Whisky Village in Luang Prabang, Laos

Whiskey Village Luang Prabang
Whisky village or Ban Xang Hai village in Luang Prabang is one of the attractions when visiting the Pak Ou Caves.

All longboats ferrying you to the caves will stop here for you to experience the Lao people's lifestyle in this 3 craft village.

Meaning, there are a total of 3 main attractions in this village: whisky making, Silk Weaving and Sa Paper Making.

Ban Xang Hai or Lek means Jar Maker Village in Lao. However, most people would call this place Whisky Village due to the star attraction of local Lao whisky or Lao Lao, which is made and sold here.

The beauty about this moonshine is that they marry the whisky with all kinds of creepy crawlies, from scorpions, geckos, centipedes and snakes.

You would know them as snake wines, but the other bugs bring it to another level.

Whisky Village in Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang Whisky VillageWhisky Village Bamboo jetty to walk in.

On your journey to the Pak Ou Caves, the longboat or tour bus will stop you here to visit this interesting village that is also well known for its Sa Papermaking and its woven silk craft.

On arriving at the great Mekong River banks, you proceed to the Whisky Village via a bamboo jetty and then up to the village entrance. The first thing that greets you will be the whisky station.

Me with the Lao Lao (before).

Here you will see a display of the famous self-made Lao Lao whisky bottles put in intricately weaved casings. The person in charge will invite you to test the famous Lao Lao whiskey in a small shot glass.

Me with the Lao Lao (after).

Well, me being the occasional drinker, was first in line to try this local Lao Lao. I think from the picture above, you can tell how powerful it was.

If I lit a lighter in front of my mouth, I would probably be able to blow flames! Serious, this was some potent stuff! Much stronger than most whiskies I have tasted in my life.

Lao Lao making process.

Then a demonstration on how the Lao Lao whisky is made there. A traditional technique involves an old drum, some pipes here and there, a wooden fire under the drum, and an old jar's outlet pipe.

I ain't no rocket scientist, but that looks lethal. Apparently, the whisky is distilled to about 55% proof.

Snake wines, or should I say Scorpion Wine sold in bottles.

Anyway, as you move on inside, you start to see the real stuff being sold on open tables outside the homes cum shops. Bottles of snake wine or critter wines are available from your average Coke bottle size to the one-litre bottle.

Stuffed with critters and ginseng, probably some other herbs, these look really odd. Gross to some people, exciting to others, like me.

Without hesitation, the price was asked, and the next thing, I had 2 bottles in my bag, all for a mere US$10.00.

Silk spinning wheel.

Then only you start to see the touristy stuff being sold. Seems they pay attention to the Lao Lao instead of their silk weaving and other handicraft. Maybe it is because the foreigner enjoys drinking?

Anyway, a variety of houses in the village are selling traditional handwoven Lao silk. Made by the locals there, they are priced pretty reasonably and are great souvenirs to get. The quality of the silk there is pretty impressive too.

Silk Weaving in Laos.

Lao Silk Making Video

Walking around the village, I came across a local Lao lady weaving a piece of silk. I asked her how long it takes to make one piece, and she told me that depending on the design, it could be from 3 days to a month. So prices are based on the design.

The more details, the more expensive. You can bargain with them too, but be reasonable, please. They work really hard, from what I observed.

Me at the Silk village.

I must say that the Lao people are not persuasive, meaning they do not force you to buy their goods. Asking them how much and then moving along, they would simply smile at you.

A variety of finished Lao silk materials being sold.

Several homes converted into shops sell these lovely woven silk materials, which are made into sarongs to table runners or even as wall decorations. Again, great souvenirs if you plan to get some.

Little Lao trader.

Something caught my eye as I was walking around the village; a little Lao girl was also attempting to sell toy dolls.

She was absolutely adorable as I watched her set up her tiny stall in the Whisky Village. Her mother was just next to her while she arranges the little toy dolls. Too cute.

Boy monk attending to some chores.

At the Whisky Village, there is also a small temple with a few monks. Nothing special as it is for the locals at the village.

I saw a young monk doing his duty painting the temple walls. It was quite nice as his orange robe was really shouting against the white painted walls.

Close up of the boy monk painting the temple.

Local Lao house.

Exploring deeper into the Whisky Village, I passed many homes, some about to fall apart a mostly all wooden and run down.

Take a look at the picture above. A strong gust of wind would easily topple that home.

Paper Village - Xang Khong Posa.

When you get to the main village road, you will see a sign that welcomes you to Xang Khong Posa, also known as the Paper Village.

Here is where they make the famous Sa Paper, a thick kind of paper made from the Mulberry tree's bark.

Finishing the Sa Paper.

From the Sa Paper, cards, photo albums, lanterns, writing paper and papercrafts are made. Even umbrellas and lampshades are made from the amazing Sa Paper.

You can see that this village is producing a lot of it and most of it is sent to the main town of Luang Prabang.

Various vendors and stalls in the night markets also sell these products if you don't make it to this Paper Village.

Traditional Lao puppet.

Among other items being sold at the Whisky Village, local Lao handicraft items like handcrafted puppets and other antiques.

But be careful about the antiques as some seem to be reproductions from China, made to look old.

You can also read about my experience at the Pak Ou Buddha Caves, which is just further up from this village.

Here are some tips about Getting to the Whiskey, Silk, Paper Village.
  • The visit is usually included in your Pak Ou Caves trip via longboat.
  • Cost - There is no extra charge for entering this village.
  • Time - About 20-30 minutes if you take the boat.
  • Attractions - As mentioned above.
  • An alternative to getting here - You can hire a tuk-tuk and come by yourself and explore this place. This would give you much more time in the village.

Conclusion

Overall, I spent a good 30 minutes walking around here but be warned that the boat you came in will wait for you at the banks, so you need to get back there.

Unlike me, I ventured too far and totally forgot about the boat, so I rushed back to find a boatload of tourist giving me the dagger stare.

Everyone was waiting for me as I totally got carried away at the Whisky Village in Luang Prabang, Laos. I am sure you will too when you visit this interesting place.

Malaysia Asia

Blogging since 2007, but writing online since 1997. I belong to the 1st generation of worldwide bloggers, which is of course old-school. Since 2008, I created Malaysia Asia and this travel, flood, gadget and lifestyle blog has won numerous physical awards from tourism boards around Malaysia. (Not those online awards). After 12 years of blogging, I have semi-retired and now blog about things I like, do product reviews and enjoy life. My work has been featured in Lonely Planet, CNN Travel, Yahoo Travel, Wall Street Journal, and many other international publications. Find out more about me and thank you.

8 Comments

Please Select Embedded Mode To Show The Comment System.*

Previous Post Next Post

Contact Form