Laos vacations

When planning Laos vacations, the question often isn't “where?” but “doing what?”.

Do you love dramatic karst scenery and adrenaline-fueled adventure sports? Then maybe you start with a few days in Vang Vieng. Are you more in tune with the slow-paced life of the countryside? Then we suggest you should explore the languid and less-visited south.

Decide what kind of trip you want to have and the locations will decide themselves. It’s all about knowing what you want to get out of your trip.

Elephants

Laos is known as the "land of a million elephants" – so it would be almost rude not to spend some time with the jumbos themselves.

While elephant experiences feature highly on many Laos vacation wish lists, it's important to choose ethical establishments, so you know the elephants are cared for and not exploited in anyway.

MandaLao is one of our top picks exactly for this reason – rescued elephants are looked after by their mahout carers, and visitors are encouraged to walk alongside the gentle giants as the casually forage in the forest. There's no forced interaction, feeding or elephant rides here. The Mekong Elephant Park in Pakbeng has a very similar ethos – where elephants have special bonds with their own, dedicated mahouts.

Sayaboury Province is home to 75% of Laos’ elephants, and the Sayaboury Elephant Conservation Center in Pakbeng extends over 540 hectares of protected forest for its rescued herd. Here, they offer a mahout training program and release elephants back the wild wherever possible.

Lao food

Lao people are the self-proclaimed luk khao niew – the children of sticky rice.

They eat over 150kg of the stuff per person every year, and it's often served at every meal in a drum–shaped bamboo pot. Pull off the lid, pinch a clump of rice and mold it into a spoon shape you can use to dip into sauces. Shape it like a blade if you want to cut and shovel something onto it.

Of course, there's much more to Lao cuisine than rice.

If you like Thai and Vietnamese food, you’re onto a winner. In fact, a few dishes that you might think hail from these other countries are in fact from Laos. Laab – the spicy meat mince often found in Thailand is in fact one of Laos’ national dishes, as is spicy green papaya salad.

A few more of our favorites include Laos sausage, knom kropp (coconut pancakes), khao soy lao (pork noodle soup) and ock – a stew with a minced eggplant base.

Alms giving

Saffron robed monks rise early in Luang Prabang and silently make their way through the streets. Visitors and local people join from the roadside, offering rice to the Buddhist monks as they pass.

Alms giving is quiet tradition that lives on today, with its origins so far back that there's not consensus as to when the ritual began.

You may have heard stories of poor behavior from visitors. Shoving phones into the faces of monks and pushing forward to get closer. This does happen, but you can play your part in the respect of the tradition if you go down to see it. It makes for a somber and reverent experience, if you set your alarm early.

Laos: the north-south divide

Roughly key-shaped and just a touch smaller than the UK, Laos’ borders are largely defined by the course of the Mekong in the west and the Annamite mountains in the east. Between these natural barriers, the country is overwhelmingly mountainous – about 70% to be precise – and it can be split into two distinct halves: north and south.

The north is the cradle of Lao culture and history, with both former and current capital cities (Luang Prabang and Vientiane respectively) and a fairly well-defined tourist circuit. The south is less well-known, offering more remote and rural experiences and an enticingly languid pace of life.

Explore the north, towards the border with Vietnam, and you'll find vast protected areas of rainforest where you can go on night-time jungle safaris, sleep in “nests” hanging from the trees, and trek to remote locations in search of rare wildlife. Head southwards, meanwhile, and you’ll discover Khmer-era temple ruins, coffee plantations, and easygoing, palm-fringed river islands.

Seeing both north and south is perfectly achievable within a two-week trip.

Luang Prabang

Holidays in Laos often start in Luang Prabang. Buddhist wat temples hold glass mosaics, telling stories of daily Lao life. Colorful tuk-tuks park on palm-fringed streets with rose-pin walls. French-designed buildings co-exist with Lao wooden structures and gold, sloping Buddhist temple roofs. Its architecture is a key reason the city has been designated a UNESCO world heritage site.

