This was an amazing place, I had hankered after a trip to LP for several years now as I spend many hours reading travelogues and LP just looked stunning, definately my kind of place.
I was not disappointed, we travelled to LP by flight from Bangkok with the superb Bangkok airways, the flight taking approx 1 1/2 hours, the scenery was amazing , just mountains and temples and the mighty mekong.
You need to purchase a visa on arrival for 35 us dollars and there was a wait of about 20 mins, it really is a dinky airport and it was only a couple of steps out, taxis into town cost 200 thai baht, it is about 10 mins drive.
We had not booked any accommodation as I am a wannabee backpacker and I had decided to try my luck with finding a guesthouse on arrival - no problem within 10 mins of the taxi dropping us on Sisavangvong road which is the main street we had rejected one room for $9 ( smelt of bleach and had tiled floor) and accepted the a room in another one which was $12 and had wooden floors and smelt clean with a cute little bathroom , mini fridge and a/c.
Decided to go for a stroll around town to get our bearings and I was mesmerized , completely beautiful, to my delight I found the night market was setting up just outside our guesthouse and the mekong river was just 2 minutes stroll away.
Luang Prabang is a delightful jumble of french colonial shophouses,restaurants, travel agents, bakeries, ancient temples, bookshops, spas and galleries.
Food was excellent, we particularly enjoyed Indochina Spirit which was about 10 mins walk out of town and was in a beautifully restored wooden house, the menu was Laos and Thai cuisine , the food was extremely good and we paid $14 for a good meal for 2 with beers, we ate there twice in our 4 nights - scrummy.
There are many excellent bakeries in town and we spent a few happy hours just sitting with a coffee watching the world go by and eating delicious cakes.
1st day we hired a boat to ourselves and boat with driver for the day was $28 dollars, we visited Pak Ou caves , it was a stunning spot and the caves were full of very old Buddahs , a lovely day out.
Day 2 we hired the same boat and driver again and he took us to the waterfalls which were absolutely beautiful and we swam in the beautiful turquoise pools , there were quite a few young monks there and we took some great photos, the highlight of my stay was here as it was so serene and unspoilt.
Day 3 we pottered around town all morning and visited the temples which are stunning , the colours of the glittering jewels is amazing and I took lots of photos.
Spent the afternoon at the All Lao elephant camp and hired elepant and mahout for $40 - a beautiful afternoon out and just us there - perfect.
Shopped a lot in the night market which is beautiful and no tack at all , bought 5 pairs of thai fishermans pants for about $2 each, a geogeous white and cream duvet cover and pillow cases for $18 , 3 large green glass buddahs for $24 - 1 for me and 2 for pressies , they are amazing , also quite a few beautiful prints and assorted bangles etc.....
Last evening I had a facial at a little spa on the main street for $4 and we had a great meal in khmu restaurant which is on the main street and the food was fantastic.
Last morning we had a long walk on the Mekong which is beautiful and all too soon it was tme to go, in a nutshell I would describe Laos as laid back, unspoilt and a real gem.
When we left Laos there was a bit of a drama when we were told we could not take the glass buddhas out of the country !!!!!!!! but then they said if we paid a heritage tax we could, not sure whether this was a scam as nothing was mentioned in Lonely Planet or Rough Guides , anyway we paid without too much fuss and took the flight to Bangkok set for 9 nights in Thailand, I will never forget Luang Prabang and absolutely loved our stay there.
Thanks Shirley
Great report. I am hoping to tour Laos next year so found your report really interesting.
Great report. I am hoping to tour Laos next year so found your report really interesting.
Shirley- it sounds just such a beautiful place. Do you fancy uploading some photos- I'd love to see them 
Will try Fiona but cannot promise I am useless at anything like that 
You'll manage 
Sounds lovely Shirley, particularly the elephant bit, we'd love that. Everything is so cheap isn't it?
I love this city/town it is one of my all time favourite places.
I visited about two and a half years ago came in on a slow boat from Chang Mai, Thailand a two-day trip on the river Mekong. We were crammed in the boat like sardines but the scenery was spectacular, overnight accommodation on the boat trip was scarce and we actually stayed in someone's house for the costly sum of $1 each. The boat left around two hours late the next day as the captain would not set off before counting all his money. The toilet on the boat was a hole cut in the floor plus there were two blokes in the engine room continually tipping water on the engine to keep it cool (I just love travelling around like this).
