Imagine walking through the jungle in the rain, using a giant leaf as an umbrella, with elephants walking next to you. This is Laos.
I immediately noticed a relaxed vibe when our flight landed in Luang Prabang, especially coming from Vietnam. Everything moves slower. Lao PDR stands for Peoples Democratic Republic, but the people joke that it actually means Please Don’t Rush. Laos is definetly a place to relax.
Things to do around Luang Prabang
Elephant Sanctuary
One of my all time favorite experiences was at Manoa Lao Elephant Sanctuary. They have a large plot of land in a National Park and the rescued elephants are free to roam here. There’s only 4 people max/day visiting them and your money goes towards this company eventually buying them. Once they are fully owned, they can be set free into the wild if they’re ready. This company is teaching the elephants how to be independent again after years of being fed and having humans do everything for them. Also, it’s apparently common for farmers to kill an elephant for eating food off their land. This company has a deal with the surrounding farmers, where if the elephants accidentally eat their food, they will pay for it. This company is doing really great things for the freedom of elephants and you can tell in the elephants behavior that they are happy.
We walked down to the river with some food and the elephants came out of the jungle to meet us. We crossed the river to get to them and they splashed us with water. We splashed them back and it turned into a water fight. They’re such big animals but they were acting like puppy dogs. What a huge personality difference from elephants that are chained and have no free will.
After a few hours walking around the jungle with them, we had lunch. This was included in the price and made from an organic farm that’s on site.
Spending the day with these gentle creatures was so special- unlike the elephant tour I did in Thailand where there were 20 tourists crowding the elephants, and they were sadly chained and prodded with bullhooks. Our day was so much more memorable at Manoa Lao because there were only a few of us, and because of how happy and free the elephants were.
Because this company limits it to 4 people, it’s better for the elephants but it’s also more expensive than other tours. The cost for this experience was about $80 USD, and I would go back to Laos just do this again.
Kuang Si Waterfall
Kuang Si Waterfall is a 45 min drive from Luang Prabang. It’s advertised in town to take a tuk tuk or a van but we wanted to ride a scooter. We rented a scooter in town for $19 USD including gas. For southeast Asia this is very expensive. I guess some tourists were getting into accidents with the scooters, so they they put a steep price tag on bikes to nudge people toward a tuk tuk.
When you arrive at the falls, theres an entrance fee of $2.40 USD.
It’s a short hike to multiple levels of waterfalls and beautiful turquoise blue pools that you can swim in. When you arrive at the final waterfall, theres an unmarked trail to the right of the falls to climb to the top.
When you reach the top of the falls, theres a swimming hole with a swing and a scenic lookout point. Theres also bamboo raft rides down the river, but after doing it I don’t think it’s worth it.
There happened to be a group of monks at this swimming hole at the same time as us. It was cool to see them relaxed and having fun, splashing around doing cannonballs. You don’t see that every day.
At the entrance, there’s also a Bear Rescue Center. They’re rescued from poachers, snairs and cages where their bile is extracted and sold. These bears sadly won’t be released because they lack the skills to survive in the wild after being tortured in a cage their whole life. They seemed happy here, playing in the playground and with each other.
Night Markets
These night markets were my favorite in all of Asia because of how relaxed they were. Not one person harassed me or asked if I wanted to buy something. It was very free to just look.
They didn’t even try to haggle- they gave me the real price. It starts around 6pm in front of the Royal Palace Museum.
Tak Bat Ceremony
If you get up around sunrise, you can watch the monks line up to get their morning alms. It starts around 6am and it’s only about 15 min long (ask your accommodation about the time in case it changed). Remember to be respectful while watching. I saw some tourists getting really close to them and putting their phone in their face to get a photo.
Mount Phou Si
This is a great view for the sunset although it’s about 300 steps to the top. There are 2 entrances. One is across from the Royal Palace Museum and the other is on Kingkitsarath Rd. They’ve started to charge a small fee to go up.
Massage
There are plenty of spas to choose from. A one hour massage is around $7-$8 including tea at the end.
Yoga
There are a few places offering yoga classes. I went to class at Utopia because I liked the setting. It’s on an outdoor deck, on a hill overlooking the river. Because the weather was over 90 degrees F outside, it was like doing natural hot yoga.
Morning Markets
Fresh fruit and veggie market in front of DownTown Backpackers.
How to get there
Fly into Luang Prabang airport. The town is about a 15 minute drive from the airport and there were taxis waiting outside. It was $6 USD to get to our hotel.
You can obtain travel visa when you arrive at the airport. Make sure you have cash because it’s cash only and they accept US and Thai currency. Also, your passport must be valid for at least 6 months from the date you enter the country.
When To Go
The best time to go to Luang Prabang is Nov-Feb. The shoulder season is March-May and rainy season is June-October. Although June and July are in the rainy season, it’s also very lush and green at this time.
Food
All the food here was very good. There’s a lot of Thai food options and coffee shops.
Utopia was my favorite restaurant/bar (the same place I went for yoga). It’s a hippy chill vibe with pillows and mats to lounge on. They have an outdoor covered deck that overlooks the river and a sand volleyball court.
Expenses
$116 flight from Hanoi-> Luang Prabang
$20/night for hotel, private room with AC
$8/day food/drinks
$12 taxi to and from the airport
$35 Travel visa
$19 scooter rental
$2.40 waterfall entrance fee
$80 elephant sanctuary
Other sites in Laos that we didn’t have time to go to:
-Gibbon experience- tallest treehouse in the world (100 ft/30m high) and zip lining
-Buddha Park
-Than Khuon underground river cave
-Vang Vieng river tubing on the Nam Song river
-Plain of Jars
-Pak Ou Caves
Well that’s Luang Prabang in a few days. Spending a day wth the elephants and the waterfalls are a must! Thanks for reading. If you’re interested in other adventures in Southeast Asia , please check out my other blog posts. If you have any questions please email me. 🙂