WELCOME TO THE BELLE RIVE BOUTIQUE HOTEL

The Pak Ou Caves are one of the most treasured religious symbols of Luang Prabang Province. Several legends tell stories of this site where, over the years, thousands of Buddha statues have been deposited. 
 
The entrance to the caves is a masterpiece. The stairs, even though they are steep, are well looked after and equipped for many visitors. This religious site is very much visited today by tourists, so please do not expect to be on your own.  
 
You will be pleased to discover these two caves for their individual character as well as for the 4000 statues representing Buddha in all shapes and sizes.
 

The elephant village is located about 15 km southeast of Luang Prabang right in the jungle on the banks of the Nam Khan River. Compared to some other countries, here in Laos the mahouts treat the elephants really well and do not use wooden sticks at all.  
 
The Village offers many outdoor activities ranging from elephant feeding, riding, bathing and training. Trekking and kayaking is also available. 
 
Enjoy the fresh green landscape, unique panoramic views and peaceful nature. You can also explore the elephant hospital, watch the elephants bathe and work in the tranquil riverside setting.  
 

Take a guided tour of Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Your guide will pick you up here at the Belle Rive Boutique Hotel.
 
We recommend to see the former Royal Palace, now the National Museum, where you will explore Lao’s history. You will further learn all about the different ethnic groups living in this beautiful country at the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre (TAEC). 
 
In addition, your guide takes you to three famous temples: Wat Mai, a temple renowned for its golden bas-relief. Wat Visoun, first temple of Luang Prabang, and Wat Xieng Thong, the most revered one. Located at the end of the peninsula, close to the Mekong, this temple was built in 1560 by King Setthathirat and is decorated with ornate carvings and mosaics.  
 

This unique half day activity invites you on an in-depth and hands-on learning experience, where you will participate in 14 steps of the rice cycle on The Living Land Farm. You will be a rice farmer learning how to select the seeds, plant, plough with the help of the farm’s water buffalo and every other step until the last one - eating! 
 
The Living Land Farm, a community enterprise just outside of Luang Prabang, maintains educational programs and professional organic farming right next to the village’s rice paddies. Only small groups are able to join the interactive rice farming experience – either in the morning or afternoon. With your participation you support locals, maintaining their crafts in their traditional forms. You will see and learn about bamboo weaving, tool and trap making, gardening and even blacksmithing. 
 
 

Each morning when the sun rises, hundreds of resident monks leave their temples and walk silently down the streets in single-line to collect food offerings from the local people.  
 
The nearly endless parade of monks, barefoot and saffron-robed, is truly a spectacular sight and this dawn ceremony has become an iconic image of Luang Prabang.  
 

Frangipani Spa is just around the corner of The Belle Rive Boutique Hotel and offers privacy and well educated and trained staff in air conditioned and comfortable rooms.

Full body oil massage: 95,000 LAK for 1 hour

A relaxing and rejuvenating massage that will soothe your entire body.
 

Aromatherapy Massage: 130,000 LAK for 1 hour

With their highest quality essential oils such as rose or frangipani.

Traditional Lao massage: 65,000 LAK for 1 hour

This technique uses fingers, hand and palm to ease tension and restore vigor.

Foot massage with cream: 65,000 LAK for 1 hour

Helps to re-invigorate all the leg muscles with their special cream blend

Traditional herbal compress massage: 190,000 LAK

Combines massage with the healing properties of warm herbal compress.

The restaurant is just a 3 minutes’ walk away from the Belle Rive and classes start at 9 am. You will be served coffee and tea and after choosing your menu, you will go to the local ,,Phou Si’’ Market to buy all the ingredients. The market is one of the highlights. The Bamboo Tree guides will explain to you in perfect English the huge variety of local products.  
 
When you are back at the restaurant, you will start to chop, cut, carve and finally cook all dishes. There is no hustle at all. Linda is a fantastic chef and experienced in teaching for 13 years. She knows exactly what kind of ingredients there are in foreign countries and will let you know how to replace them. 
 
In the end – if you pass – you will get a certificate which will always remind you of this beautiful experience when you are back home.  
 

Taking a leisurely walk through the night market is an enjoyable experience in itself. It is not unusual to lose track of time while you stroll amongst the stalls. In fact if you look around, you will see many tourists moving slowly, seemingly transfixed while enjoying their shopping.

The market is open daily from 5 pm to about 9.30 pm. It is located along Sisavangvong Road in front of the Royal Palace Museum. Every evening a kilometre-long stretch of road is closed to vehicle traffic and turned into a walking and shopping street while the market takes place.

More than 300 handicraft vendors sell their hand-made products here every night. The market showcases an extensive variety of handicrafts made by local ethnic groups. On display are many types of textiles, exquisite ceramics, antiques, paintings, coffee and tea, quilts, shoes, silver, bags, bamboo lamps of different shades and sizes, and even rare spices.

There are a lot of interesting items on display that are hard to find elsewhere. Best of all they are cheap. The traders quote quite low prices considering most of the items are hand made. So even if you're not good at bargaining, you can be sure that you will get good value. But if you enjoy or want to practice your bargaining skill you can do so, though don't expect huge discounts.

It’s at the morning markets that locals do their shopping. And it’s there that you get a real flavor of the local culture. Supermarkets are few and far between through much of the region. Which is a good thing. Markets are much, much better.

The morning market in Luang Prabang, lining a couple of quiet streets near the Royal Palace, starts early and is over by mid-morning. It sets up along a couple of side-streets next to one of the city’s many Wats. A butcher and some of the more touristy stalls have actual tables for their wares. But most of the vendors, selling anything from rice, to fresh vegetables, to steamed fish, frogs, and anything else that might be the day’s catch, just set up on the ground. It’s an elegant solution–cheap, simple, and effective.

Vendors stream in before dawn by foot. Others come from across the Mekong by riverboat, hauling their wares up the steep, muddy riverbank. By mid- to late-morning, they’re gone again until tomorrow.

If you’re after fresh fruit and vegetables, Mekong river fish, seaweed sheets, rice and grains, or fish wrapped in banana leaf ready to throw on the steamer, this is the place. And if you’re feeling adventurous, you can even give barbecued bamboo rat a try.