Luang Prabang - The Rough Guide to Laos - page 199

COOKERY COURSES
Luang Prabang is a great place to learn more about Lao food, with several cookery schools
offering a range of introductory classes. You can choose between full-day courses, which
usually include a tour of the market to learn about Lao ingredients and making your own
lunch (and/or dinner), or shorter evening courses, which mainly focus on cooking demon-
strations.
Tamarind Kitsalat Rd 020 7777 0484, tamarindlaos.com . The excellent one-day
class begins with a fascinating tour of Phosy Market before the group heads to the peace-
ful lakeside cooking school where you learn six Lao dishes - such as lemongrass stuffed
with chicken, môk pa and jaew . Day class Mon-Sat 9am-3pm (280,000K); evening class
Mon-Fri 4-8pm (210,000K).
Tum Tum Cheng Sakkaline Rd 020 2242 5499, tumtumcheng.wicked-web.biz . A
shorter course than most, where you can learn how to prepare many of the more unusual
Lao ingredients and more about the royal cuisine of Luang Prabang. Daily: day class
8.30am-2pm (250,000K); evening class 5-8pm (230,000K).
< Back to Eating
DRINKING AND NIGHTLIFE
The town's riverfront restaurants are the best places to sip a cool drink at sunset, but the most
hopping bar area is south of the old city between Phousi and the Nam Khan. Don't expect
amazing nightlife - thanks to a town curfew they all close at 11.30pm.
BowlingAlley 4km southwest of town, past the Southern bus station 020 5511 0033; map .
Believe it or not, the place to be after the bars close is the ten-pin bowling alley. A game
costs 20,000K/person (after 6pm) but really, as evidenced by the quality of play, it's the Beer-
lao (15,000K) that everyone's here for. Tuk-tuks wait outside Lao Lao Garden and Utopia at
chucking-out time to take you there. Daily noon-2am.
DaoFa Hotel 3km south of town, near the Southern bus station 071 260789; map . If
you're looking for something with more of a local spin, head over to Luang Prabang's premi-
er nightclub, tucked down an alleyway beside a hotel - a dark, smoky and sweaty affair
with oil-drum tables and cans of Carlsberg for 15,000K. There are live bands early even-
ing, then DJs and a blink-and-you-miss it disco before bedtime. You can also rent a private
karaoke booth (150,000K/3hr) to try to replicate that tortured-cat Lao karaoke sound. Daily
8.30pm-midnight.
Hive Ban Aphay 020 5999 5370, hivebarlaos.com ; map . A popular, if rather brash, bar,
with DJs and an epic happy hour (noon-7pm) of two-for-one cocktails (25,000K). A hip-hop