The 2016 Bela Vista Ball Program in Cambodia and Laos, 23-28 April 2016

05/02/2016

FURTHER FLIGHT INFORMATION FOR THOSE ATTENDING
Here's some more information, this time focusing on flights out of Luang Prabang to other cities in Asia. This is not only of interest to those coming to our program from Hong Kong, Singapore, Singapore, Bangkok, Thailand, Hanoi, Vietnam, or Saigon International Airport, Ho Chi Minh City, but for people coming from the US, Europe and Australia who will be transiting through one or more of those cities on their way to and from Siem Reap/Luang Prabang.
Your choice of flights out is of course likely to be determined largely by your choice of airline to fly you in to Siem Reap, from or via a nearby Asian cities. Most people will probably depart on Thursday 28 April, but because of airline schedules (and for other reasons) we know that some people will be staying an extra night in Luang Prabang and departing on 29 April. The options mentioned below take this into account.
For people who decide for one reason or another to stay on for the night 28 April (as we ourselves will) there will be the option of an extra final night dinner in Luang Prabang, the details of which will be announced in due course.
To HONG KONG the best option on Thursday 28 April is to take Vietnam Airlines VN931 (2:35-4:04 pm), from Luang Prabang to Siem Reap, and then to take Dragonair flight KA241 (8:05-11:40 pm) non-stop to Hong Kong. For the Dragonair ticket to be economical, you would need to fly Dragonair also from Hong Kong to Siem Reap on Saturday 23 April (see previous travel note). All other flights to Hong Kong from Luang Prabang involve an overnight stop - in Hanoi, Saigon or Bangkok, whether on Vietnam Airlines, Lao Airlines, Thai Airways or Bangkok Airways. There is, however, a convenient connexion from Luang Prabang on Friday 29 April on Thai Airways (2:50-10:15 pm), flights TG577/TG602 LPQ-BKK/BKK-HKG.
To SINGAPORE the best option on 28 April is to take Vietnam Airlines VN931 (2:35-4:04 pm), from Luang Prabang to Siem Reap, and then SilkAir flight MI636 (6:55-10:05 pm). These flights are also available on Friday 29 April.
To BANGKOK On 28 April Lao Airlines operates a very early non-stop flight QV633 (7:40 am-9:20 am), while and later in the day Bangkok Airways operates flight PG946 (5:25 am-7:25 am). There is no Thai Airways flight on 28 April, but on 29 April there is non-stop flight TG577 (2:50-4:25 pm), arriving BKK early enough for connexions to most places in Asia and the world.
To HANOI there are several flights daily, including Vietnam Airlines VN930 (7:10-8:10 pm) and Lao Airlines QV313 (5:10-6:10).
To Ho Chi Minh City (SAIGON) the only practicable flights are on Vietnam Airlines via Siem Reap, VN931/VN812 (2:35-7:30 pm).

01/02/2016

On Sunday Espen & I visited the prepared food market in Luang Prabang, and got some great ideas for catering during the Bela Vista Ball program in April. And we had a fabulous snack of freshly roasted duck & quail served on banana leaves at a market table

30/01/2016

Our other Luang Prabang base hotel for the Laos section of 2016 Bela Vista Ball program, the Belmond La Résidence Phou Vao, will also be a fabulous place for members of the group to stay. And we'll be having the welcome reception and dinner here when we arrive on 25 April

28/01/2016

We are thrilled, while making final arrangements for the Laos section of the 2016 Bela Vista Ball program, to be back in Luang Prabang and staying at The Luang Say Residence. What a fabulous venue it will be for our gang in April!

