Frontiers of Xishuangbanna & Laos

Along its middle stretches, the Mekong flows through the emerald, densely tree-covered hillscapes of southwestern China and Laos. Rare and spectacular plant life adorns a rugged watershed carved deep by the cascade of water through caves and over cliff drops. In the Chinese region of Xishuangbanna, the minority Bulang, Aini and Ake people dwell in small forest villages, where they practice traditional land use systems and a spiritual culture combining Buddhism with older animistic beliefs. We will trek for three days through this verdant forest paradise and then tour botanical gardens and nature reserves in the region before transferring to Luang Prabang, a sublime mélange of a regal Laotian and French colonial past. Our journey southward continues to Vang Vieng, settled beneath a jagged skyline of soaring karst formations, before ending along the tree-lined boulevards of the charming Laotian capital, Vientiane.