We arrived in Luang Prabang around dusk and found accommodation straight away the Hotel was clean and cost $10 for a double room on suite. The food in the restaurants was excellent, the people very friendly. The Night market has some quite unusual stuff on not the normal tourist tat. This is a lovely place and has somewhat of a European feel about is thanks mainly to the French.
We done various tourist things like watch the sunset from the top of Phou Si Mountain, visited the former royal palace, walked around some of the markets and drank loads of beer Loas.
I will post more info on my trip through Loas if people are interested; it was quite a mad, snakes in minibuses, being locked in a hotel with food poising. Sat next to a bloke on the bus with a kalashnikof, the barman going to sleep after drinking too much rice whiskey.
I visited about two and a half years ago came in on a slow boat from Chang Mai, Thailand a two-day trip on the river Mekong. We were crammed in the boat like sardines but the scenery was spectacular, overnight accommodation on the boat trip was scarce and we actually stayed in someone's house for the costly sum of $1 each. The boat left around two hours late the next day as the captain would not set off before counting all his money. The toilet on the boat was a hole cut in the floor plus there were two blokes in the engine room continually tipping water on the engine to keep it cool (I just love travelling around like this).
We arrived in Luang Prabang around dusk and found accommodation straight away the Hotel was clean and cost $10 for a double room on suite. The food in the restaurants was excellent, the people very friendly. The Night market has some quite unusual stuff on not the normal tourist tat. This is a lovely place and has somewhat of a European feel about is thanks mainly to the French.
We done various tourist things like watch the sunset from the top of Phou Si Mountain, visited the former royal palace, walked around some of the markets and drank loads of beer Loas.
I will post more info on my trip through Loas if people are interested; it was quite a mad, snakes in minibuses, being locked in a hotel with food poising. Sat next to a bloke on the bus with a kalashnikof, the barman going to sleep after drinking too much rice whiskey.
Would love to hear more, it will help me work out what I want to do/see if I get to go there next year.
Fiona I got my flight DIY through Bangkok Airways discovery pass, the thing is we only needed Bangkok - Luang Prabang return but it was far more expensive than doing Bangkok - Luang Prabang then a 1 way flight to Samui , so we booked that by discovery pass and just didn't use the Samui sector, such a waste really but saved over £60 each!
I must look at discovery pass
you can only do discovery airpass over the phone, not on the net, I have the tel no of the london office if you ever want it just let me know, you can do most international flights for $90 and domestic in thailand $50 per sector, works out very reasonable.
Would certainly do it again,paid a lot more last year through opodo.
Would certainly do it again,paid a lot more last year through opodo.
I'll have to have another look at their routes now
What made you decide upon LP? Was it that LP was on the Bangkok airways route? I'm looking at that and Vientiane- and wondering which one.
I have wanted to visit LP for a good few years now, just looking around the internet was what first brought it to my attention, all I can say is wow, it is the most beautiful laid back place I have seen , many people say it is the jewel of SE Asia and I can understand why.
I didn't decide on it because it was on the Bangkok Airways Pass as I initially wanted to go by boat from Chiang Mai, time off work doesn't really allow for such long journeys though which is why we decided to fly.
I spoke to a few people who had also been to Vientiene but they seemed to think there wasn't much to do there, if I had the choice I would choose LP.
I didn't decide on it because it was on the Bangkok Airways Pass as I initially wanted to go by boat from Chiang Mai, time off work doesn't really allow for such long journeys though which is why we decided to fly.
I spoke to a few people who had also been to Vientiene but they seemed to think there wasn't much to do there, if I had the choice I would choose LP.
what would you say would be the length of stay there? Did you think you had long enough? Could you go for less time?
I would almost certainly do 3 nights to give time to do Mekong trips to the caves and waterfalls and also spend time in the town itself just 'taking it all in' there are some lovely spots to sit by the Mekong , there are lots of absloutely stunning temples to see, some lovely shops and the day and night markets are fantastic.
I would say 3 nights is good, we did 4 but it is definitely 'do-able' in 3.
The Bangkok Airways flight gets you in at mid afternoon time and you leave at lunch time.
Any more info don't hesitate to ask, shirleyv
I would say 3 nights is good, we did 4 but it is definitely 'do-able' in 3.
The Bangkok Airways flight gets you in at mid afternoon time and you leave at lunch time.
