Laos : Exploring Luang Prabang - Pak Ou Caves & Lao Whisky

Woke up early this morning cos I booked a tour to Pak Ou Caves, one of Luang Prabang’s most famous sites.

The caves lie about 25 km upstream from Luang Prabang, and would take about two hours by the traditional long-tail boat. A rather long journey but it’s OK, I’d just enjoy the cruise along the amazing Mekong.

The boat departed at about 8.30 am. It was foggy in the beginning but as the boat moved further, we were treated with fascinating riverside landscapes.

inside the boat

Set in a stunning limestone cliff at the point where the Mekong and the Nam Ou River meets, Pak Ou Caves have a history dating back thousands of years. Packed with over 4000 Buddha statues, the cave is a popular pilgrimage site for the locals, especially during the Lao New Year in April where they come to worship and gain merit by washing the Buddha statues.

There are two caves to visit, lower (Tham Ting) and upper (Tham Theung).

At the lower cave.

If you’re fit enough or just want to avoid the crowd at the lower cave, you can hike up the steps to visit the upper cave.

It would take about 10 minutes to reach there so take a break for a selfie kejap. Haha..

Bring your torch light as it’s pitch dark inside the cave.

Pak Ou Caves is open daily from 8 am to 5 pm

the locals enjoying whisky with a meal

Here you can see the process of making Lao-Lao, the country’s beloved rice whisky.

Don’t be surprise cos you’ll spot some other bizarre whiskies as well.

Snake whisky.

Scorpion whisky.

Bear paw whisky.

OMG!!!

Would you drink it???

* pukes blood *

That aside, you can also shop for textiles here.

We were back in town by 1.30 pm. I didn’t have any plan for the rest of the day yet so I just wandered around. Walking past a travel agency, I caught an OK offer for a trip to Kuang Si Waterfall…