Beautiful photos: two day adventure trekking in Luang Prabang

Since I started traveling in 2005 I’ve done quite a few treks. One of the treks I often think back to is the 2 day trekking in Luang Prabang Miguel & I did a couple of years ago when we were traveling through Laos & Thailand for 3 weeks. I had an amazing experience as the trekking included a lot of different activities, which made it just fantastic. Today, I will share some of my best photos with you.

Trekking in Luang Prabang during the wet season

We visited Laos in the beginning of July, which is considered the wet season (the wet season in Laos runs from May until October). So, obviously not the best time to travel to Laos, but since we, one, had no other option, and two, wet seasons aren’t all that wet, we decided to just go and do the things we wanted to do anyways. I wouldn’t let wet / rainy seasons influence your travel plans too much as it usually doesn’t rain 24/7 in the wet season, so chances are you’re going to have some good weather too when you will be traveling.

Trekking in Luang Prabang: biking, hiking, & kayaking

With only limited time to travel in Laos, we decided to costumize some of the tours available to best meet our needs. After talking to different tour providers we decided to do a 2 day trekking in Luang Prabang during which we would go biking, hiking, and kayaking. We would spend the night in a small mountain village, together with the locals.

The day we started our trekking it became clear to us why people had warned us not to go to Laos during the wet season. Rain was pouring down as we got on our mountainbikes to start our ride. Covered in ponchos we biked for a few hours when it finally started to clear up. I have to admit though that the views were amazing with the clouds hanging low over green mountain tops.

After biking for a couple of hours we reached the spot from where we would start hiking to the mountain village. The dirt road ahead of us looked more like a mud bath with all the rain that had been coming down the past few hours. Knowing myself, I was a little hesitant to start the hike. If you know me, you know that I fall and hurt myself easily. So with this muddy path ahead of us, I could easily figure out what was going to happen….

But, when you see views like these, you forget about the rain, mud and dirt right away.

Spending the night in a mountain village

After an amazing but also tiring hike (the mud made it a lot harder to walk), we ended the day in a small mountain village where we were going to spend the night. We arrived and while we dropped off our day packs in the little room where we were going to spend the night, the guide cooked us a simple, but filling meal.

In the evening we sat with some of the villagers, including the chief of the town. Together we sang, laughed, and share a jar of rice whiskey. After this we went off to bed; it had been a long day and the next day we were going to do more hiking & kayaking!

Hiking and Kayaking

The next morning we left early, ready to hike back to our starting point. Unfortunately, we need to take the same rout back; the heavy rainfall made it impossible to take the other route. At first I was was a little disappointed when I heard this, but that feeling went away quickly. After a rainy and cloudy hike the day before, this second day of or our trekking in Luang Prabang promised to be a nice and sunny day.

Just like the day before, the hike was great again. On the way back to our starting point we came across a few people from the village who were doing …… rites / rituals.

When we finished the hike, it was time for some kayaking. Which turned out to be hysterical as Miguel and my ideas about how to best kayak were very different. We started together in one kayak, but after we almost fell in the water within the first 10 minutes we quickly decided to change. I would go with our guide and Miguel was going to be on his own. I really didn’t want to fall in the water!

The kayaking was great fun! Due to all the rainfall the rapids were pretty big and not the easiest to navigate….. Luckily I had help from the guide, because I’m not sure if I would have survived had I been in a kayak on my own.

Looking back at our trekking in Luang Prabang

Although it’s been a few years, I still remember this trekking very clear. It was so impressive with the beautiful scenery, doing the trekking just with a guide (and no other travelers) and getting away from the rush of daily life.
I remember regretting we left Luang Prabang so quick, only to make it to Vang Vieng. If I’d better know what Vang Vieng was going to be like, I would have definitely stayed longer in Luang Prabang.

Have you ever been to Luang Prabang? Did you hike there, please share your story in the comments!