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Thursday, March 16, 2017

Laos: Travelling in Luang Prabang

Getting to Luang Prabang is easy.. there are two ways to get there from Singapore
1. Silk Air
2. Air Asia (Transit in KL)

We chose Air Asia...
We also ordered their famed Nasi Lemak ($4 + a drink if you order it online).




It was better than many airline's food but the real Nasi Lemak is much nicer of course :D

To get from Luang Prabang (LPB) airport to the city is easy.
You just have to queue at the airport booth for a shared airport taxi (50,000 KIP for 3 people) and they will take you to your hotel.

You can change USD to Laos KIP at the airport too.
The rate was 1 USD to 8200 KIP which was about the same rate as the rate in the city.


There are many solo travelers in Luang Prabang..
I said "Hi" to a few random travelers.. (pls dont be afraid if I said Hi randomly to u)



- there was a Japanese girl who worked in Singapore but traveled to LPB because her colleague said it was a beautiful place.. I didnt even dare to travel to Laos alone.. she is really brave..

- there was this China girl who spoke to me to warn me about the weird monk demanding money at Mount Phousi.. haha.. she thought I was from China too.. didn't know my Chinese is so good.

- there was this Thai girl who worked in Marriott in Chiang Mai... She told me that Thai and Laotian is very similar.. they can almost understand each other..



6 things to do in Luang Prabang

1. The Kuang Si Waterfalls
Many taxi drivers offer to take tourists to the waterfall for a fare. I chose to follow my guesthouse's ride - 50,000 kip per person. Entrance to the waterfall is 2000 kip.
Waterfall is quite beautiful and it's the main attraction.




2. Sunset at Mount Phousi
Sunset at Mount Phousi is a must-see. It costs 20,000 kip to enter, and one have to climb up a long flight of stairs to the top. Heard from a fellow traveller to be careful of a monk asking for money there. Nevertheless you can see beautiful sunset there.



3. Sunset at Mekong River
This is also a great place to see sunset.



4. Crossing the bamboo bridge
You can do this if you have time. 5,000 kip to cross over but once you get to the other side, there is nothing much to see and do. Nevertheless, the bamboo bridge is only around during non rainy seasons.



5. Night Market
The night market is a great place to get gifts for your friends/family back home. Lots of stuff where you can negotiate with the seller. It starts at 6pm.

6. Alms giving ceremony
Starts at around 6am, tourists will buy food from the street vendor, sit at one of the stools along the street and place the food into the monk's container as they walk passed. As I observe, almost 99% who participated in this ceremony are tourists.

There are many tours in Luang Prabang to choose from. You can just arrive and choose one that meets your budget when you are there.




Have fun!! :)))