Boat rides and sunset cruises in Luang Prabang

A lazy boat ride on the Mekong is one of the highlights of Luang Prabang, and you can’t walk along the riverfront without being approached and offered a tour.

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Unless you’ve just floated down the Mekong on a slow boat for two days, a boat trip is a must. This can mean anything from hiring a basic boat on the spot for an hour cruise to a full day tour on a luxury vessel. A terrific time to be on the water is before sunset, when villagers perform end of day ablutions, the fishermen reel in their catch and the glowing orb begins to disappear behind the mountains.

You will be needing one of these. Photo taken in or around Boat rides, Luang Prabang, Laos by Cindy Fan.

You will be needing one of these. Photo: Cindy Fan

Boat captains will chirp “boat trip?” anywhere along the Mekong. There’s a concentration of them at the three main boat landings: near the morning market, the big boat landing behind the Royal Palace Museum and at the tip of the peninsula at Wat Xieng Thong. Of the three, in our experience the guys at Wat Xieng Thong are the easiest and most relaxed to deal with. Standard price is around 100,000 kip for a one-hour cruise. Longer trips like to Pak Ou Cave and/or the Whiskey Village are around 300,000 kip after a little bargaining. Boats are usually no frills. You can, of course, bring your own drinks and snacks.

For tours and more comfortable boats, there’s several options. Here’s four:

Enjoy a different view of the surrounds. Photo taken in or around Boat rides, Luang Prabang, Laos by Cindy Fan.

Enjoy a different view of the surrounds. Photo: Cindy Fan

Banana Boat offers day tours that can tick off several of the must-see Luang Prabang attractions combined with cruising on the Mekong as well as comfortable padded seating, lunch and drinks. The “Temples, Bears and Waterfalls” trip includes Chomphet Temple, Long Khoune Temple and Kuang Si. Price is US$58 per person, based on ... Travelfish members only (Around 500 more words) ... please log in to read the rest of this story.