Pak Ou Caves — Attraction in Luang Prabang

According to the village elders of Ban Pak Ou, the people living here now were originally from Nong Sae Kingdom in China who moved down to live along the bank of the Mekong River. There have been scattered settlements in this area for more than 800 years. When they arrived in this area they saw rich natural resources which were suitable for their livelihood. It was located at the confluence of the two rivers – the Mekong and the Ou River. The inhabitants built their homes to reside here and named this place “Xua District or Champa District”. It is said that historic documents mention that prior to the immigrants from Nong Sae, the original settlement of the ethnic group here can be dated back to a Khmu ethnic group from the 13th century. Currently, Ban Pak Ou is one of the villages with tourism potential in the Pak Ou District. It is about 25 kilometers north of Luang Prabang District along Road No.13. Pak Ou is adjacent to the Ou River to the north, Xang Hai village to the south, agricultural area to the east and the Mekong River to the west. The people in this village’s main jobs are animal breeding and making a living from the banks of the Mekong and Ou Rivers. In Ban Pak Ou, there is a house built in 1930 with historical associations with important religious rituals. For example, during the Lao New Year festival, Nang Sangkan (Miss Luang Prabang) has to throw water at the Buddha statues and make a sand stupa, which is a ritual performed by the Kings in ancient times. In addition, Ban Pak Ou is also known for the Pak Ou Buddha Cave and Ane Cliff, which are popular attractions amongst tourists...

We bought tickets for the “public boat” to Pak Ou Caves at the boat station near Saffron Coffee (150k per person). The scheduled departure was at 8:30 a.m., we took off at 8:45.

We arrived in Ban Xang Hai (whisky village) around 10:25, we had 10 minutes to take a look at a temple, some shops with fabrics and whisky making (you won’t get much information about the process unless you’re there with a guide).

We arrived near Pak Ou Caves at 11:20 and had 40 minutes to explore them. Tickets to the caves cost 20k per person. The lower cave has plenty of Buddha statues inside but it’s small, there’s nothing to explore. “There are 278 steps to reach the entrance of the upper cave” and there are toilets on the way up, there were children asking for “money, money” which made some people think there was a toilet fee but there’s no official fee, they don’t even give out toilet paper and there’s no running water in the sink, so… 🤷🏻‍♀️

You don’t need to bring a flashlight to the upper cave, it is well lit and you can walk around a bit but it’s quite small. You’ll meet plenty of women holding their babies trying to sell you the same bracelets and souvenirs on the way up and it’s so sad to see 😔 Ruins the whole experience.

We were back in town at 1:20 p.m.. Overall, the boat ride was peaceful and comfortable. If you want to see scenes of the daily life along Mekong river from a boat, it’s a good way to spend a half-day but otherwise I would recommend skipping...

Very underwhelming. I can understand the cultural importance of this cave - we thankfully had a private tour guide, who explained that locals still come here every year during the Lao New Year to place a Buddha statue. But as a site for a tourist to visit? It's not worth it BECAUSE you have to travel so far out just to see it. We took a slow boat along the Mekong River for 2hr. It was a nice boat ride, but for 2hr, no thank you. A total of 2hr there + 2hr back I could have better used that time to explore Luang Prabang city.

Furthermore, upon arriving, you aren't informed how long you have and what to do after you're done. You actually only have 45 mins and must return to the boat. The boat won't leave unless everyone is back. We were waiting for 2 pax from our boat to come back but did not after 45 mins. This caused everyone else to wait. Honestly, you only need 20 mins at this site. There's nothing much to do. No one also told the people to get back onto the boat. We, as the tourists, had to tell our fellow boat mates that we can now get back into the boat so we can make the 2hr ride back. Again, we thankfully had a tour guide who ensured we were on track and know what to do.

I rarely leave Google Reviews unless I feel very strongly for something; I very strongly feel you should AVOID coming...