River Cruise: Luang Prabang to Huay Xai (2 days)

This tour provider has taken action to address one or more issues (whether environmental, social or cultural) which will contribute positively to the long term viability of the destination and hence their site displays a Caring for the destination rating.

Main area of focus in Caring for the Destination:

Protection of the local environment and supporting the local community.

Detailed description of the Caring for the Destination Initiative:

The tour operators run their business in a way that protects the local environment, as well as help to benefit the local community. Luang Say Cruises stop in local Mekong riverside villages every day of the cruise. In these villages the local community is supported through buying their handicrafts. Assistance to the village school and temple is given through donations and through the clearance of litter and other debris from the paths.

Luang Say Lodge has hired a dance teacher, who is able give travellers traditional Khamu and Hmong people tribal dance lessons, and performed regularly. The lodge also supports the financing of local musical instruments. Dancers and musicians are now able to earn their living without sacrificing their culture and traditions, as Luang Say was able to revive these old traditions for them which had been lost from the Pakbeng area.

In Ban Houay Xeng Kham village, a very poor Khamu Village nearby, the lodge has helped build a small school and supply the school with books to help the children with their education. Through the opening of the lodge, employment and training has been provided for 37 villagers and tribal people and wages earned at the lodge are three to four hundred percent higher than the local standard. Villagers around the lodge are encouraged to grow fruits and vegetables and raise livestock and all their products are purchased by the Lodge.

Pakbeng has no proper water supply system or sewerage system in place, everything from the guesthouses goes straight into the Mekong River. Luang Say Lodge is leading the way by installing a sewerage system to prevent this. The lodge has also built their own water supply from mountain streams, also adding pipes so that local villages in the area so they too can have clean water.

Recycling is always practised, ensuring that all bottles, cans and plastics that are used at the Lodge are recycled. The lodge also maintains an organic vegetable garden, using compost instead of synthetic fertilisers. The riverbank across from the Luang Say Lodge has been severely damaged by logging. We are in the process of getting permission from the Sayabouli province to replant teak trees on this land.