3 Days in Laos – Day 2
Luang Prabang is the former capital of Laos and now an UNESCO World Heritage City. The city is beautifully laid out at the confluence of two rivers – the Mekong and the Khan. Walking around the streets of this city is itself an experience. The city has a French Indochinese architecture. It is embedded with beautiful Theravada Budhhist temples, and a magical atmosphere with palm-lined riverbanks, terracotta roofs, wooden name hoardings for every hotel and temples, and saffron-robed monks – all come together to form a picture postcard.
Highlights of the Day
- Luang Prabang Morning Market
- Wat Mai Suwannaphumaham
- Luang Prabang Royal Palace Museum
- Mount Phousi
- Wat Xieng Thong
- Kuang Si Waterfall
- Night Bus to Vientiane
Sightseeing in Luang Prabang
Our stay included breakfast. The riverfront restaurant of the hotel serves local, Asian, or Western breakfast. Hot and fresh Laotian fried noodles with vegetables followed by a delicious desert of banana, chia seeds, and maple syrup was our delicious breakfast.
Remember to keep at least 4 hours in hand to go to Kuang Si from Luang Prabang city, visit, and come back.
After finishing that, we spoke to the reception regarding a visit to Kuang Si waterfalls. There are two join-in tours to Kuang Si waterfalls – one leaving at 12.30 PM and the other at 2 PM. We chose the second one, so that we have some time to take rest after we explore the city on our own this morning. We left the hotel at around 8 AM.
Luang Prabang Morning Market
It starts very early morning and is done by noon.
The night market caters more to tourists, while the feeling of local culture resides in the morning market of Luang Prabang.
Wat Mai Suwannaphumaham
Past the morning market, if you walk up the street toward the Sisavangvong Road, you will find one of Luang Prabang’s largest and most richly decorated temples on your right side, locally known as Wat Mai.
Luang Prabang Royal Palace
The palace museum is open from 8 AM to 11.30 AM and 1.30 PM to 4 PM, every day except Tuesday. The entrance fee is 30,000 ₭.
The Royal Palace of Luang Prabang, also known as Haw Kham, which has now been converted into a national museum, will surely fascinate you if you are interested in history.
Mount Phousi
Mount Phousi is accessible from 8 AM to 6 PM and the entrance fee is 20,000 ₭.
Just opposite to the Royal Palace Museum, you will find 100-m tall Mount Phousi. It is a sacred hill, which is crowned by That Chomsi – 24-m gilded stupa. There are two stairways to the hilltop, and you must take one up and the other one down to get most of the views of the hill and the shrines it houses.
On the Way to Wat Xieng Thong
We got down from Mount Phousi at Thanon Phousi and we started walking toward Wat Xieng Thong – another must-see in Luang Prabang. On the way, we came across few interesting sites and events on the way.
Wat Xieng Thong
The temple opens from 8 AM to 5 PM, and you have to pay 20,000 ₭ as an entry fee.
After crossing Wat Syrimoungkoun Xaiyaram, we took the next left and in 200 m distance, we found one of the most beautiful and richly decorated temples of Laos – Wat Xieng Thong – on our right side.
It was already noon; we grabbed some quick local lunch worth 3,000 ₭ from the street vendors and ate on the way back to hotel. We had around 1.5 h to take rest. Meanwhile, we checked out from the hotel and kept our luggage at hotel safe.
Kuang Si Waterfall
The waterfall is accessible by tuk-tuk or even by boat. It is open from 8 AM to 5.30 PM and the entrance fee is 20,000 ₭ per person.
An aircon minivan came to pick us up at 2 PM and drove an hour southwest of the town to the waterfalls past many rice fields, beautiful Buddhist temples, and green mountains. I am always fond of sitting on the seat next to the driver to have a better view. The road was narrow, dusty, with kids playing around at the corner – there was an unspoiled beauty underlying.
The word “kuang” means deer and “si” means dig – legend says that a wise old man dug the earth and that is how the water appeared and a golden deer made its home under a rock near the waters.
It must be crazy if you are at Luang Prabang and do not visit Kuang Si waterfall. It is a giant, 3-tiered waterfall flowing through a jungle full of limestones to find its way to the mighty Mekong river. Each tier looks like a gently cascading pool. You can swim in each of the pools, or jump on the water from vines hanging from trees, or do tubing, or can also climb up to the rocks and reach its height from where the water is falling with all its strength.
You may find the place crowdy, but no crowd and no noise could take off the beauty of the place – turquoise water falling over the edges of the limestone rocks; I will cherish the memory forever.
Way Back to Hotel
Keep change of 2,000 ₭ if you are planning to use the washroom at the parking.
We were waiting at the parking at around 5 PM. The aircon minivan picked us up. We reached the heart of the city in an hour. The driver dropped us near the night market as we requested. We planned to finish our dinner before walking to the hotel to pick our luggage up.
Night Bus to Vientiane
The hotel reception called a tuk-tuk who agreed to drop us to the Southern Bus Station for 15,000 ₭ per person. We checked in our luggage and got our ticket verified at around 8 PM. The bus departed at 8.30 PM.
