As an avid waterfall chaser, I had my eyes on Luang Prabang, Laos for many years before I visited, namely so I could see the famous nearby Kuang Si falls. A stroke of luck (and a little bit of research) meant I was able to time a four-day visit to the UNESCO heritage listed town to coincide with the Festival of Light, which marks the end of Buddhist Lent. It was a wonderful experience and I fell madly in love with Luang Prabang during my stay. Below are the highlights of the trip!
Getting There
We arrived in Luang Prabang airport on a flight from Hanoi on a Sunday afternoon. There are also flight connections from Siem Reap, Vientiane and Bangkok. If you’re travelling more extensively through South-East Asia, a popular and cheap way to reach Luang Prabang is on the two-day slow boat from northern Thailand.
Accommodation
My friend and I stayed in dorm accommodation at Kounsavan Guest House, which was within walking distance of the town centre. It was fine as far as hostels go and I felt safe and enjoyed the highly convenient location. There were plenty of other travellers there so it could be a good choice if you are travelling solo.
First Impressions of Luang Prabang
The small town of Luang Prabang, which used to be the capital of Laos, lies on a peninsula between the Mekong River and the Nam Khan River. It’s the sort of place where you never feel as though you are too far from the river or the trees. It’s also fairly clean and it’s very walkable. On our first afternoon there, we took a walk to see some of the temples around town, which is what Luang Prabang is famous for; the whole historic town centre is a UNESCO world heritage site. When we visited the temples, they were busy setting up and preparing for the Festival of Light the following night. Lantern boats were in the process of being built and lanterns were already hanging in the temples’ grounds. As Luang Prabang is a small city, the atmosphere was very relaxed and calming, despite the fact a festival was only a day away.
Lanterns around Luang Prabang
Lanterns in the temple grounds
Monks preparing decorations for the festival
Buddha Statues inside a Temple
Down by the shore of the Mekong Delta
Night Markets
After our first stroll around town, we headed to the night markets. Every night at the corner of Settathilat and Sisavangvong Roads in the town centre, the night markets pop up from 5pm til 11pm. These markets are geared towards tourists and have loads of stalls where you can look for souvenirs. ‘Street food alley’, also known as ‘buffet alley’ or ‘night food street’ was the highlight of the market for me and is a great spot to get a cheap and filling meal. Some of the stalls here also have seated tables, which is nice for really being able to savour your food. There was a rumour going around at the hostel that Anthony Bordain was in Luang Prabang filming, so every time we saw a group of older westerners or someone with a large camera, we pricked up our ears to listen, just in case!
Extra Tip: Because street food alley has shared seating along long tables, it’s a good place to meet other travellers.
Morning Alms and Sunrise at Mount Phousi Temple
After a fairly early night, we started our first full day in Luang Prabang at 5am to see the procession of the Tak Bat, or Alms Giving Ceremony, in the town centre, which happens early every morning. This is a must-do activity in Luang Prabang, as you have the chance to witness the orange robed buddhist monks silently process down the street as seated locals offer them food (usually sticky rice). It’s a very unique and humbling experience.
After we observed the ceremony, we walked up Mount Phousi to see the sunrise over Luang Prabang. This was a nice walk through lush tropical vegetation and the views over the town and across the Mekong River were great. Up the top, to our delight, we met a friendly young monk that could speak English and wished to talk to us. Unfortunately, he quickly became quite persistent that we should give him money and harassed us a little bit. It somewhat tainted the experience as it was so unexpected coming from a monk. However, it didn’t take away from the beautiful view.
Another morning activity in Luang Prabang that we didn’t have time for on our trip but comes highly recommended is the morning market. It is known for being very relaxed and friendly and for having an impressive range of foods available, including fresh produce and street food.
