Luang Prabang, Laos – Feb 2017
After spending 4 nights in Pakse, it was time to continue our journey north. Laos is an absolutely beautiful country, but many of the towns are a very long distance from each other with no great transportation options for getting there. Because of this, we opted to make Luang Prabang our last stop in Laos. We arrived in Luang Prabang, Laos on Feb 11th 2017.
A bus ride from Pakse to Luang Prabang is roughly 20+ hours with the last 5 hours being over windy mountain passes. After several conversations with other travelers about their recent miserable and very uncomfortable bus trips along this same route, we weren’t sure the long potentially bad bus ride was the answer for us. Our other, and more costly, option was flying.
When purchasing bus tickets it’s recommended to buy from an actual bus station, if you can, to ensure what you’re booking. On one of our walks around Pakse, we just happened to stumble upon a “VIP” bus station. There were several nice double decker “King of Bus” (sleeper) buses that appeared to be quite suitable for an overnight journey. If we could be assured these were the “actual buses” we would ride on, we would consider this option for at least a portion of our way north. We inquired at the “VIP” ticket window about how to purchase seats on the exact buses parked in the lot. It took some back and forth with the girl at the window and us pointing at the bus we wanted, and her telling us “yes” and then pointing at a photo pasted on their window of a totally different “King of Bus” (which wasn’t one sitting in the lot). As we’ve already had a few not so pleasant rides, neither of us were convinced we would be getting the gourmet bus we wanted. We thanked her and walked away.
The next day, the beautiful brand new bus was parked right up front at the station. We decided to give it one more try at the ticket window and the same girl we had spoken with previously was working the counter. We pointed at the bus we wanted, and she said “No, bus number 3”. We pointed at the bus right up front again, she said “bus number 1”. We asked “how do we buy seats for bus number 1”, she motioned out her window to her right. We walked down 2 ticket windows and pointed at the bus we wanted…This time the girl at the window said “yes”. We asked a few more times to be certain before booking it, but only as far as Vientiane (10 hr ride). Our thought was to take an overnight bus half way and then fly the remaining distance. Just in case they did a bait and switch on us (like other travelers have mentioned happening to them), we’d only be stuck for 10+ hours and not the full 20+.
On the night of our departure, we were pleasantly surprised to both see and board the bus we actually booked. We watched several other disappointed people as they tried to board the nice bus but were quickly pointed in the direction of the crappy ones.
We were probably overly cautious, but with recently having some horrendous rides of our own in conjunction with hearing other traveler’s first hand horror stories – we felt it was warranted. Luckily, we won on this one this time – the bus ride was nice and smooth and we actually slept part of the way. We arrived right on time early the next morning into Vientiane, took a very cold open-air taxi ride to the airport and caught our noon flight to Luang Prabang.
Luang Prabang was a beautiful city and we elected to stay 12 wonderful days.
See video and photos below highlighting our days in Luang Prabang, Laos. To see all images of this location click the link at the bottom of this post or go to our gallery.
Our 10 hour overnight double decker, sleeper bus from Pakse to Vientiane.
Our early morning and very chilly open-air taxi from the Vientiane bus station to the Vientiane airport.
Our 40 minute Laos Skyway flight from Vientiane to Luang Prabang.
Video – Luang Prabang, Laos – Streets
One of our favorite street vendors making coconut pancakes. These were so unbelievably good…we’d make it a point on most days to buy some (5,000 Kip (roughly 60 cents US) for 10 pieces in a small banana leaf basket. You had to be careful if she served you ones right from the cast iron skillet as they were rocket hot and stayed that way for way too long.
Another one of our favorite street vendors. In Luang Prabang the locals make a mild and spicy sausage. Once the links are made, they are hung to dry. As you walk the streets around town, you’d see the long strings of sausages hanging outside their homes. They sell to many of the restaurants, but you can buy directly from them also – as they have small barbecues going all day. They were delicious.
Our accommodation, Alounsavath Guesthouse, in Luang Prabang. It was a small, family-run guesthouse and a nice hangout with our balcony overlooking the Mekong river.
One of the many waterfront “restaurants”. This place had a small deck overlooking the Mekong River and was a great spot to watch the sunset.
Sunset on the Mekong River. View was from one of the waterfront restaurant decks.
Video – Luang Prabang, Laos – Kuang Si Waterfall Bike Trek
This is the main part of the very popular Kuang Si Waterfall (200 feet high). We did a mountain bike trek, with a local guide, to the falls (roughly a 26Km mostly uphill ride from town).
Rick walking across one of the bamboo bridges at the top of the main waterfall.
View from the top of the waterfall looking down.
Looking down at a portion of one of the trails which leads to the top of the falls. This was the easier side (left of the falls). We hiked the right side up (more difficult with no stairs, only dirt and tree roots as hand holds), and this side down. As you can see, there are stairs on this portion. You still have to be careful here as the water runs over the stairs.
One of several lower sections of the falls. The lower sections are all beautiful and they allow swimming in some of the lower pools, this was not one of them. We decided not to swim, as there were way too many people for our liking 🙂 . Even though this is a very busy and touristy attraction, Kuang Si waterfall is one of the “must see” items while visiting Luang Prabang and is still well worth it to check it out.
After the falls, we rode 5 km to the Mekong River and hopped on this boat (with our bikes) for an hour long ride back to town. Our full day trek was a great way to spend the day, see many beautiful things, and get some exercise too!!
View of Luang Prabang from our Mekong river boat ride.
This is a bamboo bridge built by monks and used during the dry season to cross the Nam Khan river. There is a 5,000 Kip fee (60 cents US) to cross it. The money is used to help rebuild next year’s bridge. There’s a permanent bridge further upstream, but this is a shortcut used until the wet season hits and the river washes this temporary bridge away.
Monks crossing the Mekong river in a small boat.
Monks during their evening prayer. We could hear the peaceful sounds of their chanting from several blocks away and walked until we found the temple it was coming from…
Video – Luang Prabang, Laos – Temples
Part of the Mt Phousi temple. This was a beautiful hilltop temple located in the middle of town. There were 2 sets of stairs (326 steps) leading to top from both the east and west sides.
View from the top of the Mt Phousi temple of the east side of Luang Prabang and the Nam Khan river.
