I've had a 'love affair' with Luang Prabang for decades.  

 

My first visit was in the late '80s when the roads between Vientiane and LP were too dangerous to travel on, as well as being in terrible condition of course.  We flew in on a 'wet hire' Lao Aviation plane piloted by some Danish pilots.

 

Over the years I've returned to live and work in LP, appointed to be the Headmaster/Director of the international school. Between my other teaching commitments in Myanmar, I would always return to live in LP, to swim in Kuang Si waterfall and to ride my off-road motorbike around the mountain roads.

 

After completing my last job in Mandalay, I went back to LP for a week, but retreated back to Thailand because the 'vibe' in LP had changed, as a result of the new train line from China.  The town was literally overrun with Chinese tourists, and many local shops seemed to be now managed by Chinese, and many shops only had signs in Chinese language.

 

A few days ago, I returned again to LP, because perhaps my previous visit was a 'one-off' bad experience.

 

No......... it's got even worst!  It's no longer a magic place for me. (YMMV).  Prices have increased substantially, both for house rents and food.

 

Maybe I'm getting old (I am!!).  But I think the Luang Prabang that I used to dream about is no more... 😞

5 minutes ago, simon43 said:

I went back to LP for a week, but retreated back to Thailand because the 'vibe' in LP had changed, as a result of the new train line from China.  The town was literally overrun with Chinese tourists, and many local shops seemed to be now managed by Chinese, and many shops only had signs in Chinese language.

 

Spreading like a virus. 

 

Possibly spreading viruses. 

Still pleasant in the off season.

Romanticizing hardship of a country with 80% dirt roads (Laos, 2026) ignores real costs: isolation, limited healthcare, fragile supply chains, and restricted opportunity.

Modern infrastructure—like the Kunming–Laos high-speed rail—enables trade, tourism, mobility, and resilience.

It raises living standards, connects communities, and supports sustainable growth, making it far preferable to an economy constrained by inaccessibility and risk.

I don't think you've ever lived at the standard to which you express such nostalgia for ❓

You lived in the top 1% housing stock. Good for you, International School Headmaster!

Edited July 24Jul 24 by SiSePuede419
Congratulations. 🙅

10 hours ago, wimpy said:

Still pleasant in the off season.

Is there an off-season???

10 hours ago, SiSePuede419 said:

Romanticizing hardship of a country with 80% dirt roads (Laos, 2026) ignores real costs: isolation, limited healthcare, fragile supply chains, and restricted opportunity.

Modern infrastructure—like the Kunming–Laos high-speed rail—enables trade, tourism, mobility, and resilience.

It raises living standards, connects communities, and supports sustainable growth, making it far preferable to an economy constrained by inaccessibility and risk.

I don't think you've ever lived at the standard to which you express such nostalgia for ❓

You lived in the top 1% housing stock. Good for you, International School Headmaster!

The economy isn't everything. Places get spoiled with too many tourists, just look at Europe. There's no cultural flavour to many, many places. I'd rather watch a documentary!

Nothing wrong with people living simple lives. That said, I'm itching to travel the train to Kunming and stop at many places along the way including LP (so I can be disappointed). There was an old man with a shop by the riverside. He crafted exquisite opium pips and bamboo bongs.

48 minutes ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Is there an off-season???

I was there for 9 days last month. It was pretty quiet. Thoroughly enjoyed myself hitting up my favorite restaurants, having a beer Lao or two at quiet cafes along Sakkaline road. Very chill.

11 hours ago, unblocktheplanet said:

The economy isn't everything. Places get spoiled with too many tourists, just look at Europe. There's no cultural flavour to many, many places. I'd rather watch a documentary!

Totally agree about Europe. Just a bunch of old buildings with a lot of uptight people running around, boring.

However you must see the irony in a tourist saying that they are okay but other tourists are "too much".

Okay, I'll play along...

I went to LP 25 years ago. It was already ruined by tourism. 😄

Compared to the rest of Laos living dirt poor all over with almost no tourists.

I paid $8 a person to sleep on a floor on the slow boat to LP in Laos, way more than I paid for any hotel in Thailand or Cambodia at the time.

What a tourist trap. 🫠

44 minutes ago, SiSePuede419 said:

Totally agree about Europe. Just a bunch of old buildings with a lot of uptight people running around, boring.

I stood at the rim of the Grand Canyon and thought to myself, "Meh, it’s just a ditch."

6 minutes ago, temuFarang said:

I stood at the rim of the Grand Canyon and thought to myself, "Meh, it’s just a ditch."

To Buddhists everything is just a collection of atoms put together so basically all the same thing.

11 hours ago, wimpy said:

I was there for 9 days last month. It was pretty quiet. Thoroughly enjoyed myself hitting up my favorite restaurants, having a beer Lao or two at quiet cafes along Sakkaline road. Very chill.

Thailand has Beer Lao. Chiang Khan has Lao food.

But you fell in love with NHS again

💖

12 minutes ago, Rockyroad said:

Chiang Khan has Lao food.

So does every town or village in Isaan.

5 hours ago, Rockyroad said:

Thailand has Beer Lao. Chiang Khan has Lao food

Yeah, I'm more interested in the French influenced offerings. A tad more atmosphere as well.

We’ve been staying in a small village south of Thungsong NST the last couple weeks, no tourists, no farangs, no Chinese, just locals and seen only one farang in Thungsong since we’ve been here. No one in the village drinks alcohol, the bars in town are empty, no one is drinking alcohol at any of the restaurants and haven’t seen a single drunk on the roads compared to lampang and cm where nearly everyone is tipsy by 20:00pm. The weather is near perfect. Haven’t seen a single skinny scroungy sickly looking cat, they all look healthy as well as the cattle. Wife is implying she wants to live here, I’m like, sure, though it may look pretty on the outside though it’ll take a couple three years to see what’s under the hood. Though I’m really liking it down here, it’s quite pleasant.

I've been to LP several times over the past couple of decades, but last time, about 2 years ago. I didn't like it anymore. Everything seemed geared towards the Chinese, and the food we had wasn't good at all, we ate at a couple of the riverside restaurants and a couple of the more upmarket places in the town center, everything we had was sub standard compared to Thailand.

But Beerlao is still good, good tasting beer and so cheap.

A while ago , the Chinese were barely allowed to go to other countries.

Now there are and are well off with a strong economy.

Laos is just over the border , makes sense some of those 1,4 billion

go there.

I was there in 1999 , taking a very slow and LOUD boat to Houayxay on the Mekong.

Like torture while others on the boat were taking weed.