Kuang Si Waterfalls
Following our visit to up Mount Phousi, we jumped on a group day tour out to Kuang Si Waterfalls, 23km from town. This was the thing I was looking forward to most on our visit and it did not disappoint! Our tour van dropped at us the park entrance, which had a bunch of souvenir and food stalls and from there we walked into the park. If you make your own way to the park, entrance is from 8am to 5.30pm and costs 20,000 kip.
Along the walk to the waterfalls, you pass a Sun Bear sanctuary enclosure run Free the Bears, an organisation that saves Sun Bears from being milked for bile by poachers. I absolutely love sunbears and I know Free the Bears from volunteering with Perth Zoo in Australia, so seeing some of the bears they had saved was really fulfilling.
A little further on, we made it to the first cascades of the waterfall. It was divine. I think this type of scenery might be my favourite type of scenery in the world. It’s just so damn gorgeous and inviting and interactive and pretty. Unlike some super scenic spots in Asia, it was also really clean, and even though there were people around, it didn’t feel crowded. I also love that there were little islands you could hang out on amongst the waterfalls and some nifty amenities like picnic tables had been added to the landscape, without taking away from the natural setting. Of course, we jumped right in the water!
Lower Kuang Si Waterfall
Picnic table in the water
Swimming at Kuang Si Waterfall
After enjoying a dip in the waterfalls, we made our way up past some other cascades until we reached the main fall. This was jaw dropping. I get chills down my spine just thinking about the way that scene made me feel. Incredible.
The breathtaking main cascade at Kuang Si Falls
All smiles at Kuang Si Falls – Loving on Laos
There are stairs on the side of the main falls where you can walk up and keep exploring further. I use the word ‘stairs’ lightly as it’s more like you’re walking up the waterfall, as shown in the footage below.
Stairs up the side of the waterfalls
Up the top, there is a cute swimming hole with swings where we spent some time with some of our new tour mates. It was like an adult sized playground and I felt like a kid again.
Checking our watches, we realised we needed to make our way slowly back to our van. We’d had the chance to spend quite a while in the area, but to be honest I could have happily spent longer. My top tip for going to Kuang Si waterfall would be to give yourself a minimum of two hours inside the park to enjoy it and take it all in, as the walk to the top of the waterfall and back takes around 45 minutes if you don’t stop. I would also recommend bringing snacks, as once you get into the park, there is nowhere decent to purchase food and you may want to stay in there for some time. Also, make sure you wear shoes you don’t mind getting wet. I wore thongs and coped fine, but some people do recommend going with something sturdier, as conditions are known to get muddy.
Festival of Light
Once we got back to town, showered and dried off, it was time to head into town for the festivities of the Festival of Light! The Festival of Light marks the end of Buddhist Lent.
We headed to the streets to take in the procession of the lantern boats through town that were being paraded towards the Mekong River, where they would be launched from the shore and float downstream. Along with the lantern boats, the festival involved the procession of hundreds of locals, including adults, kids and monks, holding a variety of lights and lanterns. Locals sold small rafts made of leaves and orange and purple flowers with candles that could be purchased and sent down stream for good luck. I captured some of the sounds and the atmosphere of the procession in the footage below:
It felt really special to be in town for this festival and I think this experience really added to our stay. If you can time a trip to Luang Prabang to coincide with the Festival of Light, I’d highly recommend it!
Elephant Village Resort and Sanctuary
We got up early following the night of the Festival of Light and headed off to the Elephant Village Resort and Sanctuary where we had booked an overnight tour. At the Sanctuary, we met our guides, fellow travellers, and of course the highlight, the elephants!
As we had booked the full overnight experience, we got assigned particular elephants for our stay. Mine had the traditional Laotian name of…Pancake. She was adorable and I fell instantly in love. Spending time with the elephants was really fun. The elephants seemed to find bathing particularly relaxing, to the point that they would release their bowels upon entering the water…which we were in with them. Luckily it was a fairly fast-moving river. My tip is that if you have the chance to bathe with elephants, make sure you stand upstream!
