First stop in Laos: Luang Prabang

I started writing this blog as we sat in one of our favourite cafes, Saffron Espresso Cafe, in Luang Prabang. After being away for a few nights we were back for one night before heading to the south of Laos – and it was wonderful to be back! There is just something about Luang Prabang that makes you want to stay a little longer…it is touristy but yet so chilled, there is not much to do but yet you could spend days wandering the lovely streets and/or sitting in one of the many cafes. We happily spent six nights here and easily could have stayed longer! 

For our first five nights we stayed in a lovely but simple guesthouse across the Nam Khan river (the centre of town is situated between the Nam Khan and Mekong rivers). To get to the town centre we had to cross a small bamboo bridge for pedestrians only. The bridge is there only during the dry season and is taken down for the wet season as water levels become too high and the current too strong. For maintenance and rebuilding there is a charge of 5,000 Kip per person (approximately 75 USD cents) for a return journey across the bridge (although the bridge is unmanned before 8am and after 9pm at which time it is free). We loved this small bridge and the smiley lady selling tickets – even on our tenth journey across the novelty still hadn’t worn off! Apart from this bridge, it is also possible to cross via the motorbike/bicycle only bridge. The town centre is quite small and very easy to explore both on foot or by bike – we borrowed some bikes from our guesthouse on one occasion but mostly just walked. 

The centre of Luang Prabang is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site and is home to over 3o beautiful wats (temples). We didn’t attempt to visit them all but did have a wander around Wat Xieng Thong which is the grandest. We also liked the quiet and simple Wat Manorom (about 15 minutes walk from the town centre) – with more monks than tourists it was very peaceful. To round off our cultural activities we visited the Royal Palace which again was a worthy stop.

One of the main day trips from Luang Prabang is to the Kuang Si Waterfall. We read that it gets very busy and decided that we should head there for opening time which is 8am. We also wanted to see the daily alms giving ritual, Tak Bat, and decided to combine the two. Tak Bat takes place every morning around sunrise with the monks leaving their temples to collect their daily meal. We didn’t have to go far to observe this ritual – waking up at 6am we stood right outside of our guesthouse where the locals were sitting on little stools and waiting for the groups of monks from the nearby temples to walk past so that they could give them the rice offerings in return for blessings. After the monks had collected the food they would chant/sing. It was very spiritual and we felt very privileged to observe the ritual from a short distance away. As with everything else this ritual has become a tourist attraction and it seems that some tourists are not necessarily respectful, to the point that we saw signs at temples with some etiquette guidance. 

After Tak Bat, we headed to the Le Banneton Cafe in the centre of town. Sipping our espresso and munching on fluffy and buttering croissants we almost felt like we were in Paris – were it not for the beautiful wat across the road! After breakfast we got staight into a tuk tuk and headed to the Kuang Si Waterfall which is an hour’s drive from town. It cost us 200,000 Kip for the return trip, including the driver waiting for us for about two and a half hours (it was just the two of us but the cost per person can be reduced for those happy to share a tuk tuk). We arrived at the Waterfall park around 8.30am and it was still very quiet. I can’t remember the entry cost to the park but as with all tourist attractions in Laos it wasn’t particulary cheap. As part of the ticket you also get to see the Bear Rescue Centre which is located near the entrance.

I have seen photos of the Kuang Si Waterfall on the Internet and Instagramme but it was much prettier in real life. The turquoise colour of the water pools was just stunning! We climbed to the top of the Waterfall and did the 3km walk to the other side -although there was not too much to see it was good exercise! We got back to our tuk tuk at 11am and were back in town around midday for an iced coffee and a tasty falafel wrap at Saffron. A great morning and I would recommend this exact itinerary to anyone planning to visit Luang Prabang (maybe minus the climb to the top of the Waterfall depending on level of fitness). 

