Vietnamese, Lao provinces to offer joint tours

The two provinces' tourism authorities last week announced the Quan Son - Vieng Xai tour. This is the first tour to connect destinations in both localities.

Quan Son District in the central province of Thanh Hoa is blessed with a picturesque landscape of terraced fields and stilt houses outside which people of the Thai ethnic minority community weave fabric.

Besides, visitors can go fishing on Luong river, explore the Bo Cui and Nang Non caves, and enjoy the Ban Nhai waterfall, and other attractions.

A small fish market on beach in Thanh Hoa in sunrise. Photo by Shutterstock/Jimmy Tran

Culinary specialties of the Thai, including rock moss, grilled river fish and chopped chicken with mangrove bamboo are also worth trying. The day can be rounded off with Thai folk music and dance performances.

Vieng Xai District of Hua Phan Province boasts nearly 500 caves, including the one named after Laos' former President Kaysone Phomvihane, who used it as a revolutionary operations base in 1964-1973.

A traditional water festival and culinary specialties like sticky rice, grilled chicken, Savanakhet grilled chicken, fried vegetable salad rolls and papaya salad add to the district’s natural attractions. Beer aficionados should know that Lao beer has been hailed as being among Southeast Asia's best.

Vuong Hai Yen, deputy director of Thanh Hoa's tourism department, said that to have more people take the tour, the localities will continue to invest in infrastructure, human resources, and complementary services.