Without a doubt the most popular day trip out of Luang Prabang is the trip up the Mekong River to the caves at the mouth of the Ou river (hence the name ‘Pak Ou’ – ‘mouth of the ou’). Although you can make most of the trip by road, boat is the best way to [...]

Along the main Sisavong Vang Road between the main commercial district and Wat Xieng Thong are a string of smaller temples. The largest and most ornate of these is Wat Saen. ‘Saen’ means 100,000 in Lao. We found two different stories that tried to explain the name. One is that the name refers to the [...]

Between the commercial strip of shops and restaurants at the center of Luang Prabang and the Mekong River are two small temples. The slightly larger of these is Wat Xieng Muan. Its a charming little temple that almost always has a few young novices around to chat with foreigners. A lot of people pass through [...]

Next to Wat Visoun and the That Makmo is the somewhat smaller temple of Wat Aham. The sim is rather plain on the outside. Inside, you will find a rather curious motif that is repeated in several temples around the city. The walls inside the sim are covered with ‘instructional’ scenes from Buddhist theology. The [...]

On the south side of Phu Si hill, outside of the main area of the old city, is the very old temple of Wat Visoun, also called Wat Wisunalat. The temple’s most notable feature is the large squat stupa in its forecourt. The stupa is properly know as That Pathum (Lotus Stupa) but is more [...]