Luang Prabang: Pak Ou Caves and Ban Xang Hai (Whisky Village)

We spent a good portion of our post-breakfast morning going from dock to dock trying to line up a cheap boat ride out to the Pak Ou caves, 25 km upstream. The boatmen weren’t cooperative on their end of the bargaining process so we hopped on a sawngthaew (modified pickup truck) instead. It was probably for the best since we’d already seen enough of the Mekong, having already traveled on it for two days straight.

It's unbelievable how many people can fit on a motorbike:

People watching is more fun with a camera:



For centuries, people from the surrounding regions have made pilgrimages to the Pak Ou caves, usually depositing a Buddha statue or two behind in the process. The result is a collection of hundreds of statues in various stages of decay.

On the way back to town, we made a quick stop at Ban Xang Hai, also known in travel literature as “Whisky Village.” As its westernized namesake implies, the village’s main commodity is rice whisky (known to the locals as lao lao). You could think of it as the Lao equivalent of bathtub hooch since the government has placed a ban on its manufacture and sale. No one here seems to care about the restrictions though, and bottles of the stuff are readily available in Luang Prabang’s night market.

A few bottles had exotic ingredients added:

Kids at Ban Xang Hai:


We bee lined it to Nisha’s, our new favourite hangout, when we got back, for a much needed dinner. Perhaps part of the reason we keep coming back to the place (aside from the excellent curries and naan breads) is for the unintended dinner entertainment. For each time we’ve eaten here, our meals have been interrupted by a series of children selling “lucky lucky” bracelets. Amongst these kids is “Noi,” quite possibly the most, um… flamboyant 12 year old I’ve ever met.

His sales pitch, heavily laden with lisped mithtah, mithtah‘s (mister, mister) and thithta, thithta’s (sister, sister) kept us in stitches for a good long while after the meal. I finally caved and bought some fabulous scented Buddha beads from him.