Luang Prabang, Laos = Epic!

Luang Prabang, Laos is worth your time!

On our trip to South East Asia in late 2018, we made sure to take some time out to visit Laos. After speaking to a few people that have been there we knew it was not to be missed.  We had also used Laotian as a term for anything obscure in the past, so of course, I had to go. 

We arrived in Luang Prabang via a two-hour flight from Hanoi and if first impressions mean anything, color me impressed.  Here a quick time-lapse of our landing in the beautiful jungle-covered countryside. 

Luang Prabang, (silent r), literally means "Royal Buddha Image", and consists of 58 nearby villages, of which 33 comprise the Unesco World Heritage Site.  It was listed in 1995 for its "unique and extremely well preserved architectural, religious and cultural heritage" with a unique blend of rural and urban developments over seven centuries.  The main city center consists of about four main roads and sits on a peninsula where the Nam Khan and Mekong rivers meet.  The area is well known for its numerous Buddhist temples and monasteries, of which we only saw a couple within our limited time.

Upon arrival, customs and taxi into town, we found our small hotel.  The rooms were nothing special but clean and the staff was extremely nice and exceptionally helpful.  Since it was approaching happy hour a 'once around' was in order.  Luang Prabang city center is about 12 or 13 blocks long, right along the Mekong River.  It's a beautiful little town with a great laidback bohemian feel. Traffic is minimal and mostly scooters and every evening the main street becomes an incredible night market. You could easily spend a few days there, not do it all and, like me, still want to go back. 

We knew of a couple things we had to experience while there, so the afternoon was spent bar hopping our way down the main drag and trying to get some intel on how to get to the main waterfall and the various temples in town.  A beer here and a beer there took us to a beautiful spot at the end of the road for sunset and dinner. 

While there seemed to be a lot more to do and see in some of the outer lying areas, we spent the majority of our time in the main tourist section, with the noted exception of a trip to the Kuang Si Waterfall.  Our second day there started at a leisurely pace with breakfast at our hotel.  We ventured out around 11am after our hotel had set up motor scooter rentals for us.  

The trip to the falls was about 30km south and while getting used to the scooters and getting out of town was a bit of an adventure, soon we were out on the open road with very little traffic and nothing but small villages along a very scenic ride.  It took about an hour to get to the small tourist town at the base of the falls.   There was, of course, a small market and a few small streets catering to the constant stream of foreigners and locals coming to see this amazing natural wonder. 

We spent a couple of hours here and I had the chance to not only hike up and around the falls and back down water filled steps, but also take a quick dip in the cold and refreshing swimming area at the bottom. While I guess there are several different waterfalls in the area, this one seems to be the most popular and for good reason.  I'll let the photos tell the rest of that story, but soon we were on the road back to town, with intent on seeing the sunset across the Mekong Valley from Mount Phou Si.  

It was steep climb up a stone stair case that leads to Wat Chom Si Shrine which overlooks the entire city and the two rivers.  Crowds of people had gathered to watch the sunset from the main vantage point and I thought it was funny to look back and see all the people (and monks) holding their phones up to capture the spectacular view.  Everyone is a photographer these days.   

After the sunset and a quick rally back at the room, we headed out for the night market.  In its entirety, it was about a half-a-dozen blocks long with four rows of stalls on the main street, (one each curb and two in the middle).   If you also include the brick and mortar shops on the outside, it's quite sight to see with every trinket and tourist 'must have', along with plenty of clothes, art and delicious street food. 

Every morning the monks from the many surrounding temples walk the streets along the main drag collecting alms, which generally consists of rice.  We woke up before sunrise the next day to check this out, because well, when will I ever have the chance to see that again.  Very cool!  While some tourists were a little more aggressive, we had read that unless you are participating it is polite and customary to keep your distance. 

Later that day, we packed up our fresh laundry from the hotel and set out to find our tour operator for the slow boat to Thailand, but I will save that story for my next post. Luang Prabang is a spectacular little town and I wished I had a few more days there.  If you are planning trip to South East Asia, be sure and put Laos on the list and take your time, you won't be disappointed!