Pha Xang Circuit - Sustainable Tourism Development Project in Lao

U s e t h i s ve r s i o n wh e n i t ’s i n a p p ro p r i a t e t o u s e t h e b l u e b a ck g ro u n d .
i e . L e t t e r h e a d s a n d b u s i n e s s c a rd s
The Circuit
Seasonality
The programs are best between November and May, during the
dry season. Please make a special enquiry at the Provincial
Tourism Office if you would like to go outside of these months.
Are these tours
physically
demanding?
These tours, which involve
both extensive car and
boat rides with some cave
excursions, require a
moderate level of fitness to
be enjoyed fully.
This road-river transport circuit enables you to enjoy the remote
Nam Thang 1000 Caves Area as well as taking other interesting
cultural and natural sites in the one circuit.
How to book
To ensure that the services will be available when you arrive, you
need to book at least one day in advance through the Sayabouly
Provincial Tourism Office in Sayabouly Town.
For booking of tours and detailed information please take a look
at the Guidebook of Sayabouly, come to the Tourist Information
Centre in Sayabouly or contact directly:
Khmu homestay, herbal spa, river boating
and cave exploring
Provincial Guides
English speaking guides from Sayabouly are arranged as part of
your tour package.
Village Guides
Strictly for visiting caves, a local guide from the village guide
associations must be arranged when you arrive at 1000 Caves
Area. Guides are happy to respond to any questions about the
local culture and environment. Although the local guides have
excellent bush skills, and know their way around the caves,
please be aware that village guides will have very limited foreign
language skills, so non-verbal communication or translation by
your provincial guide will be paramount.
Homestay
Both your Ban Keo and Ban Pakhoung homestays are in normal
village houses, with rollout mattresses and mosquito nets for
sleeping, as well as basic squat toilet, and bucket bath.
Meals
Your hosts will provide meals. Any eating restrictions you have
need to be clearly conveyed to village hosts.
Villagers request you to observe the following Dos and Don’ts
1. During Homestay visits please respect local culture and
custom so do not enter your hosts’ bedroom or touch any
shelves or objects that are likely to be spirit places.
Contact Details
2. Please do not give gifts directly to our children. This will
encourage them to beg.
Email: [email protected]
3. Please bring your own flashlight particularly for caving to
ensure your safety as well as enjoyment.
Pha Xang Circuit
Sayabouly Provincial Tourism Department Office, Sayabouly town.
Tel: +856 (0)74-213107
Website: www. sayaboulytourism.com
L AO S B R A N D B O O K
L o g o o n Wh i t e
www.ecotourismlaos.com
www.tourismlaos.org
U s e t h i s ve r s i o n wh e n i t ’s i n a p p ro p r i a t e t o u s e t h e b l u e b a ck g ro u n d .
i e . L e t t e r h e a d s a n d b u s i n e s s c a rd s
4. Do not litter or leave food in the caves or on trails.
Layout and Design: X-Eye Design
Pha Xang Circuit
The Pha Xang Circuit provides a
number of natural attractions in
a single circuit trail. A mixture of
long-tailed boating along one of
the most uninhabited parts of the
Mekong; exploring cave-pocked
karsts in the “Thousand Caves
area”; homestay with Khmu family;
and a Hmong community herbal
spa and medicinal plant preserve
provide a rich combination of cultural experience and nature-based
adventure. This trail can be experienced through programs hosted
and managed by local villagers, as part of their own Communitybased tourism initiative.
Programs
From Sayabouly town, the following tour options
enable you to enjoy this rewarding experience:
Nam Houng – Mekong – Nampouy
Rivers Cruise 2-day, 1-night
This 2-day, tour leaves by long-tailed boat from
Ban Thin, in Sayabouly town, and cruises down
the Nam Houng River to arrive for an early lunch
at the Houay Namsai Herbal Spa and Medicinal
Plant Preserve. After lunch learn about the
plants used in the Hom Ya steam room, as well
as in traditional Hmong medicine, get treated
to the steam bath and massage as well as an
optional swim in the crystal clear waters of the
Houay Namsai, known for its remedial qualities.
An afternoon boat cruise takes you down to where the Nam Houng river
joins the mighty Mekong. Here, you overnight in the Pakhoung village
homestay.
On the second day, after breakfast, go by boat along the Mekong river, past
boulder strewn banks and deserted beaches to the mouth of the Nam Pouy
river 24 km downstream. Turn up the Nam Pouy river, passing cliffs and
rock ledges with pristine forest to dine at Ban Keo, a Khmu village in the
Nam Thang Thousand Caves Area. From here you take the pick-up back to
Sayabouly town.
Caves visiting and Cruising 3-day, 2-night
This 3-day tour sets out from Sayabouly town,
with a visit to Sibounheuang temple, the oldest
temple in Sayabouly to learn about Phavet festival,
Phikhone. After this, set out along the mountain
road south to the 1000 Caves Area, arriving at
Nathang village the gateway to area for lunch.
After lunch, explore a 3 km cave circuit from Ban
Keo, your homestay host village.
After breakfast on day 2, climb the path to Tham
Phioy cave (ghost cry). Take a small boat down
the Nampouy river, then up the Mekong river to
Pakhoung village where you eat your lunch. From
there, cruise up the Houng river, arrive in Houay Namsai Spa Center where
villagers from Ban Houay Kaeng have prepared dinner. After dinner listen to
Hmong style Khaen blowing and Khmu songs, before an overnight stay.
On day 3, after breakfast, step up to the Phi-ya cave, and come down to learn
about herbal plants, be treated to a cleansing and invigorating steam room
spa and a relaxing massage by the Nam Houng river. Finally, after lunch,
return to Sayabouly town by pick-up. Along the way, drop in at Namtiene
reservoir to watch the sunset.
Your Homestay Host Villages
Ban Pakhoung is the village at the confluence
of Nam Houng river and the Mekong. This
village of more than 450 people offers pleasant
riverside homestay, and boating transit port on this
surprisingly uninhabited section of the Mekong.
Ban Keo is the homestay village and the road to
river transport hub for the Nam Thang 1000 Caves
Area . This ethnic Khmu village of about 64 houses
looking over the Nam Pouy river have organized
their own caving guide association and welcome you
to enjoy exploring caves around their village, as well
as their hospitality.
Other Tours
Variations of this multi-day circuit or smaller 1-day tours taking-in parts of the
Pha Xang circuit may also be arranged. Smaller tours may include tours to
the Houay Namsai Spa Center and Medicinal Plant Preserve, or separate
trips to Nam Thang 1000 Caves Area. So please ask the Provincial Tourism
Information Office about tours variations.
Ban Houay Kaeng is your host village for the
Houay Namsai Medicinal Plant Preserve and
Spa Centre. This village of 81 families of mainly
Hmong ethnicity (61 Hmong highlanders, 17 Khmu
mid-landers, 3 Lao Loum lowlanders) run the
Centre as a Community-based initiative. Here the
principles of service groups, revenue distribution,
and maintenance, and management funds, as well
as village development microfinance are all used
to make a sustainable Community-based incomegenerating activity that helps conserve nature,
culture, and provide an alternative livelihood to
villagers.