We read that one of the best spots for sunset is Mount Phousi – of course every single other tourist has read the same thing! There are two ways to get to the top, both involving over 300 steps. We chose to go up from the Nam Khan river side as there are a few temples to see on the way and then come down near the night market.  We arrived early, probably an hour and a half before sunset and got a great spot on the steps. Arriving early however does not guarantee you the best spot, come sunset the place becomed packed with tourists standing over one another and pushing their way to get the best spot. It makes for some interesting people watching but not the lovely peaceful experience that one would hope for! We just tried to pretend that the crowds weren’t there and enjoy the view. The waiting time also gave us an opportunity to chat about our travel plans and to slightly change our itinerary – see updated plan. In the end, the best part of the evening was chatting to two local students. At first we thought that there was some catch but they just wanted to practice their English (which was already very good!) and hear about life in Australia and the UK. We in turn enjoyed hearing about their lives. For a more tranquil sunset experience, the bank of the Mekong has great views. We found a quiet bar on the edge of town and enjoyed a couple of beerloa long necks (possibly one of our favourite beers on this trip so far!) whilst the sun went down.  

Although I wouldn’t describe Daz and I as creatures of habit, in Luang Prabang we found a few places we liked and we kept coming back to them. The Rossella Fusion resturant along the river for their Pad Laos Gai – similar to Pad Thai but with a Laos twist and tastier than any Pad Thai I’ve ever eaten. Cafe Toui on a quiet side street for their delicate and fleshy white steamed fish in a red chilli coconut sauce with dill – absolute deliciousness! The Luang Prabang Bikers Club for a beerloa and friendly service. We also loved the wood fire pizza at Pizza Phan Luang (which was very conveniently located next to our guesthouse, that is,across the bamboo bridge from the town centre) and had a lovely dinner at Bamboo Tree which also serves as a cooking school. There is street food available around town and at the night market but with our bellies still a bit delicate and with so many great restaurant options we chose to skip the street food on this occasion. 

We originally booked four nights in Luang Prabang but as we were recovering from the bug we had in Hanoi and no other plans, we decided to stay for another night.  This also gave us the opportunity to visit an elephant sanctuary. It was not something that we had planned to do but a sign in town which said in big bold letters NO RIDING caught our attention. After much due diligence about the company, called Mandaloa, and much deliberation we decided to book a half day tour with a baby elephant, his mother and as we discovered on the day the matriarch of the group. The tour started with a pick up from our guesthouse and we were taken to a stunning farmland area about 30 minutes drive from town. Mandalao keeps the size of the groups very small and for our tour it was a maximum of four people, so it was us and two ladies. There is also only one tour per day to reduce any stress on the elephants. We waited for the elephants holding large bunches of bananas and they happily approached us with their trunks extended. I can’t remember the exact amount that they eat per day but it was definitely greater than my body weight. The feeding followed by bath time, basically the elephants walking into a creek and us throwing buckets of water on them. As we discovered elephants don’t have sweat glands so they keep cool by having baths. 

After bath time we joined the elephants on their morning walk. It’s amazing how much joy you get from just walking beside these magnificent creatures. As we were saying goodbye one of the mahouts gave me some corn to feed to baby Kit (his favourite!) who in thanks smiled and wrapped his trunk around my arm – definitely one of the highlights for me! During the course of our trip the elephants were all treated well and (not that we are experts in any way) seemed happy.

The sanctuary is in fact a rescue centre with all elephants having been rescued from the logging industry. Although baby Kit had been born in the centre as a result of a union between his mamma and a male elephant in the wild. By chance, on the day of our tour the director who had set up the centre was visiting also. Having worked with elephants for over 20 years and having established rescue centres in Thailand, he told us about his plans to rescue elephants from the logging industry, stop poaching and introduce elephants back into the wild. Laos used to be known as the land of a million elephants but sadly there are less than 1,000 elephants left today. After listening to him talk with so much love and passion about the elephants, we were convinced that this was an ethical centre. Hopefully other centres which call themselves ‘sanctuaries’ also follow suit, stop offering rides to tourists and treat their animals well. And hopefully next time we visit Laos it may be possible to see these animals back in the wild. 

 Feeding the elephants some bananas. We also discovered that they really like corn.

On our last night (after a few days away) we stayed in the centre of town. We missed our bamboo bridge but it was great to be within five minutes walking distances to all our favourite places. One thing that we both agreed on is that it would have been a bonus to have accommodation with a pool to have somewhere to cool off on the hot afternoons. It was not essential for us but something that we would recommend to someone doing Luang Prabang as part of a shorter trip. 

I didn’t want to say goodbye to Luang Prabang but Southern Laos awaits!