Any more info don't hesitate to ask, shirleyv
thanks Shirley
Apologies for the delay
Well it was part of a three-month break. We had a flight into Thailand and six weeks later a flight out of Vietnam, We decided to go via Laos so we could visit Phonsavan, we booked our trip into Laos with the Thai TAT office (TAT is the Thai tourist office, this could well be state run people with a greater knowledge of the country will be able to correct me on TAT info)
Anyway during our stay in Luang-Prabang we booked (at the bus station) the local bus to Phonsavan to visit the plain on jars. Morning arrives we walk to the local bus station and board our bus complete with canvas showing through one of the tyres. Apparently the country has a bandit problem so all bus journeys there is a guard on board with a Kalashnicoff. We have a pleasant journey through some lush jungle and pleasant mountains (the people in Laos are just so nice I and friendly I find this bandit business strange).
We arrive at Phonsavan and set about finding a Hotel for two nights, we were greeted off the bus by the usual do you want a hotel welcome that we ignored, the first hotel was not to our liking but the second hotel was really nice $10 dollars for a twin double room on suit (we were the only people staying in the hotel). We book in and then set off out to sort out a trip next day to visit the plain of jars (this consists of several sites that are around 3000 years old made up of stone jars, no one knows the reason why a bit like stone henge in the UK I guess). Trip booked we head back to the hotel and eat some food we bought earlier.
We get up the next day (new years eve) we go on a minibus trip that visits 3 plain of jar sites, waterfall plus a war memorial. We have lunch (noodle soup) in this wooden hut, we eat our food with American Vietnam war military utensils. The plain of jar sites were just fantastic, two of them still had bomb craters in from the war. On arriving back we decided to go out for a meal, while reading the menu that consisted of several Tortoise dishes I started to feel sick and had to leg it back to the hotel leaving my girlfriend to finish her meal while I suffer from a bout of food poising. My girlfriend comes back; I'm now living in the bathroom (I'll spare the details). Anyway next door there is a night club belting out music, the girlfriend goes out to have a nosey only to find the porter has gone to the party next door and locked us in the Hotel.
There was not a lot else to do in this town so next day we get up and catch the bus to Vang-Vieng complete with food poising. The bus was punctual and half empty so we could spread out, thanks to the food poising I was sick on the bus, this consisted of using a polythene bag, when finished you just go up to the driver he opens the door and you throw the bag out while the bus was moving. Next one of the surreal sequence of events happens, the guard with the Kalashnicoff is sat next to me talking to his mate in the next seat, while at the front of the bus the drivers mate is sticking his toothbrush in the side of the busses TV trying to get a picture so they could play karaoke disks (I will never complain about National Express again). We arrive at Vang-Vieng on time book into a nice hotel with a double room on-suit for 6 dollars a night.
Vang-Vieng is a lovely place that looks like it has just sprung up to cater for the tourists especially people taking a gap year, the back page on most menus consisted of house specials (herbal toppings if you get my drift), plus most bars have TV's and DVD players showing all the latest films off of bootleg disks. Next day we go on a nice organised tour and visit four caves, after visiting the last cave we stop in this village for a drink when our guide pipes up do you mind sharing the mini-bus with a snake on the way back they caught it in the fishing nets this morning. As it was caged we said ok. Back to the hotel then out for a meal, later that night we end up in this bar a little worse wear, the barman was drunk on rice whiskey and goes to us I have to sleep now crashes out behind the bar for half an hour gets back up and then carries on serving. As it was such a chilled place we spend the next relaxing.
This time we book our bus journey on a tourist mini-bus not a public bus to Vientiane, this was a big mistake it was over booked we were packed in like sardines and it was very cramped. Vientiane was a very pleasant but not as nice as Luang-Prabang, we spend two days visiting most of the attractions listed in our travel guide and eating baguettes, the market was fantastic (I think a lot of people come over from Vietnam to shop here).
All in all I found Laos a beautiful country, the people really friendly, food very nice, and felt totally comfy here. I would love to go back one day.
Note to Fiona HT mod, I cannot post pictures at the moment if you can fix this problem I will edit this post and put pictures in.
