Luang Prabang - Recommendations
 

Hi all,
My family and I are going to be in Luang Prabang for 4 full days in July. We're staying at the 3 Nagas.

-What's the best way to get a car to the waterfalls? Work through the hotel? Or use Loca? Or something else? Any recommendations on the Kuang Si waterfall vs the Tat Sae?
-I see there's the MandaLao elephant conservation. I'm aware that there are ethical issues with similar ones in Thailand. Does anyone have any insights on this place?
-Has anyone gone to the Living Land farm? I have a feeling this could be real interesting, or real bad... any thoughts?
-I haven't mentioned walking around and general exploring... aside from this, am I missing anything?

Thanks!

Kuang Si Waterfalls is a must. I think I paid $25 for a car and driver for the roundtrip, actually it might have been for the whole day, but I just needed the waterfalls, so like 1/2 day. I went 18 months ago and the dollar has gotten even stronger v the kip since then, so it could be even less now. Go early before the minivans/tour bus people arrive. I went early and enjoyed the experience more than when I left, when there were lots of people taking photos and frolicking in the water (you can go in the water in some of the area).

I recommend the Ock Pop craft center, which is located just outside of the historic district. I walked it, but I'm a walker; many would prefer a tuk tuk or car. it is also in a serene location and has a lovely restaurant, and of course store. The center has a store in the historic district and there is a shuttle from the store to the center, though as I said I didn't use it.

LP is a lovely place to visit.

My only tip (from 2019) is look for the real alms-giving procession. Due to jet lag and gravitation towards solitude, I always caught it on the non-touristy part of the route and it was special and touching to witness how locals pay respect to the monks. The touristy part of the route lets you participate in the alms-giving and is less authentic.

I went on the Khopfa Mekong Cruise which was an excellent experience. Comfy chairs, good snacks, great photo opps. Tix from Belle Rive hotel, on the river of course in the historic district. Run by a French guy, but everything is in English. But definitely get some kind of cruise on the Mekong.

Didn't realize how much good food would be available, including French, Italian, etc. and of course Laotian. Pretty large ex-pat community; English is widely spoken in the historic area and visitor sites with some French audible in a number of places. had some of the best pasta I've ever had, in LP!

Our hotel arranged a driver for us to see the falls. On the way back we stopped at The Laos Buffalo Dairy. I would highly recommend a tour of it.
https://www.laosbuffalodairy.com/ We also stopped at Ock Pop Tok and bought a beautiful wall hanging. https://www.ockpoptok.com/visit-us/
If you want a special dinner go to https://www.mandadelaos.com/
Also, I don't remember the name of the dinner boat we took but the service was food was amazing. Go ahead and spend the money and get a good one.
Have a great time! We fell in love with Luang Prabang. One more thing, we did a Orange Robe Tour and found it to be very interesting.

This is pre pandemic but we did the Mandalao elephant experience. It's not elephant riding that is not permitted anymore but you feed the elephants and do a walk through a forest like setting. You are given some rubber boots to wear on the trek. You also have lunch on the property. We had previously done the elephant riding in Thailand and it's not the same and understand the concerns about the animals. I think the lao experience was still worthwhile.

We really like luang prabang. No chain hotels in town or fast food restaurants. Local places to eat and friendly people It's a nice slow pace. Climb the hill in town after the alms ceremony and watch the sun rise.

Foot massages are inexpensive and plentiful after a day of walking around its a great way to end the day

The 3 Nagas is right on the route and they can set up you up with offerings for the monks and tell you how to pay your respects. Just ask the day before.

I agree. Some of the food was amazing. Like deep fried Mekong seaweed served as a snack with beer. Strongly advise anyone to check out local restaurants, I would not stick to the hotel.

Our room at the 3 Nagas was on the second floor and was beautiful but the floors were super creaky. If you get up at night to go the restroom you will wake up anyone else in the room. And maybe the room next door so just something to be aware of. LP is very quiet at night which makes the noise that much more noticeable.

The first day we sat on the road for the alms procession and the second day watched it from the room's balcony. The roadside experience is better but both are good.

Falls by car before the busses arrive is an excellent suggestion.

Enjoy your trip, LP is a special place.

+1 on "its a special place". Enjoy the place and the pace. There are also local markets at night and an interesting food market in the middle of town. I had a hat that needed to be repaired .. need some stiches and we walked by a shop with a sewing machine and it was fixed in 5 minutes for a dollar.

Right before Covid we been in LP for several days, I did my post back there
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/asia...g-prabang.html

Regarding transportation to the waterfall, we used shared van, but if you have >2 people probably it worth to get car with driver.

Still worth a visit?
 

I was in LP almost 10 years ago and loved it. A friend wants tus o go on our next BKK trip, but I am hesitant hearing that it is overly touristy and disappointing. Thoughts on that? Are there places to stay that are less in the main tourist area?

I expect that it has changed, just wondering if it still unique compared to other places we could visit in SEA. (This is a side trip from a BKK trip). Thanks for your thoughts.

Not been to LP before, although I have done a brief trip to the Lao capital before as an Loveland crossing from NE Thailand. So am looking to do a trip to LP from BKK which would probably be around a week could be up to two weeks, probably in November. What would people recommend as a suggestion for length of stay and key things to have on the list of things to do, based upon your previous experiences?

