Legendary Louang Prabang (Part 1): Bus-ride and Waking-up in a Different Time

Of course, a visit in Laos would not be complete without seeing Louang Prabang, a World Heritage Site. LP has been the seat of power for several centuries of the Northern Lao Kingdom and home to many noble families. Being farther from the Kingdom across the Mekong, LP was able to enjoy less incursions from Siam, compared to Vientiane. Likewise, it has retained a more quaint Lao ethos, thus enjoying the privilege of being a repository to distinctly Lao architecture, weaving, cuisine and many others.

Part of Louang Prabang across the Nam Khan River viewed from Phousi (Sacred Hill)

The Mekong in this part of Laos

Going to LP via Vientiane

Going to LP is as easy as requesting your hotel's front desk for an arrangement, almost every single hotel and guesthouse in Vientiane will have this amenity. I booked a sleeper bus for 200,000 Kip. The fare included the van from the hotel to the Northern Bus Station. If I am not mistaken the real cost of the bus-ride alone is 150,000 to 160,000 Kip. The extra 40,000 to 50,000 Kip goes to the van that picks you up, and as commission to both hotel/guesthouse and the "agent" that handles the arrangements. I didn't mind the difference because the van that picked me up was really good and it was on time, plus, all I really had to do was wait for them to give me my ticket.

The first of the many wats I explored in LP - Wat Pa Phoutthabat

I am a bit on the corpulent side though, and the idea of sharing a bunk in the sleeper bus with another person was beyond my expectation, had I known, I would have insisted on just getting a VIP bus than a sleeper one. From Vientiane to Vang Vieng there were a lot of empty bunks so I just took one. But, at Vang Vieng, the bus took in more passengers, so I ended up having to share the bunk with a Thai tourist. It was a bit uncomfortable, although I only lost a few minutes of sleep because of this discomfort.

A quaint French Colonial-era Mansion along Sisavangvong Road

The bus ride from Vientiane to Louang Prabang is approximately 12-hrs. We left at around 8:40-pm  in Vientiane, and arrived at around 7:50-am in Louang Prabang the next day.

Going to the Town Centre

The bus station is some 5 - 10 minutes away from the town centre of Louang Prabang. In order to get into town, one has to get a songthaew, they will charge you 60,000 Kip, but you can wait for some other passengers and haggle-down the price to 15,000 to 20,000 sharing the cab of course.

Sisavanvong Road, Louang Prabang

Louang Prabang Accommodation

I stayed in the Louang Prabang Legend Hotel. I booked the hotel through Expedia with a whopping 70% discount! Needless to say I had my best bang-for-the-buck experience here. The hotel also is in a very quite neighbourhood but within walking distance to the town centre, which was most suited to my travelling style.

My bed at the Louang Prabang Legend Hotel