Sabaidee and welcome to Amantaka, your home in the UNESCOtown of Luang Prabang. We are delighted to have you with us duringthis festive season.

Combining both peace “Aman” and the 3 teachings of Buddha“Taka”, Amantaka is the perfect blend of a resort experience coupledwith the surrounding local history, culture and world heritage site ofLuang Prabang to explore. Amantaka is working to preserve thehistory of Luang Prabang, details of which you will be able todiscover during your stay. Aside from exploring the cultural &architectural heritage of Luang Prabang and the beautiful naturalsurroundings, we are delighted to offer some additional experiencesto enrich your stay with us.

Please, join us for the various activities and festive dinners that wehave planned during your stay and let us enjoy the rest of 2019together.

Festive Season 2019-2020

Yours sincerely,The Amantaka Family and Management Team

Thursday 19 December

Set up of the Amantaka Christmas tree

12.00 pm in the Amantaka Main Lobby

Luang Prabang does not celebrate Christmas per se, however, to give a little festive atmosphere, we have erected a traditional Christmas tree, which is 100 % natural and produced by our local community. You are invited to join us in hanging the decorations - various hand-made bamboo ornaments made by the staff of Amantaka, to start this festive season together with a fun and creative activity.

Friday 20 December

Live stations BBQ Dinner with Chef Jovan and team

19:00 by the Main Pool

Monday 23 December House Talk by Ms. Susie Martin, CEO Director of Sales & Marketing Laos Buffalo Dairy Farm

18.00 In the Amantaka Gallery

Susie Martin was born in Sydney, Australia. She graduated with a Bachelor of Economics and Business Law from Macquarie University. She worked for Servcorp, a publicly listed Australian company that operates serviced offices, for over 18 years. For 13 years Susie was General Manager for Servcorp, responsible for Japan and Europe, Australia and New Zealand and Southeast Asia. No stranger to business challenges, Susie has weathered both the Asian and Global Financial Crisis, operated an office in intense political environment in Myanmar and been responsible for the wellbeing of her staff and business during riots in Indonesia. As General Manager Susie had full responsibility for all regional business functions, her day-to-day accountabilities included managing a marketing budget of $2.5m, personally managing corporate accounts for clients such as BHP and Google, delivery of 5-Star service quality, monitoring profit margins with revenues over $50m, as well as day-to-day site management and on-the-spot problem solving.

Tuesday 24 December

Baci ceremony for all guests with Amantaka Family

17:30 In the Gallery Room

A traditional baci, or ‘Sou Khouan’ ceremony, is a Brahmin-influenced ritual that has been practiced in Luang Prabang for hundreds of years. Locals believe that 32 spirits or Khouan inhabit our bodies and protect us from illness, sadness and general malice in everyday life. Their influence works best if all the Khouan are working together, but from time to time they need to be re-aligned and perhaps told about an individual’s arrival or departure to a new environment, or a new year. The blessing is a community affair, overseen by a master of ceremonies or ‘Mo Phone’ who repeats the rhythmic ritual words and chants to the spirits, reminding them of their duties. Baci strings are then tied around your wrists symbolising the bonding together of all the 32 khouan. Local practice requires the strings to remain in place for three days; removing the strings before then may decrease the Khouan’s ability to work together in harmony. Join us for a great start to 2020.

Christmas Eve Festive Dinner

240USD ++ (Excluding 10% service charge and 10% tax) per person

19.00 In the Main Dining room

Commencing at 5:30 pm, join us for a Baci Ceremony by our Sala Baci, followed by a hosted drink and a traditional dance performance. From 7.00 pm savour the evening with delectable dishes from the BBQ live stations.

Advance reservations are required

Thursday 26 December

Special New Moon Alms Offering ‘Sai bat’

Complimentary at 05:30 Main Lobby

For centuries monks and novices have left their temples every day and walked through the town, accepting alms from the local townsfolk; a way for people to gain merit and for the monastic community to maintain in contact with their community.

Luang Prabang has approximately 1,200 monks and novices who compose a large proportion of the town’s total population. The locals place sticky rice and other foods into their alms bowls before the

Monks return to their temples with the collected food for breakfast. This walking meditation occurs at first light in different locations throughout Luang Prabang. There is a procession along the town’s main street, but we prefer the quieter and less frequented Sai bat in front of the hotel. We invite you to join us for this contemplative and spiritual experience for the last full moon of the year 2019.

Friday 27 December

Talk by Francis Engelmann – UNESCO representative for Luang Prabang on Luang Prabang’s UNESCO heritage and history

18.00 In the Amantaka Gallery

Francis Engelmann is a writer and an independent consultant living in Luang Prabang. He used to consult regularly for UNESCO during the last ten years. He worked for two years at the Luang Prabang Conservation Authority, and The Quiet in the Land - Art and Education Project. With over twenty years of work experience in Laos, both in Luang Prabang and Vientiane.

He has been living and working in Southeast Asia for more than thirty years and wrote many articles and books about the area. He has been involved in heritage issues in Laos with UNESCO since 1994 when he was part of the mission in collecting information to prepare the official application for the nomination of Luang Prabang as a World Heritage site in 1995. He joined the team in charge of the Vat Phu Champassak World Heritage site management plan in 2001.

Saturday 28 December

Live stations BBQ Dinner with Chef Jovan and team

19:00 by the Main Pool

Sunday 29 December

Talk by Francis Engelmann – UNESCO representative for Luang Prabang on Luang Prabang’s UNESCO heritage and history

18.00 In the Amantaka Gallery

Francis Engelmann is a writer and an independent consultant living in Luang Prabang. He used to consult regularly for UNESCO during the last ten years. He worked during two years at the Luang Prabang Conservation Authority, and The Quiet in the Land - Art and Education Project. With over twenty years of work experience in Laos, both in Luang Prabang and Vientiane.

He has been living and working in Southeast Asia for more than thirty years and he wrote many articles and books about the area. He has been involved in heritage issues in Laos with UNESCO since 1994 when he was part of the mission in collecting information to prepare the official application for the nomination of Luang Prabang as a World Heritage site in 1995. He joined the team in charge of the Vat Phu Champassak World Heritage site management plan in 2001.

Tuesday 31 December

New Year’s Eve Dinner and Celebration

340USD ++ (Excluding 10% service charge and 10% tax) per person

19.30 In the Main Dining room and Main Pool

Starting from 18:00 pm, Amantaka guests can join us to see a traditional Lao dance performance and enjoy a special menu from 7.30pm designed by Chef Jovan. After dinner, join us by the main pool, with drinks and entertainment to celebrate the last night of 2019 together

Advance reservations are required

Wednesday 1 January

Baci ceremony for all guests with Amantaka Family

17:30 In the Gallery Room

A traditional baci, or ‘Sou Khouan’ ceremony, is a Brahmin-influenced ritual that has been practiced in Luang Prabang for hundreds of years. Locals believe that 32 spirits or Khouan inhabit our bodies and protect us from illness, sadness and general malice in everyday life. Their influence works best if all the Khouan are working together, but from time to time they need to be re-aligned and perhaps told about an individual’s arrival or departure to a new environment, or a new year. The blessing is a community affair, overseen by a master of ceremonies or ‘Mo Phone’ who repeats the rhythmic ritual words and chants to the spirits, reminding them of their duties. Baci strings are then tied around your wrists symbolising the bonding together of all the 32 khouan. Local practice requires the strings to remain in place for three days; removing the strings before then may decrease the Khouan’s ability to work together in harmony. Join us for a great start to 2020.

Thursday 2 December

Live stations BBQ Dinner with Chef Jovan Uksanovic and team

19:00 by the Main Pool