The Pak Ou Caves Luang Prabang are one of the biggest draws for tourists visiting the city. And for good reason. What’s not to love about a slow boat ride up the Mekong to see majestic limestone caves steeped in history?
We loved the journey almost as much as the caves. But you’ll need to give yourself a half day to visit as the boat takes nearly 2 hours in each direction. (It’s also possible to get there by road but we don’t recommend it).
In this guide, we’ll cover exactly how to get to Pak Ou Caves and whether it’s worth the trip. You have the easy or hard option. Walking through the streets of Luang Prabang, you’ll see endless tours to the caves and be asked “Caves? Waterfall?” by every tuktuk driver you pass so don’t worry about missing out or booking before you arrive.
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What are the Pak Ou Caves?
The Pak Ou Caves are two caves 25km north of Luang Prabang. Loas people believe their ancestors first entered the caves in the 8th century. At the time, Lao people mainly practiced a form of animism and these caves were shrines to the river spirits.
With the adoption of Buddhism as the main religion in the area, the use of the caves changed.
Since the 16th century, the King and worshippers would make a pilgrimage to the Pak Ou Caves on Pi Mai (Laos New Year). Every year, they’d leave Buddha statues inside the caves meaning there are now well over 4000 statues housed here, all of varying ages. Many people also bring their Buddha statues from home to wash them in the holy water at the caves just after Laos New Year.
So it’s a pretty special place, spiritually and historically.
There are 2 caves – Tham Ting is the lower one and Tham Theung is the upper one. You’ll find most of the statues in the lower cave which is easier to look around as it’s quite shallow and has good light. The upper cave is much larger and goes deep into the mountain so you’ll need to bring a torch. It’s harder to navigate and see the images of Buddha (including murals) but there are thousands hidden in this space.
Getting to Pak Ou Caves
There are technically 4 ways to get to Pak Ou Caves:
- Go to the public dock in Luang Prabang and buy your tour/ boat ticket
- Book through a local agency for the same tour/ boat combo
- Get a tuktuk to Pak Ou village and pay for a boat to cross the river
- Drive a motorbike to Pak Ou village then get the boat across to the caves
Either of the first two options is preferable for first time visitors to Luang Prabang as the roads are… interesting. We chose to get the tickets ourself from the dock and it was a really smooth process, but we’ll break them all down so you can choose what’s right for you.
Take the boat
The boat takes around 2 hours from Luang Prabang with a short stop at “Whisky Village” to buy rice whisky or other souvenirs like handmade scarves or bracelets. It’s not the prettiest or largest place, but the people make the items whilst you wander around so it’s a nice little pit stop.
We really enjoyed the boat ride up the Mekong as it’s such a beautiful route with so much green on the banks of the river. Though it’s definitely not a “luxury” cruise – you might want to pack earplugs or noise cancelling headphones to drown out the boat engine.
Depending on how you book the boat, it will cost between 170 and 200k kip per person ($6.50-9).
We went to the public boat dock to buy tickets on the morning and paid 200k each (30k entrance to the caves is on top of this). However, we also saw agencies/ hostels advertising it for as little as 170k (plus entrance). We didn’t enquire so the prices might have been out of date but it’s possible they’re able to swing a better deal with the boat drivers. Either way, it’s worth shopping around if saving money is key.
You can book through sites like GetYourGuide or Klook but you’ll pay at least 5x the price for the same service.
The public boat leaves from the pier opposite Saffron coffee at 8.30am each morning. Aim to get there around 20 minutes early so you have time to buy your ticket (and enjoy a quick coffee). There are lots of boats lined up so they can fill several depending on demand.
If you go through an agency, they might send a tuktuk to pick you from wherever you’re staying in Luang Prabang.
Going by road
The two options for going by road will depend on how comfortable you are driving a motorbike (and whether you have an International Driving Permit).
You need to get to Pak Ou Village (pictured above) and from there you can get a boat across the river. The village is directly opposite the caves so it only takes 15 minutes to cross. For parking and your boat ticket, it should cost around 20,000 kip.
Regardless of whether you choose to drive yourself or take a tuktuk, you need to be realistic in your expectations of the road quality. The route through the countryside is beautiful but it is very bumpy, dusty, and has a lot of pot holes. For first-timers to Laos, we wouldn’t recommend driving yourself. We know very experienced riders who’ve been badly hurt or damaged bikes around Luang Prabang.
The benefit of going by road is that you can travel on your own schedule meaning you’re more likely to visit Pak Ou Caves without groups of other people. The drive takes around 1 hour so it’s definitely the faster way to go.
A private tuktuk will cost around 600k Kip, plus there is the boat crossing and cave entrance fee.
What to expect on the boat to Pak Ou Caves & visiting “Whisky Village”
For most people, taking the boat is the better way to get to Pak Ou Caves. It’s how we travelled there and this is what you can realistically expect:
The boats are narrow, usually with around 10 old car seats and a very loud engine chuntering away at the back. Try and sit at the front if you can to be as far away from the motor as possible.
