Light”, starting the next day.

Day 4:Tak Bat and The Festival of Light

We’ll head out just after sunrise to see the incredible Tak Bat, or morning alms collection. Today is one of the holiest on the Lao calendar, and so we’ll witness crowds of local people offering gifts to the Buddhist novices as they walk by in procession. This is a very popular photographic event, but dont’ worry: We’ll be far from the town, away from the other tourists. After breakfast in the hotel, we’ll travel to a local pottery village where we’ll have the chance to photograph traditional craftspeople.

In the late afternoon, we’ll head out to another area of town to enjoy the Festival of Light. Here we’ll have the chance to photograph Buddhist monks and other local people lighting paper lanterns, staying for the evening to enjoy the sunset, blue hour, and even into the hours of darkness, with new, beautiful photographic opportunities presenting themselves as the light continually changes.

Day 5:Mahout Experience and Image Review/Sunset

After an optional Tak Bat in the morning, close to the hotel, we’ll head to a beautiful environment where we’ll have the chance to photograph a local mahout bathing his elephant. We’ll return to town for lunch, after which we’ll sit down and review the images we have captured thus far. This is a great opportunity to get feedback from your workshop host and other participants, as well as enjoy a demonstration in post-production. We’ll round off the day with a sunset from a jetty on the Mekong River.

Day 6: Streets of Luang Prabang and Boun Heua Fai

The morning will be spent wandering the streets of Luang Prabang, with a focus placed on street photography. We’ll call in at a market, at monasteries, and also some areas of town where charming French-colonial architecture can be used as a backdrop. In the late afternoon, we’ll witness the amazing Boun Heua Fai, or “Festival of the Fire Boat”. Local people can be seen carrying enormous paper boats through the centre of town to the banks of the Mekong River, before floating them downstream. It is also very common to see glowing paper lanterns being cast towards the night sky. We’ll shoot the remainder of the festival by the light of the full moon.

Day 7:Hmong Village and transfer to Nong Khiaw

After breakfast we’ll drive an hour into the mountains to visit a remote Hmong village, where we can interact with this curious ethnic group. We’ll have with us a Hmong speaker to help us to communicate with the locals, opening up intimate photo opportunities not otherwise possible. After a light lunch of sticky rice in the village, we’ll begin our transfer to Nong Khiaw (3hrs drive), our base for adventuring among the tribal areas for the next few days…

Day 8: Remote Mountain Villages

We’ll start our morning with a bit of adventure, climbing into the back of a truck and driving higher into the mountains to visit villages of the Hmong and Lahu ethnic groups. We’ll spend the day exploring these curious villages, interacting with the people living in the mountains. We’ll stay the night in simple Hmong accommodation, a dormitory with only basic facilities. The photo opportunities are well worth any small amount of discomfort.*

*For those who think this might be a little too on the adventurous side, we can arrange for you to stay behind in Nong Khiaw.

Day 9: Villages and Nong Khiaw

Today, we will spend our last morning in the village after our night with a local family. We might have further opportunities to see further activities in the village or pefhaps out in the rice fields. Later in the day we’ll head back to Nong Khiaw where in the later afternoon, after a well-earned power nap, we’ll go on a cruise on the Mekong River to see fishermen and other activities on the river banks.

Day 10: Nong Khiaw – Luang Prabang

In the morning, before heading back to Luang Prabang, we will go to take pictures of the quant ethnic market of Nong Khiaw.  After lunch, we’ll review our images together and enjoy the sunset by Luang Prabang pier.

Day 11: Luang Prabang

Our final day of adventuring will be spent practicing street photography in the city of Luang Prabang, visiting local markets, and witnessing other daily life activities as we soak in the serenity of the city streets one last time. The evening will be spent enjoying a Farewell Dinner a local restaurant.

Day 12: Departure

Enjoy one final breakfast and say farewell to new friends before departing Luang Prabang!