Luang Prabang Part I - Ban Lakkham River View

View of Luang Prabang from Mount Phousi

We caught the high speed Chinese train from Vientiane to Luang Prabang opting to splash out on 1st class seats (actually they were only marginally more expensive). 

The first half of the journey retraced the route we'd cycled to Vang Vieng, but our two days of cycling rolled past in under an hour 😳

Arriving at Luang Prabang station we were greeted by dozens of white mini buses waiting to ferry people into town. We were offered a lift by one of the drivers but we couldn't agree a price - it turned out he was a private taxi and wanted three times the minibus rate of £2 (Max's detailed research paying dividends here once again 😉). Having refused the taxi we turned back only to see that the line of 50 minibuses had dwindled to only two remaining. The walk into town would take over an hour so we dashed to the last remaining bus and tried to hop in. It was full though so we were directed to take the lift to a lower level to catch another bus. Luckily, before the lift arrived, the last minibus driver took pity on us and squeezed us into his front seat. 

Soon after we arrived at our hotel - the Ban Lakkham River View - an old colonial style building with beautiful dark wood flooring and interiors and, as the name suggests, a fabulous view overlooking the Nam Khan river (a smaller river which feeds into the Mekong at Luang Prabang). The room we'd initially booked was at the rear of the hotel but we quickly managed to negotiate a room upgrade for just a few extra dollars a night. It gave us not one but two lovely verandas with a river view and a ginormous bed. We were chuffed to bits 😀 

Luang Prabang is a Unesco world heritage site and it's easy to understand why. The old quarter of the town where we were based, is full of old colonial style buildings (much like our hotel). The French influence is very evident not just in the architecture but also in the many fabulous bakeries, cafes and delicatessens too. It's also well known for it's Buddhist temples and monasteries and there does seem to be one around almost every corner. One of the top attractions here is the early morning alms procession for the Buddhist monks. The Chinese tourists come in droves and we'd read a few complaints on trip advisor from people staying at our hotel about the early morning noise this creates. Luckily it didn't seem to bother us and we slept pretty soundly throughout our stay. We toyed with the idea of getting up to see the procession but in actual fact we've seen quite alot of this already in some of the smaller villages we've cycled through at sunrise. This seemed to us to have been a more authentic experience and on balance we decided to leave it that way.

One of the major landmarks is Mount Phousi and we tackled this after a good night's sleep and breakfast the next morning. It's 150 metres high and there's a steep staircase that takes you all the way to the top where there's a shrine and the most amazing views of the whole area. The climb wasn't too difficult (hopefully we're getting a bit fitter by now) and with ample shade we didn't get too hot either. Subsequently we noticed that this area gets much busier at sunset when all the Chinese tourists arrive en masse and the whole street gets gridlocked with all the minivans which bus them in. Thankfully we managed to avoid all this! 

Ban Lakkham River View where we're staying 

Fab breakfast overlooking the river 🤩

Exploring the area on our first day 

Soaking up the views of the River Nam Kham 

A quick rest at the top of Mount Phousi 

Ban Lakkham River View - a very traditional colonial style building 

Exploring the streets of Luang Prabang 

The very colorful tuk tuks 

This style is very prevalent the old town area

An ethical textile shop - beautiful building 🤩

I feel like I've been chasing the perfect sunset since the start of our trip and now we'd reached the Mekong I was more determined than ever. We found a fabulous bar on our first evening and enjoyed what I think might be the best sunset of our trip - or at least on a par with the one at the Bua Daeng Resort. The colours just kept getting better and better. We took so many photos that evening 🤩

Our first sunset 

This became our go to location at sunset

And another glorious sunset 😂

We'd planned to do a sunset cruise at some point during our stay but decided we'd take our time planning what trips we booked. There seems to be quite a price variation between different tour operators and booking direct with the actual company works out much cheaper. Max knows how much I love elephants so finding an ethical tour that would allow this was also on the list. Obviously riding elephants is a big NO but finding an organisation that really does put the welfare of these beautiful animals at the centre was a deal breaker for me. After quite a bit of research, reading blogs from seemingly like minded people and testing their recommendations elsewhere around the town we settled on a couple of trips that seemed to tick the box. 

So first we took the sunset river cruise along the Mekong river. We set off around 4.30pm - just managing to catch the boat before it left shore. The boat wasn't rammed by any means and despite being last on we found a great spot on the top deck. Our first impressions were that it was a nice chilled atmosphere, a mixed age group and the sense that no-one was up for a booze cruise with karoake which was quite a relief 😂. We spent the next couple of hours slowly meandering up the river - stopping at the half way point to take in the sunset view. It wasn't the best we've seen but still beautiful. The hosts then introduced a little fun into the proceedings and announced they were coming round with bits of paper, pens and banana leaves for us all to write down one wish and one burden - the idea being that the wishes would be cast into the river on one side while the burdens would be sent to the bottom of the river on the other side. Unfortunately we didn't hear which string we were supposed to use to tie which up in and although we were quite clear which were our wishes and which were our burdens the guy saw the string and swapped them over 🫣. Luckily were not superstitious though and hopefully it doesn't actually mean our wishes have been dashed or, much more importantly, that our burdens will haunt us forever more! 