The capital of the kingdom of Lan Xang ran from 1353 until 1975 and was the heart of Lao culture for centuries. While Vientiane is the recognized administrative capital of Laos, Luang Prabang, 310 km north, remains the country’s cultural hub.

Climb to the top of sacred Mount Phousi, a steep hill in the center of town, and you’ll see that Luang Prabang sits on a peninsula between the Nam Khan and the Mekong rivers, surrounded by rainforest as far as the eye can see. It’s hard to imagine a more beautiful "urban" location, and it’s a well-placed jumping-off point for further exploration – to little villages, impossibly turquoise pools and waterfalls (including Kuang Si falls), and some of the best elephant sanctuaries in the world. It’s no surprise that so many are content to make Luang Prabang their only stop in Laos – but of course, we believe you should explore more.

Vientiane

As Laos' capital, Vientiane is the country's fastest-paced city, but don't expect the energy of fellow southeast Asian cities, like Bangkok.

While the city is beginning to speed up, with an increase in traffic, shopping malls popping up, and a touch of investment from China, an overwhelmingly commercial and modern capital this is not. Expect laid-back cafes, boulevards lined with coconut palms and tamarind trees, and street vendors selling banana chips.

It's also acts as the ideal base to visit Xieng Khuan Buddha Park – where more modern Buddhist and Hindu statues provide a quirky break from ancient temples, or Phou Khao Kway National Park – where you can lose yourself (literally, without a guide) among orchids and waterfalls.

Mekong River

Flowing from the heights of the Plateau of Tibet through to the South China Sea, the Mekong is the longest river in Southeast Asia, and opens to its widest point in southern Laos – at ten kilometers across.

Holidays in Laos can easily include a trip along the Mekong. Whether you opt for a short sunset cruise in Luang Prabang, or embark on a two-day journey up to the Thailand border, stopping to visit riverside communities and admiring the rich nature on route – you may just spot Mekong giant catfish.

Southern Laos

The bigger towns hold many travelers up in the northern regions of Laos, but the south opens out to some of the best river routes and experiences that connect you with the Lao people.

We recommend basing yourself in Champasak town. Life moves slowly here, in tune with the ebb and flow of the Mekong. Rice harvests and coffee breaks structure local days. As a visitor, it’s a great place to explore ancient wats (or temples). Champasak is home to more than 20 wats that make up the Champasak Cultural Landscape. The most famous is the UNESCO World Heritage site Wat Phou, an ancient Khmer ruin. Archaeologists believe a temple has existed on the Wat Phou site since as early as the 5th century. Climb the steep, stone steps to the main shrine, and look out across Laotian temple ruins stretching out beneath you. The mountain itself was dedicated to the worship of the Hindu god, Shiva the destroyer.

From Champasak, you can spend a day exploring the 4,000 islands by bike. It's as far south as you can go before meeting the Cambodia border, where the Mekong River stretches to its widest point. Each of the islands on the archipelago has its own distinct character – Don Phou Man is a quiet fishing village and Don Loppadi is known for its bamboo baskets and fishing nets, for example. You’ll ferry between islands on a small local motor boat and meet local people going about their day along the way – whether that’s children shouting “hello!” to you as you cycle past, or stopping to eat lunch with a family.

Head northeast in the Champasak province and you'll meet the Bolaven Plateau – a place characterized by its coffee and tea plantations, and truly epic waterfalls – 120 meter cascades within dense jungle, where water thunders down into a deep gorge.

Kuang Si waterfalls

Just 18 miles from Luang Prabang, Kuang Si waterfalls make for a photographer's paradise and a popular spot for a dip to cool off from the heat.

It's often busy – and that's why we suggest going early in the morning, with a picnic, for a secluded, peaceful breakfast to make the moment really special.

January-May is the best time to swim here, before the waters begin to flow faster, and muddier, during rainy season.