The 6 Things to Do to Fulfill Your Trip in Luang Prabang

Situated in the heart of a mountainous region in Northern Laos, Luang Prabang is an ancient town with French colonial influences that has slowly begun to open its doors to tourism and now always welcomes numerous travellers for its unique heritage values as well as stunning natural beauty. 

If culture, tradition and nature are your kinds of favor, let’s list Luang Prabang into your next excursion. Here are 6 fantastic experiences that you should not miss while you are in this city of the Golden Buddha.

1. Climbing Mount Phousi

The Mount Phou Si, which means something like a spiritual mountain, is situated in the heart of Luang Prabang and on a peninsula surrounded by the rivers of Mekong as well as Nam Khan. After arriving in this beautiful city, the first thing you should do is to walk up the 355 steps at 150 meters in height to take a really cool breathe and enjoy the 360 degree panoramic views.

2. Walking Barefoot around the Royal Palace Museum

For those who come there, are very keen on the idea of walking barefoot on beautiful wooden floors in The Palace Museum. Indeed, this famous place itself is worthy of an hour in your travel time. Even though it has been built for more than a century, no one has the feeling of awe that comes with the weight of history when setting foot in. Instead, the intricate brightly colored murals in the main hall will bring you a sense of the typical patience and dedication of Lao people as well as their plain lifestyle throughout hundreds of years.

3. Riding along to Mekong River

Experiencing this magical land, you cannot skip taking a boat trip on Mekong River which is inherently known as Lao life blood. Along to this mighty river, how wonderful it is when coming to Pak Ou Caves and waterfalls, visiting plain villages, or admiring the verdant countryside of northern Laos.

4. Plowing Rice Fields with Water Buffalos

One of the coolest things you’ll ever do is to become a rice farmer when visiting Living Land Rice Farm just outside Luang Prabang. Apart from participating 13 stages of rice production, crushing sugar cane for the juice, forging tools, and weaving bamboo with the farm workers; you will also try to keep up with Suzuki water buffalo as you plough a field. Obviously, no easy thing exists when the mud comes up to your knees. Nevertheless, it is worth experiencing!

5. Taking Part in the Night Market

When night falls down the streets of this historic center, various kinds of vehicles all give away the road space for hundreds of different stalls making up the famous Luang Prabang night market. In contrast to any other market in Southeast Asia, the sellers here have a tendency for not harassing visitors to buy their products. Moreover, all of products composing of the textiles, handicrafts, art films, decorative elements and so on are sold with fixed price, previously marked, and clearly visible.

6. Chatting with the Monks

As a rule, the moment of sunrise is also the time for Luang Prabang streets filled with orange robes as the monks walk in a line with the aim of collecting alms. In addition, you also can easily find the image of the monks when visiting temples and pagodas. Excitingly, the majority of monks often make use of opportunities to practice speaking English, which means that you are always welcome to have a short but meaningful conversation with them whenever they are not busy.