The tour also included a kayaking trip down the Nam Khan River to Tad Sae waterfall, which was stunning. It was very similar to Kuang Si but on a smaller scale. I’ve included some pictures and videos of this spot below. In the video series you can really see how amped I was to be exploring somewhere that felt a little bit more off the beaten track:
Because we had booked an overnight tour, we got maximum elephant interaction, the included kayaking tour, all meals and really nice accommodation at the resort. This was our room below.
Accommodation at Elephant Village Resort and Sanctuary
Elephant Sanctuaries in Laos: Traditionally, elephants have been used in the logging industry in Laos. However, this is no longer allowed. Whilst this is generally considered a good thing for elephants, it means that there are elephants in Laos from the logging industry that can’t be safely released back into the wild and no longer provide income for their owners. Therefore, Laos has a number of elephant sanctuaries that provide people the opportunity to interact with ex-logging elephants for a fee, meaning these elephants still provide income to the local people and can therefore be kept alive and looked after into their old age (elephants aren’t cheap).
Utopia Bar and Luang Prabang Bowling Alley
There are lots of little bars and drinking spots in Luang Prabang, particularly in the northern part of town at the end of the peninsula. However, it’s worth being aware that Luang Prabang has a strict curfew and most places in town close by 11.30pm. We found out on the afternoon of our final night in Laos that the thing for backpackers to do in Luang Prabang is go to Utopia Bar until 11pm, and then catch a tuk tuk or songtaew to the Luang Prabang bowling alley, which doesn’t close until 2.30am.
Utopia Bar lives up to it’s name. The view from this relaxed and chilled bar and garden looks over the Nam Khan riverbank and the vibe is idlyic. It’s a terraced venue on two levels and in the lower area, good looking travellers with great bodies and envious hand-eye coordination gather to play beach volleyball for everyone else’s casual viewing pleasure. On the upper deck, guests lounge on woven bamboo nets over the gardens below, take in the view from sun lounges, and sip on their drinks. In the evenings, people gather on comfy cushions around low tables to play board games and listen to live music. It’s a social spot and a great place to meet new people and soak up the atmosphere.
Now to the bowling alley. If this sounds super random, it is, but it’s also the thing to do in Luang Prabang late at night. Basically, it’s the only thing open, so everyone goes there. If you’re picturing mood lighting and disco bowling, you’re wrong – this is far more random than that. The bowling alley is fully lit like a high school auditorium even though it’s the middle of the night and people actually…bowl!? However, it’s really fun. Even the drive to the bowling alley is exciting, as it’s a drive 3km out of town in the dark in an open backed vehicle that you can literally climb half or entirely outside of and cling to as you ride along. Ahh Asia.
The bowling alley counter serves beers and whiskey, but when I was there at least, whiskey was only available by the bottle. I was off beer while I was in Laos due to some tummy troubles, so a bottle of whiskey and a bottle of warm cola while ten pin bowling it was! What a place. What a time. Apparently you can also do archery there these days, which sounds like a dangerous thing to combine with sales of whole bottles of spirits, but I don’t make the rules.
I know it sounds weird, but if you want a fun night out, I highly recommend you go the bowling alley in Luang Prabang. Once again, this was a town that made me feel like a kid again.
Games are from 15,000 kip per person. After midnight, the rate increases to 20,000 kip. The bowling alley is open til 2.30am on all nights other than Sunday, when it closes at midnight.
Tip: If you go to the bowling alley and are offered the opportunity to buy drugs by your driver, be warned that if you say yes, you may get turned in as they may be working with the police. Always travel to and from the bowling alley in a group and not alone.
The morning after our trip to Utopia and the bowling alley, it was time for us to pack our bags and make our way to the airport to fly to Siem Reap. Three nights had provided us with enough time to swim at two gorgeous waterfalls, see the morning alms, visit some of the temples, spend some time with elephants and enjoy the night markets and Festival of Light and I was satisfied we’d done what I’d wanted to do in the Luang Prabang.