The ride up the river is insanely beautiful, even with the noise. It’s a very pleasant way to spend a couple of hours. So much life happens on the banks of the Mekong which you can see as you float on by.
After around 1.5 hours we stopped at the “whisky village”. Village is a generous terms as it’s really just a few houses. There’s a man making whisky in a huge barrel over a fire and a woman weaving on a traditional loom.
You can buy cold drinks, whisky, jewellery, and clothing here. The prices were very similar to the night market, maybe a touch cheaper. So if you’ve had your eye on a bottle of scorpion whisky, this might be the best time to buy it.
There is also a basic toilet (a squat hole) available to use for 2,000 kip. if, like Katie, you have a tiny bladder and drank too much coffee pre-trip. But we’d suggest attempting to go in Luang Prabang before leaving.
Another half hour up the river with beautiful mountains on the right hand side and you get to the caves.
Read next: If you love the idea of floating down the Mekong, you might want to the take the slow boat from Laos to Thailand too
Exploring the Caves
When you step off the boat at Pak Ou Caves, you’ll have to pay the entrance fee of 30,000 kip at the little wooden shack. Then cross a rickety wooden gangway to the stairs.
At this point, we got slightly distracted by a tiny ginger cat that likes to hang out on the stairs and get ear rubs from tourists.
Tham Ting (the lower cave)
Scratching duties fulfilled, you can then climb the stairs to the right to visit the lower cave, Tham Ting.
The climb’s short and we thought this was the more impressive of the two caves.
It has over 2,500 Buddha figures of all kinds and styles. They go deep into the back of the cave so it’s cool to see the variety of designs. Some people only stayed here a few minutes but we loved taking our time to really see the different statues with hundreds of years’ of history.
Tham Theung (the upper cave)
Then it’s time for the real climb.
To get to the Tham Theung, the upper cave, it takes around 15 minutes. You have to walk back down the stairs and go back up the other side. The stairs are good quality concrete but when we visited in wet season, we were a sweaty mess in the humidity. At cooler times of year though, there should be a nice breeze.
The cave is more “cave-like” than the lower one and it has a wooden relief at the entrance, which was being restored when we visited.
Extending 50 metres into the mountain, it’s very dark inside. It’s home to a couple thousand more Buddha statues though they’re harder to see without a torch. There’s also a channel just to the left of the entrance where locals wash their Buddha statues during New Year celebrations.
Your boat driver will give you 40-60 minutes to explore the 2 caves. Honestly, this is plenty of time so don’t feel rushed when you get off. The whole area isn’t that big, as long as you’re comfortable going up and down the stairs.
There’s a toilet here too, which charges 5000 Kip. It’s also a squat hole but one of the cleaner ones we’ve encountered.
When we visited there were only 2 boats and maybe 20 people maximum exploring Pak Ou caves. In the height of dry season it’s much busier and has lots of people, mostly children, trying to sell you souvenirs too.
Going back to Luang Prabang
Make sure you remember which boat you got off so you can return to the same one. The driver stays with the boat whilst you’re in Pak Ou Caves so lots of people left belongings on the boat.
Going back to Luang Prabang is much faster – it only takes 1 hour as you’re now going with the river stream and there’s no stops this time.
We arrived back at the pier at 12.40pm having left at 8.30am which was perfect for getting lunch. Our hostel owner said usually they don’t come back until around 2pm, but the caves were so quiet that everyone finished earlier.
Read next: Best things to do in Luang Prabang
Tips for visiting Pak Ou Caves
Go early – It’s very annoying to be constantly told to get up early when you’re away. But getting one of the first public boats to the caves means there’s a higher chance you can explore them in some kind of quiet.
Bring a torch – It’s dark, really dark, in the upper cave. Unless you are part bat, its good to have a torch to see all the statues hidden in the dark recesses. Your phone can work in a pinch but it won’t really have a big enough beam.
Shop around – We paid 200k for the public boat plus 30k for entrance so 230k kip per person. In town, we saw some signs offering tours for 170k, excluding entrance, and maybe you could find a little cheaper if there’s a group of you. Ultimately these are very small differences, but if you’re counting pennies it pays to ask around.
Are the Pak Ou Caves worth visiting?
If it was just the caves themselves, then I’d be on the fence about whether they’re worthy of a place on your Luang Prabang itinerary. They aren’t particularly impressive on their own.
However it is a lovely boat ride up the Mekong and if you aren’t doing the slow boat or taking a Mekong cruise it’s worth going purely for this. But if you’re debating how to get to Pak Ou caves and are favouring driving then we’d probably say no, they’re not worth visiting.
Ultimately, the boat tour isn’t a lot of money and only takes a half day, so we still recommend taking the time to visit.
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