Pak Ou Caves

(US$1, free for children. Torches are available but candles make it possible to see reasonably well after your eyes have become accustomed to the dark. A boat trip from Luang Prabang is the best way to reach the caves. Rest houses, tables and a basic toilet are available.)

The Pak Ou Caves are perhaps the most popular excursion from Luang Prabang and are located 25 km upstream from the city, set in the side of a limestone cliff opposite the mouth of the Mekong’s Nam Ou tributary (Pak Ou means ‘Mouth of the Ou’). The two caves are studded with thousands of wood and gold Buddha images – 2500 in the lower cave and 1500 in the upper – and are one of the main venues for Pi Mai in April, when hundreds make the pilgrimage upriver from Luang Prabang.

The two sacred caves were supposedly discovered by King Setthathirat in the 16th century but it is likely that the caverns were associated with spirit (phi) worship before the arrival of Buddhism in Laos. For years the caves, which locals still believe to be the home of guardian spirits, were inhabited by monks.