The Angkor National Museum with its curator
Amansara arranges a private tour with the museum's curator, Dr Ven Sophorn, on the golden era of the Khmer kingdom.
Hidden Indochina by Private Jet
Bangkok, Angkor, Luang Prabang, Sapa and the Golden Triangle, by private jet.
- 14 nights
- Five stays
- Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam
- Private jet, culture, mountains
Fourteen nights across four countries, with a private jet doing the long hops. Angkor with a private guide, the Angkor National Museum with its curator and dinner in a 10th-century temple lit by 1,000 candles; silk weaving with master weavers in Luang Prabang; the hill villages above Sapa; and a night among elephants where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet.
- Length
- 14 nights
- Pace
- Five stays
- Style
- Private jet, culture, mountains
- Route
- Bangkok to Siem Reap to Luang Prabang to Hanoi and Sapa to The Golden Triangle
- BangkokTwo nights
- Siem ReapTwo nights
- Luang PrabangFour nights
- Hanoi and SapaThree nights
- The Golden TriangleThree nights
01
Days 1 to 3 · two nights
Bangkok
A private transfer from the airport. The Grand Palace, Wat Arun and Wat Pho, an evening in Chinatown and a Thai dinner. After the Jim Thompson House, a walkway can lead on to Ban Krua, a Muslim community a century old, to meet the last of his original silk dyers and weavers, who remember him visiting each morning. At the hotel, a Khon mask to paint, a Lanna umbrella to make and Muay Thai in the riverside courtyard.
Where you stay
Capella Bangkok
Capella Bangkok is on the Chao Phraya River off Charoenkrung Road, with 101 suites and villas, all with views of the water. Seven villas sit on the river's edge, with folding glass doors onto private gardens, and Côte by Mauro Colagreco cooks on site.
02
Days 3 to 5 · two nights
Siem Reap
A private jet to Siem Reap. Ta Prohm and the Bayon with a private guide, Angkor Wat at sunrise and Banteay Srei. A private tour of the Angkor National Museum with its curator, Dr Ven Sophorn, on the golden era of the Khmer kingdom, a water blessing from a monk at a local temple, and dinner in the 10th-century temple of Prasat Kravan, lit by 1,000 candles.
Where you stay
Amansara
Amansara was once a residence for the guests of King Sihanouk, a 1960s building in the New Khmer style, and now holds 24 suites. There is a circular dining room, a curving pool and a spa, and Angkor Wat is about 10 minutes away.
03
Days 5 to 9 · four nights
Luang Prabang
On by private jet from Siem Reap to Luang Prabang. The palaces and monasteries of the old town, the Tai Lue weaving district, sunset from Mount Phousi, a walk with elephants beside the Nam Khan and the Hmong night market, with free days between. At dawn the monks' alms round passes through town, and at Ock Pop Tok's Living Crafts Centre, master weavers teach silk weaving, natural dyeing and Hmong batik.
Where you stay
Amantaka
Amantaka occupies a historic garden estate in the UNESCO-listed old town of Luang Prabang, with views towards the Mekong. Its 24 suites have high wooden ceilings, four-poster beds and private verandas or courtyards, some with their own pools, and there is an Aman Spa.
04
Days 9 to 12 · three nights
Hanoi and Sapa
A private jet to Hanoi for one night, with the Old Quarter, Hoan Kiem Lake and the Turtle Tower. Then a helicopter to Sapa for the cultural museum, dinner at Hill Station, a trek to Cat Cat village and a hike at Heaven's Gate.
Where you stay
Hotel de la Coupole - MGallery
Hotel de la Coupole is the work of Bill Bensley, who mixes French Indochine style with the colours of the hill tribes. It stands on Hoang Lien Street with direct access to the Fansipan cable car, and Le Grand Bassin is an indoor pool on the seventh floor.
05
Days 12 to 15 · three nights
The Golden Triangle
A private jet to Chiang Rai. The Hall of Opium, a mountain drive along the border, lunch with a hill tribe at Doi Mae Salong, a tea tasting, half a day learning from the mahouts and a campfire dinner. One night can be spent in a Jungle Bubble, dusk to dawn among the elephants of the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation, which gives a home to elephants, mahouts and their families rescued from logging camps, the street and shows.
Where you stay
Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort
Anantara Golden Triangle sits on a mountain ridge in 160 acres of bamboo forest, with views over Thailand, Laos and Myanmar. Its elephant camp runs a research and conservation programme, and the rooms, suites and two Mekong Explorer Tents share an infinity pool and spa.
Arranged on request
Dinner in Prasat Kravan
A Cambodian dinner in the 10th-century Angkor temple of Prasat Kravan, lit by 1,000 candles.
A monk's water blessing
A private ceremony of 15 minutes at a local temple, in which one of the monastery's monks gives a water blessing.
Weaving with Ock Pop Tok
Classes in silk weaving, natural dyeing and Hmong batik at the Living Crafts Centre in Luang Prabang, taught alongside its master weavers.
A night with the elephants
Anantara's dusk-to-dawn Jungle Bubble, dinner and breakfast among the elephants of its research and conservation camp.
Jim Thompson's last weavers
From the Jim Thompson House, a walkway to the century-old Muslim community of Ban Krua, to meet the last of the silk dyers and weavers who worked for him and remember his morning visits, by arrangement.
Subject to availability.
Ways to make it yours
- A morning at the Kuang Si waterfall from Luang Prabang.
- A cruise on the Tonlé Sap lake from Amansara, in the resort's own boats.
- A night under canvas at Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle.
This is a sample. The hotels, the pace and the order are where we start, not where we finish: every journey is designed around the people taking it.
Made around you
Most travel is bought. This is designed.
Before anything is booked, we talk: who is travelling, how you like to spend a morning, and the hotel preferences below the obvious, from the kind of bath you like to the time you wake and how much daylight you need in a room. You see options where options matter and clean recommendations where they don't.
The same person remains your point of contact from the first reply to the trip after next. No handovers. No team.
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