Luang Prabang

by Sophie · 13th December 2013

We had no idea of what to expect of Lung Prabang. To be honest, we hadn’t even heard of it before this trip. We ended up liking it so much, we extended our stay!

We stayed slightly outside the UNESCO town centre, which gave us the excuse to borrow bikes and to cycle around the town to admire it’s idyllic riverside setting, and French colonial architecture. We also went by two wheels to the out-of-town local market, which we felt was the most ‘raw’ of all the countries visited so far. A fish even jumped out at Sophie, who yelped in reply!

The night market transformed the main street into a treasure chest. One of the nicest craft market, with lots of beautiful bags, homemade rice wine, sat alongside one of our favourite food markets to date. We enjoyed grilled fish, spicy papaya salad and friendly conversation there.

On the cultural side, we had a look around the palace. It was very peaceful, and pretty understated as far as palaces go, with bare wood floors and simple furnishings in most rooms. We also visited a local temple, and climbed the central hill for a sunset view over the whole area.

We hired a tuktuk for a countryside excursion to the beautiful Kuang Si Waterfalls. Olly took a rope-swing dive to cool off in the turquoise waters, and we also stopped at a bear sanctuary, which is in the same national park.

Luang Prabang Tips:

Bar Utopia to laze away an afternoon
Enjoy some high quality French pastries as an alternative to the local (although delicious) cuisine
Don’t miss the Magnetic waterfalls. Take a tuk tuk to soak up the scenery
The night market is one of the nicest we came across in our South East Asian travel – lots of unique items. Great gifts to take home.