Setting off on the sunset cruise

Not the best of sunsets but still very beautiful 

The sun disappearing, the best is yet to come 

A very comfortable lounger and a free beer 😉

Something else I'd really hoped to do was see some elephants while in Asia. I knew it would be tricky finding the right experience though - it would have to be very ethical and conservationist. There were many tours on offer but only one which really captured my attention and, funnily enough, this was the only one mentioned in all the independent blogs we'd read. It was described as walking with the elephants and the overall aim of the project is to rescue elephants that have been mistreated and abused. They also hope to re-introduce those that can be back into the wild. So we signed up for a half day trip and it did not disappoint. 

After a brief introductory talk about the project and the elephants we took a short boat trip across the river to meet them. They have seven elephants in total - mainly adults and one younger male who they are looking to reintroduce into the wild (we didn't meet him for obvious reasons). 

We met the elephants and two in particular who we would be walking with. After feeding them lots of bananas we had officially made friends 🥰. They were free to wander gently guided by the Mahout and we just walked along with them at their pace. At one point they decided to go down to the river for a short mud bath which they clearly loved and re-emerged about 10 minutes later covered in mud! One elephant in particular took a real shine to Max and she wouldn't let anyone else hug her 🤗.  I think she picked up on his sense of calm - he was certainly alot braver than me. Much as I really love elephants I was still very wary and happy to just admire them from afar! We wandered into the forest with them and the walking was heavily punctuated by stops to feast on whatever took their fancy. Elephants spend 18 hours eating every day and the bananas we'd given them were clearly just a drop in the ocean. 

Blowing dust everywhere 😂

Max's favourite photo 😍

She would only stand for Max 🥰

That looks tasty 😋 

Contemplating taking a dip 

Our guide, Lan, was a real character. A very warm person and really engaging and informative - not just about the elephants but about life in Laos more generally. We learnt lots more about the culture and ways from him and also chatting to the other tourists on the tour. We seem to be meeting lots of people who, like us, are travelling for a long time. Some are retired, some are working while they travel and others have quit their jobs to go travelling. Many are doing the same countries as us so it's interesting to hear their perspectives. One girl commented that she'd hated Siem Reap which I found that quite hard to understand! I guess we're all different. We're hearing such wide ranging views on Vietnam too which is particularly interesting given that's where we're heading next. Everyone tells us the traffic in Hanoi is something else 🫣 and we've seen from the weather forecast we're in for a shock as the temperature looks set to drop considerably while we're there! I'll be very glad of the two rab tops I've been lugging round with me 👍.

To hold onto some of our biking fitness we made use of the free bikes from the hotel and cycled to the nearby "paper village". It's only a short distance but we got slightly lost so it turned into a 15 mile round trip. That would have been easy on the tandem but on bikes with no gears and only one functioning brake it was a little more challenging! Still, I was pleased I managed to do it - another milestone for my wrist rehabilitation 😉.

Papermaking in action 

The finished products on display 

The free hotel bikes - well they did the job 👍

We've also found a really good yoga class and we've been a few times. I could barely walk for two days after the first session but it's got a bit easier - I'm taking that as a positive sign and I've vowed to do more regular yoga/stretching work when I get back home! 

We've enjoyed some great food so far in Luang Prabang - taking tips from the various blogs we've read, the hotel recommendations and following our noses abit too. We had a lovely traditional Laos meal at 3 Nagas - the number one choice on trip advisor and a very glamorous venue which had caught my eye from day one 😉. It certainly didn't disappoint not only in terms of food, but also the service and ambience. Funnily enough though our favourite place seems to be a little cafe that does the most delicious fried spring rolls and noodles - wait for it, you'll love this one Rich 😉 - all for just £1.50 !! We've been 3 times now and will probably go back again before we leave 😂

Our table at the 3 Nagas restaurant 

A table with view - great for people watching 

Spring rolls and noodles at our favourite cafe 

We've sampled the street food and although the food didn't wow us to quite the same extent as it did in Thailand, we did have an enjoyable conversation one evening with a young guy from Shropshire (very near to where I grew up) who'd been travelling around Asia for 6 months and had literally just arrived in Luang Prabang. It's a very small world indeed! 

It's a shoppers delight here in Luang Prabang - so many beautiful clothes (silks and linens) and at very reasonable prices too. Given our luggage restrictions I've had to exercise huge restraint but I did decide that perhaps I might need to supplement my wardrobe a little - my white trousers have taken quite a pounding and my pink top is slowly disintegrating with every wash I put it through 😩. However, having settled on a nice pair of floaty trousers and a t-shirt I've now befriended a lovely laundry lady who has actually breathed new life into my white trousers so I think I'll be holding onto them for a little while yet (much to Max's horror 😂). 

After just over a week staying at the Ban Lakkham River View we're moving to another hotel the other side of town for our extended stay here in Luang Prabang. We've thoroughly enjoyed our stay here but it'll be nice to experience the other side of town and get a slightly different perspective. There's still a few more sights and experiences we're hoping to tick off so we'll report back on the rest of our stay in our next update 😀.  

We hope you're all well anyway. Lots of love to you all. Max and Sarah xx