We usually focus on visiting places / buildings rather than hiking or outdoor pursuits and would be happy to have a relaxed approach to the trip whilst getting into the sights and sounds of the area.

I wouldn't stay on the main road through the historical area, perhaps too "touristy" for me. I stayed at the Sanctuary Hotel, about 2 blocks from the main road/night food market. The historical area, like old towns in Europe, is touristy. I mean who else pays $8-10 for a sit-down meal of Italian food in Laos, for instance? Nevertheless, it felt comfortable to me and not "too touristy" in that sense. I did walk around some of the other parts of LP intended for locals, which is nearby and easily within walking range.

We will be visiting Laos for a week (in late-February) before a week in Northern Vietnam. We are visiting friends in Vientiane and are debating how to spend the rest of the trip. In particular, is it worth splitting our non-Vientiane time between Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng? (Either 2 nights in each or 3 nights in LP and 1 in VV)? Or is 4 nights in LP alone a better option? A lot of the discussion I've found online is from pre-train days, which seems to alter the calculus significantly.

Trip report from a 4-day stay in Luang Prabang
 

Day 0: Arrival Day

I wanted to provide follow-up of what we did in Luang Prabang. For context, we’re a family of four Americans, with our kids just completing high school. We stayed at the 3 Nagas –it was a great property with incredible staff. Other reviews of 3 Nagas points out the squeaky floors… very true. We had a family from India arrive above us a couple days into our stay and their middle of the night heaving walking woke us up.

We arrived from Siam Reap in the evening. The Loca app (think Grab for Laos) would only allow us to book a car for a max of 3 people, so we took a cab. I’m pretty sure the taxi manager ripped us off as we were charged $16 USD to get to the hotel when the coupons had the equivalent KIP at 50% this.

We ate dinner at the hotel, and it was very good. The spices are toned down for white people, but overall the food was excellent.



Day 1:

We had breakfast in the hotel as part of our room. The food and service was outstanding. Coffee was unlimited and you could order multiple items off the menu. There was a mix of western and “Lao” food (not really Laotian, but perhaps Lao inspired?).

We explored the historic district and visited the old palace. By midday we were dying from the heat. We had massages from a random place on the street and then retired to the AC for a while. At dinner time, we left the hotel and walked down the street to one of the local restaurants and had dinner.

Day 2:

I woke up early and observed the morning Alms from across the street at the hotel. I had read about disruptive tourists and initially didn’t really observe anything that I thought was above-and-beyond. However, a busload of Chinese tourists arrived and there were photographers and videographers who were recording every aspect of the ritual. I’m not sure if the folks taking pictures were part of the tour or if they were professionals as the cameras were high-end and they seemed to be focused on capturing certain individuals in the group. As the ritual wound down, someone came up to me and took an uncomfortably closeup picture of me… it was all kind of strange.

We went to the Kuang Si Waterfalls using a cab that I arranged through the hotel. While the car was a bit pricey, our driver was outstanding and spoke impeccable English. In addition to seeing the falls, we stopped by the Buffalo dairy and ate some ice cream, stopped at the Civet Coffee place, and stopped at the Luang Prabang Elephant Sanctuary long enough to realize that the elephants there were being abused. The waterfalls were a definite highlight… we swam in the water… it was chilly, but a great break from the heat! Make sure you bring water shoes/tevas/etc. for swimming as the natural surface of the pools is irregular and rocky with some tree branches, etc, strewn on the bottom.

That evening we went around the corner from the hotel and had dinner at a place 1 block east where you grilled your own meat and created your own soup with provided vegetables.

Day 3:

We decided to “take it easy” and walked around a little in the morning. We booked a sunset cruise on the Khopfa Mekong Cruise. The cruise itself was great. While it was mostly cloudy, we really enjoyed seeing the shoreline and the beauty of the Mekong River. The crew was great. There were drinks and light food available for sale –unfortunately I needed to stop at an ATM and they didn’t take credit cards once on the boat. In comparison to other boats circling along the Mekong, I can say that the Khopfa was one of the best choices… the others had various gimmicks including young girls dancing, loud dance party music, and/or the condition of the vessel wasn’t as nice.

Day 4:

I booked cooking class at the Tamarind. It started at 8:45 with a trip to the local market (not the morning market, but the market in town). After a tour of the market, they drove us to a house set into the jungle with a whole outdoors (sheltered) cooking setup. The property was beautiful, and there were some small waterfalls in the area increasing the peaceful feeling of the area.

We made five dishes –we ate four of them for lunch and then made mango sticky rice for dessert. The food was outstanding and our instructors were everything you could want. Class ended around 2 and we were dropped off at Tamarind maybe 30 minutes later.

Mrs. Dog had developed food poisoning overnight from Day 3 and wasn’t able to participate in the cooking class. The 3 Nagas took great care of her and put her in an unused room for the afternoon and even brought her some toast and tea. We checked out, said goodbye to the staff, and caught the evening flight to Hanoi.



We really enjoyed our time in Luang Prabang. It fell into the middle of a 3-week trip to SE Asia for us and the speed of LP provided a great break between Bangkok and Hanoi. The town was more expensive than Siem Reap, but not awfully so. We felt incredibly safe and thoroughly enjoyed our visit.