Tours in Luang Prabang

Get up before the town does. In Luang Prabang the day starts on the pavement, when monks in orange walk the main street in single file and people kneel to put rice into their bowls. Watch from a respectful distance, a few steps back, and notice how quiet it is. Then the market starts to hum and the town switches on.

The old town sits on a narrow peninsula where the Mekong meets the Nam Khan, and you can walk across it without a plan. Wat Xieng Thong is the temple to see if you only see one, with its sweeping roofs and glittering mosaics. The Royal Palace Museum sits near the main road, and Mount Phousi rises in the middle of everything. Climb it late in the afternoon and pick a spot to watch the river go gold. The night market fills the street at dusk, and the Kuang Si waterfalls, a short ride out of town, are where people go to swim in turquoise pools.

Our tour here is a day on a bike, and it suits the place well. The lanes behind the main street are flat, shaded and almost empty of visitors. You pass village houses, stop at a market where people shop for the day, and sit with weavers at their looms while they work silk by hand. You also learn about the many ethnic groups of Laos and the work being done to protect elephants. It gives you the town as people live in it, not just as it looks from the pavement.

Eat as you go. Try sticky rice in a woven basket, a bowl of khao soi, and the river weed snack called khai paen. If there is a temple, waterfall, cooking class or boat trip you want that is not listed below, ask. A local guide can build it around you.