So, starting next high season, we’re branching out and offering… tailor-made artisan tours! Think village tours for textile enthusiasts!
A bit pressed by time? Come with us to Ban Phonesay. This village on the banks of the Mekong is where most of our weavers live. Just 15 minutes from our Living Crafts Centre and yet the promise of a total change of scenery.
This tour includes: Welcome at the Living Crafts Centre and depart by boat. Arrive in Phonesay. Tour the village accompanied by one of our team members. Meet Mrs. Daovon, master dyer and weaver and dye some scarves with her. Relax in her house with a drink. Depart back for the Living Crafts Centre by boat.
You have some more time and would like to venture a bit further? Then join Ock Pop Tok’s co-founder, Joanna Smith, as she travels to Ban Nayang, one of the first villages to participate in our Village Weavers Program.
It was still the early 2000s and the beginnings of the Village Weavers Project when we heard about a village in the Luang Prabang Province producing high quality cotton and amazing indigo. On arrival it was instantly apparent that the journey was going to be worth it.
If you ever wondered what a Tai Lue village looks like, Ban Nayang is worth the detour. The village, set in a lush river valley, is a model of traditional cultural life. The elegant stilted houses stood filled with looms, cotton ready for spinning spilled out of baskets and colourful yarns dried in the sun.
So who’s coming? It’s the perfect tour for textile enthusiasts! Let’s go?! Two options are available for this tour.
Option 1: Depart in a van. In van discussion. Arrive in Ban Nayang. Walk around the village. Lunch followed by a Natural Dyeing Workshop. Drive to Nong Khiaw where you spend the night in a boutique hotel. Wake up early the next morning. Take the boat to Sop Jam. Walk around the village. Back on the boat for lunch. Drive to Manifa Elephant Village, have dinner there. Late arrival in Luang Prabang.
Option 2: Depart in a van. In van discussion. Arrive Ban Nayang. Walk around the village. Lunch followed by a Natural Dyeing Workshop. Drive to Nong Khiaw where you spend the night in a boutique hotel. Wake up early the next morning. Drive to Manifa for lunch. Take the boat back to Luang Prabang. Visit Pak Ou Caves on the way back. Arrive in Luang Prabang in the afternoon.
You love textiles but you’ve heard so much about the other crafts practiced in Laos that you would like to give them a try too? No problem! Next season, we’re also partnering with some of our friends in Ban Chan and Ban Xang Kong to bring to our guests some new craft experiences that go beyond textiles.
Our mission to support Lao traditions, fair trade, women’s empowerment and environmental sustainability appeals to travellers in search for conscientious, eco-friendly ways to spend their holidays. So what will it be? An initiation to pottery or paper making?
½ Day Pottery Class at Lao Pottery House + ½ Day Bamboo Weaving/Natural Dyeing/Silk Weaving at Ock Pop Tok (includes lunch and afternoon tea)
This tour includes: Pick up at Ock Pop Tok. Cross the Mekong to Ban Chan for a ½ Day Pottery Workshop. Start with a tour of the Pottery Village with Thieng, the founder of Lao Pottery House, try your hand at pottery on a traditional wheel at Thieng’s workshop and finish the morning with a traditional Lao lunch. Take the boat back to Ock Pop Tok for an afternoon class. 3 options available: Silk Weaving, Bamboo Weaving or Natural Dyeing. End this crafty day with an afternoon tea by the Mekong at Ock Pop Tok’s Silk Road Café.
½ Day Silk Weaving, Bamboo Weaving or Natural Dyeing at Ock Pop Tok (includes lunch) + 2h Paper Making Workshop at Porsaa Learning Centre & Art Gallery.
This tour includes: Pick up from our Boutique Shop (or hotels and guest houses on the way). Tour of the Living Crafts Centre, followed ½ Day Silk Weaving Class, Bamboo Weaving or Natural Dyeing at Ock Pop Tok. Lunch at Silk Road Café. Tuk tuk transfer to Ban Phan Luang to Porsaa Learning Centre & Art Gallery. Tour of the property with Ting to understand how saa paper is made. Make your saa paper sheet. Drop off in town.
Contact us for more information!
[email protected] or +856 20 5795 8321 (WhatsApp).
