Here are six great reasons to extend your stay in Luang Prabang. Although time passes at a very leisurely pace in Luang Prabang that does not mean there is little to do. Here are some fun suggestions for optional activities in and around Luang Prabang that will help make your stay even more enjoyable and are worth adding a few extra days to enjoy. If you have special interests please let us know. While there is no surfing or skiing in Laos, our staff are very resourceful when it comes to finding or even creating unusual activities that fit your interests. All of these trips begin between 08:00 and 09:00 a.m. and return mid- to late-afternoon.

No, Lao cuisine is not just a carbon copy of Thai cooking. As you will learn today, Lao food has a personality of its own, full of vivid flavors and fresh, natural ingredients. Since meals here depend on ingredients that can be found in the market that day, you begin the morning with a walk through the colorful and vibrant Phosy Market with your chef/teacher. Classes are held under a sun roof in the airy garden of a prominent restaurant. The chef will demonstrate the preparation of all of the ingredients for each of the day's dishes and explain how they are used differently in South East Asia's many cuisines. After a demonstration, you get to try your hand preparing at each dish. Students receive printed recipes to take home, so you may dazzle your friends with your own Lao dinner party! The highlight of the class, of course, is that you can enjoy the lunch that you prepared with your own hands! There is no pre-planned menu, so you can take this class several times without repeating most of the dishes (although some are even better when practiced and eaten the second time around).

We have to admit that that weaving sounds pretty dull. However, everyone who has participated so far has really raved about the experience. Before you move on to the next day trip consider this: spinning and weaving are among man's most ancient and most necessary activities. Gandhi spent many hours a day spinning and weaving his own cloth as an act of defiance against England's big textile factories. In today's world it is an activity that helps us connect with our own humanity.

Your afternoon begins with a visit to the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Center, a private museum recently opened to explain the livelihoods of Laos’ ethnic minorities and preserve their cultural arts. You will learn many interesting facts about the hill tribes of Northern Laos.

Then you continue to a weaving center in Nong Kham Village, where you spend the afternoon in a stunning Mekong riverside garden. Here you will have a chance to create a piece of your own personal silk fabric to take away with you. You will first learn about silkworms, natural dyes and weaving techniques in an interactive program that prepares you to become a silk weaver! You will be are invited to prepare mulberry leaves and feed the worms as you learn some fascinating things about the life cycles of these unusual creatures and the tremendous cultural and economic impact they have had on Asia. After a brief introduction to the natural dyes, you will actually prepare your own from many natural ingredients. After preparing the dye sources, dye white scarves in the chosen colors. Next,  receive an introduction to weaving techniques. There is a detailed demonstration of the "Ikat technique". Try weaving and spinning on our demonstration looms. Once you have created something gorgeous , you may stroll around the gardens, enjoy a cocktail, nibble on some tasty fried silkworms if you are brave enough, and watch the sun dip behind the mountains on the Mekong. Return to your hotel early evening.

We doubt that your friends back home have ever done anything like this.

You are going to get wet and you will love it. Leave your hotel in the morning and journey upriver to a small village where your kayaking guide will provide equipment and give instructions on kayaking. Begin your descent down the Khan River past villages and lush countryside. This close-up experience with nature and the nearby villages shows a very different life from life in the. You will be on the river a total of about three to four hours, including breaks and return to Luang Prabang mid-afternoon.  This is not a white-water rafting trip and it is only moderately challenging. Safety equipment is provided, of course, but bring your own sun screen.

Pedal out of town this morning to Wat Pa Phon Phao, a forest temple famous for the teachings of Ajahn Saisamut. When he died in 1992, his funeral was the largest that Laos had seen in decades. It's Santi Chedi (Peace Pagoda) was built in 1988. This large yellow stupa contains three inside levels plus an outside terrace with a view of the surrounding plains. After another kilometer you will arrive in Ban Phanom, a village that is home to Thai Lue (a tribe with its origins in Southern China) people which is well known for cotton and silk hand-weaving. Here we have the opportunity to watch how traditional Lao cotton fabric is loomed. We pass leisurely through teakwood plantations and wind up the Nam Khan Valley. Along the way you pass the tomb of Henry Mouhot, the French explorer who "discovered" Angkor Wat. Continue our easy bike adventure through rice paddies and dense forest until we arrive at the Elephant Park Project, about 15 km from Luang Prabang along the Nam Khan River. This unspoiled valley is one of the most beautiful places in the area. Until recently, wild elephants and tigers roamed here, but nowadays it is a special place to relax in a relatively unspoiled setting. Lunch will be served on the mountain view terrace or at the magnificent Tad Sae Waterfalls (depending on the season). After a little time for relaxation and a coffee we will return to Luang Prabang by van, arriving mid-afternoon. Total biking time is two to three hours. Moderate difficulty.

Travel outside of Luang Prabang to the  Xieng Lom Elephant Camp, where you learn about these magnificent beasts as you prepare for your own ride of a lifetime! If you always wanted to ride an elephant in its natural setting rather than a circus, this could be the perfect opportunity for you. Elephant rides are scenic, tranquil, relaxing and require no specific fitness. In the wet season (July through September) ride your elephant to the stunning Tad Sae Waterfall. In the dry season (March through June) your elephant will take you through rice paddies along the riverbank and to a nearby village. Enjoy lunch and then return to Luang Prabang mid-afternoon.