Trek into the green heart of Laos

Amble between rice paddies, gaze up at towering limestone peaks and visit minority tribes on your way to a village homestay outside magical Luang Prabang. You’ll meet the mountain Khmu hilltribe, stay in a simple, traditional cabin and be woken by the resident roosters in the morning. It’s a peaceful, heartwarming hike that will help bring you closer to the ethnic communities scattered across the green mountains of Laos.

Travel between two countries on your own two feet, crossing from Thailand into Laos or vice versa. It’s a brilliant way to get across the border, with some gorgeous scenery and a real sense of achievement attached. On the way, you’ll trek through tropical forests, pass between tumbling rice terraces and follow the banks of the Nam Tha River, staying in wooden huts and eating home-cooked Laotian meals.

Scramble up jungle-clad karst mountains looking back over meandering rivers, gaze down into bright green valleys, watch the local workers in the rice paddies and end the day swinging in a hammock on the riverbank with an ice-cold Beer Lao in hand. Nong Khiaw is Laos at its most dreamy, a rich landscape packed with gentle spirit and panoramic views. It’s somewhere to lose yourself completely for a few hazy days.

The Bolaven Plateau has to be seen to be believed. A lush, green rainforest sprinkled with waterfalls and thick with tropical ferns, it’s like stepping into a land before time. Here, you can stay in a hilltop bungalow opposite two waterfalls crashing over 200 metres into the gorge below – something that you won’t forget in any kind of hurry. During the day, you can trek to meet the minorities living hidden in the rainforest, cool off in natural pools and hike through the overgrown wilderness.