Luang Prabang, Laos
Trip date: 2015/2016
GO. Part of the historic trip summaries, our trip to Laos took place during a three month adventure to South East Asia and Australia. Where locations are still open we have tried to include a link to them - and to point out where hotels, restaurants may now be closed.
Travelling in our early thirties, but before kids, allowed a great balance of freedom to explore but also a little bit of cash in the back pocket to not have to scrimp and save too much. We actually went twice to Luang Prabang, returning with a set of parents a year after our first visit. So good we went twice!
We flew into Luang Prabang from Chiang Mai airpot in Northern Thailand - a short one hour hop over some quite stunning scenery. The alternative here was a 14 hour road journey and an uncertain border crossing - so the $100 air fare balanced against the time/effort saved. There appears to be no direct flights anymore, which is a shame, however there are connections via Bangkok for the same $100 price tag. Nestles in lush forests right in the heart of Laos, Luang Prabang is a vibrant town with heavy French influences.
STAY. Much of the action in Luang Prabang centres around Phousi Hill and the small peninsula that juts where the Nam Khan and Mekong rivers meet. We chose to stay right next to Phousi Hill in the Saynamkhan Hotel for 4 nights. Prices for hotels in Laos were around £30 a night for a perfectly good 3 star hotel which you could trust would be all that was needed. One of the added bonuses of this hotel was the very random bird that joined you for breakfast! It looks like this hotel may now have been renamed, but still exists.
EAT and DO. Our first full day in Luang Prabang was spent wandering around the quaint French colonial style streets, both to admire the peaceful town and find the dinner boat pier (not there), museum (closed) and temple (forgot our long trousers). So we headed back into town and had a croissant, a tartine and a bière. Well why not. In the evening we had booked a table at Tangor restaurant, not just due to its excellent reviews, but also because of the steak we had seen exiting the kitchen the night before. A big fillet steak at half the price of the UK, and I even shocked he Frenchman by asking for it blue. He bartered me down to rare saying it was a big thick piece of steak.
Another cooking course followed, and we can confirm that Lao cuisine is not a patch on Thai. We went for a tasting menu at the restaurant which ran the cooking course on our first night and the flavours were quite overpowering, especially in the bamboo soup which was a little bit 'orrible. The course though was good fun, run out of town in a nice setting and we got to choose when to omit stronger herbs. We didn't put the tripe in our laap but did risk a half-teaspoon of the buffalo bile...
We visited Kuang Xi falls on the third day, which is a really impressive set of waterfalls cascading through lush forest. The water runs a turquoisey blue due to the minerals from the rocks. Tom went in up to his knees and got nibbled at by those little spa fish things. Upon returning from here and a short stop to see bear feeding time, we went in search of food.
We convinced ourselves the bamboo bridge was safe (it squeaked a lot), and found a cracking place serving Lao Fondue. Basically a combination of fondue (broth style) and pierrade; the best bit was the lump of pork fat you chuck on top to keep everything lubricated. We both turned our noses up at it at first but Nina almost polished it off once it was cooked.
We even managed a haircut each in Luang Prabang; mine was a simple affair; Nina got a good wash and cut, and we were all kept amused by the Frenchman and his brat of a child who said as Nina sat down "you are taking a risk with your hair". His kid had already whinged about his haircut yet he still sat down to get his done.