NET EXPENSE FOR 1 PERSON (IN LAK)
Let us have a look at the expenses of Day 2 in Laos – Luang Prabang.
- Bus from Luang Prabang to Vientiane: 150,000
- Getting around: 60,000
- Entrance fee of Mount Phousi, Wat Xieng Thong, and Kuang Si: 60,000
- Food: 35,000
- Miscellaneous: 60,000
Total expense (roughly): 365,000 LAK
For an overall idea of itinerary and expense of the trip, whether for solo or couple or group of any number of people, feel free to contact me on Contact Us page. You can also have a look at 3 Days in Laos – Itinerary and Expenses.
If you are planning for a much-organized, tastefully-curated, stress-free yet exciting vacation, consider booking your holidays at Travel Love Repeat. It is going to be a treat for sure!
I’d really love to visit Laos one day, and your photos make me feel I want to go even sooner! All the temples and the street markets are so vibrant, and those fried noodles for breakfast sound delicious!
Yes Lisa, the country is small, warm, and welcoming. You can have a look at http://www.travelloverepeat.com. They have good plans for Laos.
I’m definitely going to keep this article handy because I need to visit Laos very soon!!! It’s been on the top of my list for forever and I love the advice (especially on transportation and expenses)
Sure, you can also have a look at http://www.travelloverepeat.com for some really cool itineraries on Laos and around.
The morning market sounds like something I would like, plus everything else <3
I would love to check out the morning market and do as the locals do ?
I am happy to see that you covered quite a few temples. I love visiting temples (I am not a religious person but I love the architecture) and the waterfall looks pretty awesome too. The walk from the lush green forest to the waterfalls seems like just the thing I’d love to do!
I am myself not a religious person, but love visiting temples for only and only architecture. Yes, the waterfalls was so good.
This is such a complete post! I especially love the red temple – it’s such a great piece of art. However, I didn’t know there were bears in Laos, that’s really interesting; and nice that they are protecting them. Next week I’m going to Cambodia, but Laos is on my to do list, too 😉
Wow, I am happy to know you are traveling to Cambodia. Have a look at my blogs about Cambodia. Hope they be helpful!
I loooove going to markets! That morning market is something I would definitely want to check out! And wow! I’ve never seen a bus like that before where one can lay down!
Yes, they are called sleeper buses. Good to save hotel money and do an overnight journey.
This bought back so many great memories, I love Laos, it’s one of my favorite countries I’ve been to. You’re spot on when you talk about the Magical atmosphere, just looking through pictures I can place myself back there, watching the locals go about their day, I did the climb up the hilltop, just how incredible are the views from there 😀 Also your picture of the sleeper bus, I spent so many nights on those.
It’s great to know you have had a good time in Laos too 🙂
I love visiting markets when I travel and the morning market sounds like an awesome option to experience the local life! The monasteries in your photos look magical, so beautiful with such amazing details. Looks like I have another place to add to my ever growing travel list!M
Yes, sure.
I have never been to Laos, but after reading your post, Luang Prabang is definitely a must. I love busy markets and the white temples looks fabulous. The place looks simply magical and I would love to take photographs here.
Luang Prabang is love.
Wow you fit so much into one day in Luang Prabang. That’s a good tip to know that the Luang Prabang morning market has more of a local feel and less tourists.The waterfall looks really cool. I agree that it would be somewhere I wouldn’t want to miss if I was visiting Laos.
True that, it’s too much in a day.
Luang Prabang is such a beautiful city! I visited a few years ago and I regret I didn’t have more time to spend here. I love the lush greenery surrounding the city and the night market was absolutely stunning!
I love the night market as well.
What a great day exploring Luang Prabang, so much to see! The Kuang Si Waterfalls look fantastic and the morning market is just the type of place where I could spend hours… I also love how you listed all the expenses at the end of the article, so useful!
Glad that you found it useful.
Laos is an underdeveloped country but at the same time is an exotic country. When I see the pictures about those vendors stalls, I think it’s interesting to take a look if I were there. I always enjoy the atmosphere in such street markets in each country.
Yes, street markets bring the true colors.
Luang Prabang in particular and Laos in general is on our bucket list. Having read about Luang Prabang and seen various pictures,our interest was piqued. Reading your post has further fueled our interest in visiting the place. There is so much to see and experience here. The National Museum is indeed a veritable treasure house with so many heritage artifacts and the temple Wat Xieng Thong had my attention riveted.
Wat Xieng Thong is fabulous!
While I am not a morning person, I do love morning markets. I had been to Luang Prabang some long time back and would love to revisit it again. i am a huge fan of waterfalls and would absolutely love to shoot the KUANG SI WATERFALL. I bet it would look gorgeous at golden hours. And, temples would sure look magical too.
Morning markets are truly beautiful.
It’s fascinating to see all the beautiful gold and golden objects! I have never been to this region of the world, and would love to see the pure gold Buddha in the Luang Prabang Royal Palace. As an architecture fan, I especially like the low, swooping rooflines that are so graceful. You’ve offered some really useful tips within this guide–especially those about how much time or money to plan. Thanks for sharing your experience and expertise!
Glad you liked it, Jackie.