All the best Alan
Well it was part of a three-month break. We had a flight into Thailand and six weeks later a flight out of Vietnam, We decided to go via Laos so we could visit Phonsavan, we booked our trip into Laos with the Thai TAT office (TAT is the Thai tourist office, this could well be state run people with a greater knowledge of the country will be able to correct me on TAT info)
Anyway during our stay in Luang-Prabang we booked (at the bus station) the local bus to Phonsavan to visit the plain on jars. Morning arrives we walk to the local bus station and board our bus complete with canvas showing through one of the tyres. Apparently the country has a bandit problem so all bus journeys there is a guard on board with a Kalashnicoff. We have a pleasant journey through some lush jungle and pleasant mountains (the people in Laos are just so nice I and friendly I find this bandit business strange).
We arrive at Phonsavan and set about finding a Hotel for two nights, we were greeted off the bus by the usual do you want a hotel welcome that we ignored, the first hotel was not to our liking but the second hotel was really nice $10 dollars for a twin double room on suit (we were the only people staying in the hotel). We book in and then set off out to sort out a trip next day to visit the plain of jars (this consists of several sites that are around 3000 years old made up of stone jars, no one knows the reason why a bit like stone henge in the UK I guess). Trip booked we head back to the hotel and eat some food we bought earlier.
We get up the next day (new years eve) we go on a minibus trip that visits 3 plain of jar sites, waterfall plus a war memorial. We have lunch (noodle soup) in this wooden hut, we eat our food with American Vietnam war military utensils. The plain of jar sites were just fantastic, two of them still had bomb craters in from the war. On arriving back we decided to go out for a meal, while reading the menu that consisted of several Tortoise dishes I started to feel sick and had to leg it back to the hotel leaving my girlfriend to finish her meal while I suffer from a bout of food poising. My girlfriend comes back; I'm now living in the bathroom (I'll spare the details). Anyway next door there is a night club belting out music, the girlfriend goes out to have a nosey only to find the porter has gone to the party next door and locked us in the Hotel.
There was not a lot else to do in this town so next day we get up and catch the bus to Vang-Vieng complete with food poising. The bus was punctual and half empty so we could spread out, thanks to the food poising I was sick on the bus, this consisted of using a polythene bag, when finished you just go up to the driver he opens the door and you throw the bag out while the bus was moving. Next one of the surreal sequence of events happens, the guard with the Kalashnicoff is sat next to me talking to his mate in the next seat, while at the front of the bus the drivers mate is sticking his toothbrush in the side of the busses TV trying to get a picture so they could play karaoke disks (I will never complain about National Express again). We arrive at Vang-Vieng on time book into a nice hotel with a double room on-suit for 6 dollars a night.
Vang-Vieng is a lovely place that looks like it has just sprung up to cater for the tourists especially people taking a gap year, the back page on most menus consisted of house specials (herbal toppings if you get my drift), plus most bars have TV's and DVD players showing all the latest films off of bootleg disks. Next day we go on a nice organised tour and visit four caves, after visiting the last cave we stop in this village for a drink when our guide pipes up do you mind sharing the mini-bus with a snake on the way back they caught it in the fishing nets this morning. As it was caged we said ok. Back to the hotel then out for a meal, later that night we end up in this bar a little worse wear, the barman was drunk on rice whiskey and goes to us I have to sleep now crashes out behind the bar for half an hour gets back up and then carries on serving. As it was such a chilled place we spend the next relaxing.
This time we book our bus journey on a tourist mini-bus not a public bus to Vientiane, this was a big mistake it was over booked we were packed in like sardines and it was very cramped. Vientiane was a very pleasant but not as nice as Luang-Prabang, we spend two days visiting most of the attractions listed in our travel guide and eating baguettes, the market was fantastic (I think a lot of people come over from Vietnam to shop here).
All in all I found Laos a beautiful country, the people really friendly, food very nice, and felt totally comfy here. I would love to go back one day.
Note to Fiona HT mod, I cannot post pictures at the moment if you can fix this problem I will edit this post and put pictures in.
All the best Alan
that was some adventure Alan I doubt many others have had the same experiences. The bus journeys sound "different" to say the least! You can upload photos on our photo galleries- click on the link at the top of the page.Remember to give details such as place, and date taken. The gallery mod will create a folder for them and I can link to them for you in this thread.
I doubt many others have had the same experiences. The bus journeys sound "different" to say the least! You can upload photos on our photo galleries- click on the link at the top of the page.Remember to give details such as place, and date taken. The gallery mod will create a folder for them and I can link to them for you in this thread.
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