LUANG PRABANG, LAOS 2012

this page content informations about:

The Circus land / registration and cancellation policy / accomodations/ what to bring / how to get there( from chiang mai and bkk) / meals / visa / local amenities and services in the circus / Luang prabang general infos and more pictures...

A NEW CIRCUS LAND :

In January 2010, with the amazing skill of 3 Lao carpenters and the participation of many friends from the waterfall village, the Thai Massage Circus base camp is born. In less than 6 weeks, the villagers accomplished with an apparent facility what would normally takes months.  The bungalows, toilets, kitchen and platforms appeared like mushrooms. Constantly coming and going,  the trucks carrying red wood and various bamboos ended up to design a path in the middle of the virgin nature.  Soon, in the  exact center of the land, a 144 square meter thai massage wood platform started to enfold. Within ten days, the massive square wood building was finished, with a magnificent pyramidal herbal roof ready to welcome the villagers for a ceremony and  the students for circus.

Everything looked then possible. And literally day after day, different constructions were delivered like pizza:
the kitchen with a cute river view terrase and the next door dinning platform, five bungalows along the pools, 4 toilets and showers close to the camp. The 3 carpenters and the teams worked with  big smiles and no apparent stress, no machine to cut, lift or dig, but simple tools, machetes, hammers and nails. Women of all age of  the next villages weaved the herbal roof for each house, storing  the piles on  their front door for daily pick up. With the help of Chanty and his touk -touk, thousands of pieces arrived in a few weeks to cover all buildings. In the meantime, a buffalo came on the land, to plough the soil before rice plantation.  Three fantastic bright green rice fields appeared, watered by the abundant twin rivers and directed by lao efficient irrigation system.

During the circus weeks, more surprises arrived from friends and volunters: fire wood herbal steam sauna down the land and next to the main natural pool, salad garden, compost, sun clock, amazing wood fire clay oven, petanque competition plot, "UFO landing place" and sacred fire ...The fifty blue and yellow little tents spread on the upper part of the old rice terrass ended up to give a Smurf touch to the mushroom village. The 12000 square meters of the Circus  land was ready for play.

I have infinite gratitude to Raphael Buckaert and Patrick Brady who came in the early days on this naked land with no road, no electricity, no comfort and cold nights to start to build from zero. They both came with joy, and precious skills to communicate and understand the lao culture. The magic of Raphael opened all doors, Patrick disappeared and lived up in the roof with other monkey-carpenters.

We tried our best to respect environment, use natural products, avoid chemicals on the land, and share with the lao neighbours our concern to respect nature.

Nature is there so generous: Hundreds of papaya trees give more fruits than we can eat. The banana leaves, enough shade for every one. Water runs all year, fresh and pure. No mosquitos around in february, but dragonflies, fish, and birds. And the calming sound of running water. In the afternoon, the wind comes down from the surrounding mountains and bring cool breeze on the thai massage platform.

I honor with gratitude the ancestors of this Lao land that worked for rice with simplicity for generations .

I thank my friends co teachers, the amazing students and all the circus tribe for making this adventure alive and unforgetable.

May our joy last

Arno

REGISTRATION

The cost for this course is 1590 euros if you stay in an individual tent. If you want to stay in one of the few bungalows available, the price is 1790 euros.

Space is limited… You may register early to ensure your space… The previous years the Circus was filled up months before.

To register enter in contact with Arno L’Hermitte : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

You have to submit a deposit of 500 EUROS to register.

CANCELLATION POLICY:

• If you cancel at least 45 days before the course, you will be refunded your deposit (less administrative fee- 100 EUROS).

• If you cancel between 0 and 45 days prior to the Circus, there will be no refund of your deposit.

ACCOMMODATION : all  accomodation  in tent or bungalows includes pillow, sheet, sleeping mat

The circus camp offers two types of accomodations:

- individual TENT, (1590 euro)

-  shared  bungalows or individual bamboo hut(1790 euros)

the shared bungalows have electricity and terrasse on river side. Maximum two students per  bungalow.

-small individual bambou hutt (small bungalow)

WHAT TO BRING

- A good sleeping bag or a blanket

- A torch and spare batteries!!!

- A yoga mat.

- A swimsuit & towel

-please bring organic soap and shampoo to preserve circus land and nature

The weather is usually dry and sunny during this season. But it gets for sure chilly at night and in the early morning.

THE MEALS :

every year different kitchen chefs(David, Mark, James...), together with  Lao sisters are doing the miracle of serving 3 healthy meals a day based on good natural and local products. When booking please inform us if you follow a particular diet or if you have allergies. Circus kitchen is vegetarian and delicious... We serve eggs (separetly) few times a week. The local village is ten minutes walking away from our Circus camp if you feel having personal extra food along the month

HOW TO GET THERE:

the following informations has been given by Ghan circus travel agent and friend in Chiang Mai that is helping our circus from the first year.She also gave us this year amazing informations to grow the  circus organic garden....

