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 the 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 ne
xt year be 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 - possible 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: the dress codes will be 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. 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 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 is selected, 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 park’s least known but most singular temples. Monday 25 April: At around lunchtime 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 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 tours of the UNESCO world heritage zone in small groups at different times (at your option). No matter which tour program 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 late morning we will be taken back to the mighty Mekong River for 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 Ball at the Mandarin Oriental managed Hotel Bela Vista in Macau will have a good idea in advance of what the Ball will be like. Suffice to say, for the rest, 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.
