Luang Prabang was our first major stop after we crossed the Thai border with Laos. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and for that reason it attracts a lot of tourists from all over the world. It has some well preserved cultural and religious monuments and the city itself is very visually appealing due to lovely French colonial architecture. It was a no-brainer that we had to visit it on our journey through this part of the world.
First of all: logistics. Luang Prabang can be easily reached by air from the neighbouring countries making it a very accessible destination for most people. Since we tried to reduce the amount of flying on this trip, we decided to get there by boat on the Mekong from Thailand. There are a number of companies running cruises and there is also a slow public boat you can take if you’re on a smaller budget. The journey takes 2 days and you need to stop for the night in Pak Beng. I researched the options and decided to go for a slightly more comfortable option using the Nagi of Mekong tour company. They were super helpful on email and provided a lot of information and pictures which ultimately helped us decide on who to pick. We got to Chiang Khong on the Thai side the night before the cruise and the tour agency gave us all the Laos immigration forms so that we could fill them in ahead of time. They then picked us up in the morning and escorted us through the border which was very helpful and took us to the pier on the Lao side where we boarded the boat. There were around 30 people on board and each couple or group had two benches and a table (a booth) to themselves. There were also beds you could nap on and tons of extra space. The lunch was cooked by the family who owns the boat and both days it was delicious. Coffee and tea were available all day as was some fruit. The cruise was really lovely and we spent the time watching the scenery and chatting to fellow passengers. The price of the cruise also included a hotel for the night in Pak Beng in the Mekong Riverside Lodge which was awesome (think bamboo huts overlooking the Mekong). We made a couple of stops in local villages and in the Pak Ou Cave near Luang Prabang which was great since the cave is one of the attractions in Luang Prabang, so we got to do this before we even got to town. Throughout, we had an English-speaking guide and at the end of the journey they organized vans to take us all to our respective hotels – amazing service. All of this cost £115 pp which I think was great value given the comfort of travel, great food and the excellent service. I would definitely recommend doing this as it’s an unforgettable experience.
Now for the main event – Luang Prabang. It is a lovely little town and I can see why it draws the crowds in. It has a beautiful riverside location, Mekong on one side and the Mekong’s tributary on the other, so you are never far from a river stroll. There are of course numerous, well-preserved temples to visit but the architecture and the whole vibe of the town is the most charming aspect of it. It feels as if you were transported to the French colonial Indochina you see in films. The town itself is pretty small and you can see most sights within town in a day if you wanted to, that is if you have enough stamina to walk or cycle in about 35 degree heat all day! We allocated 6 nights for it so we had a lot of time to spread out the sightseeing a little.
We started off by climbing Mount Phoussi which is directly in town. It’s best to go really early when the heat is not too oppressive. It’s not a big hill and won’t take longer than half an hour to reach the peak. There is a pagoda on top but the best part is the 360 degree view of Luang Prabang and the surrounding areas. I believe we had to pay a small amount to enter but it’s definitely worth it (less than £2 pp).
We also visited the Wat Xieng Thong, the most famous gilded temple and the Royal Palace, where Laos’ monarchy resided until it was abolished in 1975. The Palace is now a museum and you can have a look through the actual rooms where the kings lived. The temple had a small entrance fee and so did the museum. If you wish to visit the museum you need to take notice of opening hours – they are closed at lunchtime.
One of the biggest attractions lies outside of town – it’s the Kuang Si Falls. There are lots of shared vans that run that route and you can easily arrange a ticket through one of the numerous tour agencies in town. We chose to go early to avoid the worst heat. The van cost approx. £3.50 pp return. It takes about 45 minutes to get there and they give you 2.5 hours before returning to Luang Prabang. You also need to pay the entrance fee to the falls which is fairly small, less than £2 I believe. By the way, the reason I keep saying “less than” is because of the awkward conversion rate: £1 = 11,500 kip. Most entrance fees, tickets etc. are 20,000 kip or 30,000 and it’s too time consuming to say exactly what this means in £ 😉
As you go in to the falls, you first have to go through a sort of a mini zoo I guess where they keep bears. The bears have been rescued (apparently the Chinese capture them to extract their bile for medicinal purposes, so awful) but I couldn’t help thinking that the space they have been given here is very small so the word rescued seems a bit ironic to me but hey, everyone can have their own opinion on this. Anyway, you can see the falls at different levels and if you feel adventurous you can even climb up to the top however you can’t see the drop from there so it’s worth it but from an exercise perspective only :-). It is a very beautiful place and you are allowed to swim there too if you want. Overall, a great half day out of the city and very worth it.
Another attraction out of town is the Pak Ou cave. It is right on the Mekong river and we visited it as a part of the cruise but you can catch a ride their from town too. You can reach the cave by climbing up steep steps and once inside you can see lots of buddha statues. You can also climb further and see another cave. It was a nice stop but having seen the Sadan Cave in Myanmar which was enormous and really cool this one failed to make an impression on me to be honest.
Our activities in Luang Prabang also included cycling. Our hotel had some available free of charge so we took them out one morning and did a bit of cycling around villages on the other side of the Mekong. You can get a car ferry over there which departs every 20-30 minutes and costs less than £1 pp with a bike. There are cycle friendly paths there which are really easy if you have some basic gears on your bike and a comfy seat. Sadly, our bikes turned out to be too basic so we gave up after a while but nevertheless it was good to get out of town and see some surrounding areas.
One final activity we did here which I definitely recommend is the sunset boat cruise on the Mekong. SaSa bar runs these daily and the cost is £8pp which includes a Lao mojito. You can also get some other drinks on board if you like. The cruise takes 2 hours and we really enjoyed it. There are some great photo opportunities as the boat goes quite slowly. We liked the vibe so much that we returned to the bar itself the next day. The bar is located on the Mekong side and has comfy sun lounges from where you can watch the sunset.
The rest of our time in Luang Prabang was spent on eating our way through various restaurants and enjoying the nice vibes. Lao food really surprised us actually. It is heavily influenced by the neighbouring Thailand and Vietnam but they seemed to have taken the best bits of both to create something new and very tasty. The best part for me is the sticky rice. It is served with pretty much anything in cute little bamboo baskets and is slightly chewy. Great texture! The curries are flavoured with a lot of coconut and lemongrass and are less watery than the Thai ones. The stir fries are more saucy and thicker than their counterparts from Thailand too. The Vietnam influences come from the heavy use of herbs and more of a clean composition of dishes. A great example is lab or larb which is minced chicken or pork mixed with herbs and spices served as a sort of a salad. Sounds weird but it is delightful served with some crunchy shredded cabbage for example. The beer is better too and reminded me more of Central European beers than the usual weak Asian varieties. If you fancy something European, Yuni restaurant had a great European menu and the mezze platter was particularly delicious.
There are a lot of hotels and hostels to choose from in Luang Prabang including some fancy options like Sofitel or Avani. We went for a more budget-friendly option and stayed in Villa Ban Phanluang. It is a little out of town but we had the benefit of visiting in the dry season so could make a shortcut to town by a bamboo bridge which doesn’t exist in the rainy season. We had to pay a little to cross but it didn’t bother us at all, was a fun adventure each time as the bridge is a little bouncy and rickety. The best part of our guesthouse was having your breakfast delivered to your balcony each morning, a delightful start to the day!