25/01/2016

FLIGHT INFORMATION FOR THOSE ATTENDING
Here's some information about flights in & out of Indochina from other cities in Asia. This is not only of interest to those coming to our program from Hong Kong, Singapore, Singapore, Bangkok, Thailand, Hanoi, Vietnam, or Saigon International Airport, Ho Chi Minh City, but for people coming from the US, Europe and Australia who will be transiting through one or more of those cities on their way to and from Siem Reap/Luang Prabang.
From HONG KONG the most convenient flight to Siem Reap on Saturday 23 April (our first night) is Dragonair 港龍航空 flight KA240 (5:30-7:05 pm). The day before, 22 April, there is no Dragonair flight but an easy connexion on Vietnam Airlines flights VN593/VN839 via Hanoi (2:30-6:50 pm including a 1 hour transit in Hanoi), which connexion is also available, among others, on 22 April.
From SINGAPORE the easiest flight on 23 April is SilkAir flight MI633 (2:35-3:45 pm) or on 22 April SilkAir flight MI612 (4:40-6:00 pm).
From BANGKOK there are several Bangkok Airways flights to Siem Reap each day. The best flight on 23 April would be Bangkok Airways PG913 (2:05-3:15 pm).
From HANOI there are several Vietnam Airlines flights daily to Siem Reap, and on 23 April the best would be VN837 (3:30-5:10 pm).
From Ho Chi Minh City (SAIGON) there are also several flights to Siem Reap each day, some operated by Vietnam Airlines and some by Cambodia Angkor Air. On 23 April the most convenient would be Vietnam Airlines VN813 ((4:30-5:30 pm) or one of the earlier Cambodia Angkor Air flights (which are all code-shared with Vietnam Airlines)
As everone knows, we will be ending the program in Luang Prabang, Laos, and not all the airlines listed above fly out of Luang Prabang International Airport. We will be posting a separate note about flights out of Luang Prabang, but many people will probably find it easier to take a flight, for example Vietnam Airlines VN931 (2:35-4:04 pm), from Luang Prabang to Siem Reap, and fly out of there with the airline that brought them in, allowing the booking of a more economical round trip ticket.

15/12/2015

Important news for all those who have told us that they intend coming to Cambodia and Laos in April: we are today sending out booking forms and requests for payment of deposits

09/12/2015

Here's a timely report on why now is a great time to go to Luang Prabang - and that's even without the embellishments that we add when we design a China Coast Ball program! More news on our April program is coming in the next 24 hours.

Twenty years after Unesco recognition, Luang Prabang’s star still shines. Go now before the superfast trains get there

26/09/2015

We are very excited to announce the 2016 Bela Vista Ball program, to be presented in Siem Reap (Angkor Wat), Cambodia on 23 & 24 April, and in Luang Prabang, Laos on 25, 26 & 27 April 2016. It goes without saying that this 2016 offering, in the two major UNESCO world heritage sites of Indochina, will stand in stark contrast to the 2015 program in cool, mountainous and maritime Norway.

There will next year be just one program for all participants (that is to say no optional parts) comprising two days in Siem Reap (Angkor Wat) followed by three days in Luang Prabang, and culminating in the 2016 Bela Vista Ball, to be held on Wednesday 27 April at the beautiful Luang Say Residence in Luang Prabang. A small hotel, with charming interiors and beautiful gardens and grounds, the Luang Say evokes more than any venue we have seen for years, the scale and mood of the Bela Vista in Macau, hence our plan to designate our final event as the Bela Vista Ball. Some other general notes:

• Having had this year what we think was consistently the highest quality ever food and wine ever, we plan to maintain that high standard in 2016. Obviously, since we will be in Asia rather than Europe, there will be more emphasis on the best of Khmer (Cambodian) and Lao cuisines.
• As is customary, our events will feature diverse and high quality entertainment, both local and international.
• At Siem Reap we will be staying at the classy and elegant Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor, a classic hotel in the China Coast Ball tradition (http://www.raffles.com/siem-reap/).
• At Luang Prabang, where all the good residences are small, we will all be staying at several different hotels, including the Luang Say Residence, our “headquarters” hotel (http://www.luangsayresidence.com/), La Residence Phou Vao (http://www.belmond.com/la-residence-phou-vao-luang-prabang/), the Hotel de la Paix (which by next year will have been refurbished and rebranded as a Sofitel, http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-9669-hotel-de-la-paix-luang-prabang-managed-by-accor/index.shtml) and the Satri House (http://www.satrihouse.com/index.php/english/home/). All these delightful hotels are very close to each other.
• After we have opened bookings and have begun processing confirmations, we will be giving detailed advice as to how people should structure their travel arrangements. In the meantime, however, we can confirm that participants should plan to fly in to Siem Reap, Cambodia, during the day on Saturday 23 April (or a day earlier if they want time to decompress before the festivities start), and fly out of Luang Prabang, Laos, on Thursday 28 April (unless they wish to make some plans for private travel in Laos).
• The whole group will be travelling together from Siem Reap to Luang Prabang on Monday 25 April on a chartered Airbus A320.
• Since it will be warm - possibly quite hot - in Cambodia and Laos, we are incorporating time into the program in which everyone can, if they wish, cool off at the beautiful pools that are to be found at all of our hotels.
• Also having regard to the warm weather, we will be proposing dress codes specially configured for the climate: cool in both senses of the word!
• We will again in 2016 be offering a discounted version of the program to young people, defined as those 30 or younger.

