Laung Prabang

Our last couple days in Laos were in Laung Probang. Many people find this the most beautiful part of Laos, but we enjoyed Vang Vieng more. Like Vientiene and Phnom Penh, Laung Prabang is along the Mekong river.

We climbed a hill in the main part of Laung Prabang. You can see the Mekong behind Nicole. Underneath her and in the right part of the photo is the main tourist area.

One of the interesting things to see in Laung Prabang is the Palace of the now deposed king ( deposed 1975), now a museum. The king and his family lived very modestly. When the communists took over in 1975, the king, queen and crown prince were sent to a hard labour camp from which they were never heard of again.

This is the kings palace. It is far more modest than the palaces in neighbouring Thailand and Cambodia. We couldn't take photos inside, but there were a few interesting things to see including the many gifts the royal family had received from various countries around the world.

Another thing to do in Laung Prabang is a Mekong river cruise. This is quite beautiful, but no where near as special as the mountain views we saw kayaking in Vang Vieng.

Hills and jungle along the side of the Mekong.

People fishing in the Mekong

Another fun thing to do in Laung Prabang is to visit the "big waterfall". We paid about $6 each for transport there then spent two hours swimming and exploring.

The waterfall is larger than the one in Vang Vieng. It is taller and wider and has a few more tiers down stream.

Nicole and Stan climbed up the wrong side of the waterfall. In order to save a 25 minute walk back to  the proper side, we crossed the fast flowing river at one of the smaller waterfalls down stream. It took about 20 mins to get across. The photo above was actually the easiest part to cross, we were too busy concentrating at the harder parts.

After getting back on the right side of the river, we went a little down stream and had a swim in a pool under a waterfall. The water was pretty chilly and very fast flowing. 

At the entrance/exit of the waterfall park there is a home for bears which have been rescued from the illegal bear trade. They are sometimes kept in awful conditions as their bile is used in some Chines traditional medicines.

Laung Prabang is a fun visit. We didn't take part in the most popular activity in the area; elephant trekking. We also missed out a few other sight seeing activities. It is a much more laid back town and a good place to relax. We preferred Vang Vieng because of the mountains and the fun we had kayaking.