OUR
GUIDES
We are a small boutique operator and once we have confirmation of a booking we go back to our short list of guides and guarantee one or more for you, depending on your itinerary.
The sooner you book, the better the chances for us to guarantee you the best guides. In any case, we update our guides on your profile and your expectations so that they are better prepared to welcome you accordingly.
We only work with freelance guides because our volume of business does not allow us to keep them busy throughout the year, with a marked seasonality.
If you are lucky enough to travel between April and September, the likelihood of being accompanied by "good guides" will be easier, even with last-minute confirmations. The role of our local Lao licensed tour guides is to be the bridge between our guests and the local communities visited.
They are here to ensure travelers will be fully immersed in the program that has been designed just for them.
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We want our tours to be as experiential as possible.
We love the idea that the travelers are the protagonists of their holidays. By interacting directly with the various stakeholders we have handpicked, we feel that each visitor will gain a better understanding and appreciation of the Lao culture and lifestyle. We work with passionate and fascinating people all over the country. Feel free to rely on your guide to be the interpreter with your hosts, during a workshop, a farming experience, at an animal center, at your homestay, during a social event, etc. Do not leave with unanswered questions! Your guides are not the only people with whom you will mingle and “learn everything” from.
Our guides love sharing their life experience and showing open-minded visitors what it is like to live permanently in Laos and to draw parallels with where visitors come from. Some of them have studied abroad; a few of them have lived abroad; a handful may have visited the country where you come from. For some of them, guiding is just a seasonal occupation. Lao people tend to be reserved. They are not known to be extroverts. So, do not be afraid to ask questions yourselves. Do not assume that the guides will be talking all the time - some of them are more at ease on certain topics and you cannot expect your guide to be an authority on every subject. In Laos, some topics are sensitive (politics and all that goes with it, particularly public education and health). Not all guides will speak openly. But we hope that guests will enjoy the stories they are told to illustrate the various facets of what makes Lao culture what it is.
The local guides will ensure that you travel safely, by rearranging services in case of hazards. They will coordinate with your drivers to make sure you make it on time to airports, train stations, boat piers, border crossing points, etc. Your guide will strive to brief guests on what’s coming up. But it is also the responsibility of visitors to know their program and eventually to foresee and prepare for what comes next, for instance, an early wake-up call, a hike/trek, a wet experience, etc. If you are exploring extensively and widely, you will likely come across several local guides. The chance that the local guides have different profiles, characters, levels of command of the language, and depths of knowledge is high. Please be as proactive as possible with the guide(s) who may be a little shy, and remember your relationship with them is a two-way street.
The guides will happily recommend to you what to do when you have some downtime, meals at your own expense, shopping, etc. Thankfully, Laos is not a country where guides/drivers take kickbacks for taking visitors to certain establishments.
We wish you pleasant explorations in good company!