Booking procedures

First (now! and in any event before 31 October 2015), all those who intend to come should let us know, by sending an email to our dedicated email address [email protected]. Please tell us how many people will be in your party, and their names. And please let us have the age of anyone who is under 30.

After we know how many people are intending to come, we will be able to calculate the costs and thus the likely price (which we are sure will not be more than USD $5000 per person and probably less than that). Then we will set a deadline (we expect 30 November 2015) by which all participants should confirm and pay a deposit (likely to be around 30% of the price). At that time we will also be informing everyone of the deadline for making full payment (probably the end of January 2016).

Some of the detail remains to be confirmed, but based on our well-informed expectations, here is a broad outline of the program:

Saturday 23 April: Arrival at Siem Reap International Airport, and check in to our hotel, the Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor (http://www.raffles.com/siem-reap/). After some free time in the afternoon, there will be a glamorous welcome reception at the hotel, starting with drinks in the elegant bar, lounge and veranda, and continuing with an elaborate dinner & show in the garden.

Sunday 24 April: During the day there will be several options for private guided tours in small groups of the Angkor Wat complex and of other temples and palaces in the UNESCO world heritage zone. You will be able to choose, for example, a very early (when it is cool) tour of Angkor Wat, followed by a tour of other temples in the late morning or afternoon, or a late morning Angkor Wat tour with an afternoon tour of other temples, or afternoon tours of both Angkor Wat and other temples. Whichever combination of tours you select, the whole group will be reunited at a stylish venue back in Siem Reap for lunch. In the evening we will be taken back to the Angkor Wat world heritage zone for a magical dinner under the stars at one of the least known but most singular temples.

Monday 25 April: At around lunchtime, after some free time in the morning, we will be transferred to Siem Reap International Airport to check in for a 90 minute charter flight to Luang Prabang. As you would expect, Espen already has some quite well developed plans for deluxe catering for this flight. Upon arrival at Luang Prabang International Airport, we will be transferred in separate groups to our four hotels. During what remains of the afternoon there will be time for poolside relaxation, or perhaps a little preliminary exploration of the beautiful colonial/Lao traditional centre of town that forms the UNESCO world heritage site. In the evening we will have our Luang Prabang welcome reception and dinner at La Residence Phou Vao (http://www.belmond.com/la-residence-phou-vao-luang-prabang/) where around a third of the group will be staying.

Tuesday 26 April: Today an early start for everyone, as we go to a specially reserved site to participate in the early morning alms-giving as hundreds of Buddhist monks parade through the city. We then adjourn to one of the largest monasteries to join the monks for breakfast, and then there will be an optional visit to Luang Prabang's famous morning food market. Your “regular” breakfast will of course be available at your hotel upon your return from this outing. For the rest of the day the focus is on the old city, with a selection of private guided tours of the UNESCO world heritage zone in small groups at different times (at your option). No matter which tour option you choose, we will (as in Siem Reap) all be reunited during the day for a lunch on the bank of the Mekong River. In the evening we will go to the National Museum (the former Royal Palace) for cocktails in the garden followed by a private view of the museum (after it is closed to the public) and dinner in the grounds.

Wednesday 27 April: There will be free time in the morning for some poolside relaxation or a late sleep-in, and then late morning we will be taken to the shore of mighty Mekong River to start a two-hour cruise upstream on a fleet of traditional Lao boats. After a visit to the famous Pak Ou Buddha caves, we have a specially catered lunch at the junction of the Mekong and Ou Rivers, and then return (much faster downstream!) to Luang Prabang. After some more leisure time in the afternoon, it will be time to get ready for the final event, the 2016 Bela Vista Ball, which will be held in the main building and grounds of the Luang Say Residence (http://www.luangsayresidence.com/), where about a third of the group will be staying. Those who can remember the late-years Bela Vista Balls at the Mandarin Oriental-operated Hotel Bela Vista in Macau will have a good idea in advance of what the Ball will be like. Suffice to say that we will be pushing the boat out on this one, with sensational set-up, food, drinks, and entertainment!

Thursday 28 April: Departure will be at your option, depending on your flight time and how you are leaving. Once we know who is coming, we will be sending information on possible flights, and also advising on a number of other post-Ball options, which could include travel by boat to Thailand, or a couple of days at a resort or camp in the north of Laos on either the Mekong or Ou Rivers. In the meantime you might like to look, for example, at the web site of the Kamu Lodge, or of the Mandala Ou resort in Nong Khiaw, or at the boat and lodge options offered by the operators of the Luang Say Residence.