4 OPTIONS TO GET TO LUANG PRABANG FROM CHIANG MAI

OPTION 1

MINIBUS+ BIG BUS (1 DAY 1 NIGHT) COST 1,400 BAHT

10:00AM   6 HOURS DRIVE TO BORDER TOWN OF CHIANG KHONG

16:00PM ARRIVE CHIANG KHONG AND ACROSS THE BORDER (DINNER BOX PROVIDED)

17:30PM  13 HOURS BY BIG BUS AIR-CONDITION TO LUANG PRABANG

06:00AM ARRIVAL LUANG PRABANG

OPTION 2

BUS & SLOW BOAT (3 DAYS 2 NIGHTS) COST 1,750 BAHT

10:00/12:30   6 HOURS DRIVE TO BORDER TOWN OF CHIANG KHONG AND OVERNIGHT (GUEST HOUSE AND DINNER INCLUDED

16:00/18:30 ARRIVAL CHIANG KHONG

07:30AM INCLUDE BREAKFAST AND TRANSFER TO IMMIGRATION AND ACROSS THE BORDER

10:00AM SLOW BOAT TO PAKBENG (INCLUDE LUNCH BOX)

17:00AM ARRIVE PAKBENG (NOT INCLUDE SLEEP & FOOD)

09:30AM LEAVE PAKBENG TO LUANG PRABANG 7-8 HOURS BY SLOW BOAT

17:00PM ARRIVAL LUANG PRABANG

OPTION 3

BUS & SPEED BOAT (2 DAYS 1 NIGHT) COST 2,500 BAHT

10:30/12:30   DRIVE TO BORDER TOWN OF CHIANG KHONG AND OVERNIGHT (GUEST HOUSE AND DINNER INCLUDED)

16:00/18:30 ARRIVAL CHIANG KHONG

07:30AM BREAKFAST AND TRANSFER TO IMMIGRATION AND ACROSS THE BORDER

10:00AM SPEED BOAT 8 HOURS TO LUANG PRABANG (INCLUDE LUNCH BOX)

18:00PM ARRIVAL LUANG PRABANG

OPTION 4

BY PLANE FROM CHIANGMAI (1 HOUR)

LAOS AIRLINE ONE WAY 5,100 BAHT

RETURN 9,500 BAHT

DAILY FLIGHT CHIANG MAI – LUANG PRABANG 15:05PM - 16:05PM

DAILY FLIGTH LUANG PRABANG – CHIANGMAI 13:10PM – 14:10PM

3 OPTIONS TO GET TO LUANG PRABANG FROM BANGKOK

OPTION 1

BY PLANE FROM BANGKOK (1 HOUR)

LAOS AIRLINE ONE WAY 5,950 BAHT

RETURN 10,950 BAHT

DAILY FLIGHT BANGKOK – LUANG PRABANG 10:20AM – 12:00PM

DAILY FLIGHT LUANGPRABANG – BANGKOK 07:30AM – 09:30AM

OPTION 2

BY BUS FROM BANGKOK (25 HOURS) 1 DAY 1 NIGHT

**CONTACT YOURSELF AT EASTERN BUS TERMINAL IN BANGKOK & BUS STATION IN VIENTIANE***

BANGKOK – NONGKHAI//NONGKHAN – VIENTIANE//VIANTIANE – LUANG PRABANG

OPTION 3

BY BUS AND PLANE (BANGKOK – UDONTHANI BY BUS 12 HOURS THEN FLIGHT FROM UDONTHANI TO LUANG PRABANG) BUT THE FLIGHT TO LUANG PRABANG ONLY THURSDAY AND SUNDAY

COST (FLIGHT ONLY) price from 2011

ONE WAY 3,620 BAHT

RETURN 7,100 BAHT

UDONTHANI – LUANG PRABANG 12:20PM – 13:10PM

LUANG PRABANG – UDONTHANI 10:50AM – 11:40PM

VISAS

- You can get a visa at the airport, at the border (Thaïland/Laos, Nong Kaï) when you arrive at the airport.

Price is about 30 TO 40  USD and maximum validity is one month.You can pay only with Us dollards, Thai bath or Lao kip. You ll be asked 1 id picture. This picture can be done in the aiport too.

You can extend easily and immediatly  your visa in Luang Prabang at Tourist immigration, from few days up to one month, and renew this extension 3 times, so 3 month stay maximum

Visas are issued for one entry and must be used within three months of issue date.

The cheapest, fastest and easiest option is to get a visa on arrival at Vientiane Airport, Luang Prabang Airport or at the Friendship bridge.

LOCAL AMENITIES

- There is now several ATM in Luang Prabang, markets, internet, and one million guesthouse....

- You can change all kind of foreign currencies.

- From the Circus camp,  the next door Kuang Si village is only ten minutes walk, with waterfall, restaurants, touk touks service...

- The circus organise a laundry service 3  times a week

-We have electricity on the land for charging  laptops, telephones , cameras...

-we have NO INTERNET connection (and we dont want it in our retreat) but we do have telephone network coverage. not telephone in class time ....

LOCATION : Luang prabang

- Luang Prabang is the jewel of Indochina, and an UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995. It is indisputably one of the most beautiful cities in Asia, boasting numerous projects to help preserve and maintain the traditional old town in all its prestige.

The ancient royal city is surrounded by mountains at the junction of the Mekong and the Khan river. In the centre of the city is Mount Phousi with stunning views of the surrounding temples and hills. With about 20000 inhabitants and many bicycles, Luang Prabang is a small city where time seems to stand still.

- Until this day Luang Prabang still holds a strong Buddhist presence, whose population proves extremely active and faithful towards their religion. With dozens of golden temples, covering a third of the city's surface area, and thousands of orange-robed monks decorating the streets, Luang Prabang remains the heart of numerous religious festivals and activities. It is a place with a strong spiritual energy and a magic quality not to be found nowadays in many cities in Asia.

- Although tourism in Luang Prabang has increased over the past few years with the arrival of an international airport and frequent tourist boats along the Mekong, this city has somehow managed to preserve the tranquility and authenticity of a Laotian village.