Luang Prabang recommendations

[AndyUK]

Visiting in January 2025 for a week. I’ve sussed a lot of the cultural ‘must dos’ but does anyone have recommendations on gay bars, clubs, massage places or spas please? Any info appreciated especially from recent travellers x

[vinapu]

Luang Prabang is really small city and after dark sleepy at that, so you need to trim your expectations re bars , clubs, spas and massages. But You may get lucky on apps. I did

[fedssocr]

one doesn't really go there for the sex. But it's a beautiful place. The first time I went my gay tour guide really wanted to have sex with me. I got the feeling that the poor guy was really hard up in such a small place. Nice guy but not something I was looking for. Lots of hospitality industry going on so probably more than a few gay or gay enough guys on the apps.

Check out Big Brother Mouse and Big Sister Mouse. Great organization trying to provide quality education for the children of Laos. 

[khaolakguy]

Providing more encouragement than help as my experience was more than 20 years ago...........But It did seem like the GAYEST place ever in terms of proportion of the population! I wondered if it was something in the water. 

 

If no one comes up with gay venues, I would expect that the gay guys interested will find the visitors in "straight" venues(or on the apps).

[Keithambrose]

6 hours ago, fedssocr said:

one doesn't really go there for the sex. But it's a beautiful place. The first time I went my gay tour guide really wanted to have sex with me. I got the feeling that the poor guy was really hard up in such a small place. Nice guy but not something I was looking for. Lots of hospitality industry going on so probably more than a few gay or gay enough guys on the apps.

Check out Big Brother Mouse and Big Sister Mouse. Great organization trying to provide quality education for the children of Laos. 

Siam Roads guy?

[fedssocr]

15 hours ago, Keithambrose said:

Siam Roads guy?

no, this was 15+ years ago when Purple Dragon was still in business

Last time I was in LP was 2015. It didn't seem particularly gay to me. But definitely worth a visit. Back in the day there was a restaurant outside of the town that was a mixed place where the gays gathered. At least that's what I was told. It was pretty quiet the night I was there. I don't think it's still there

[Keithambrose]

14 hours ago, fedssocr said:

no, this was 15+ years ago when Purple Dragon was still in business

Last time I was in LP was 2015. It didn't seem particularly gay to me. But definitely worth a visit. Back in the day there was a restaurant outside of the town that was a mixed place where the gays gathered. At least that's what I was told. It was pretty quiet the night I was there. I don't think it's still there

Thanks. I use some of the Siam Roafs guys, and observe the 'no sex' stipulation, though some are attractive!

[AndyUK]

There is a Siam Roads guide in LP and I’ll probably hire him for a LP intro!

[Keithambrose]

On 6/27/2024 at 3:57 PM, AndyUK said:

There is a Siam Roads guide in LP and I’ll probably hire him for a LP intro!

Let me know how you get on.

[AndyUK]

No worries Keith I will. I’m in Asia for three months so this will be a small part of a trip from Nov through to Feb. Can’t wait x

[eurasian]

On 7/8/2024 at 11:59 AM, AndyUK said:

No worries Keith I will. I’m in Asia for three months so this will be a small part of a trip from Nov through to Feb. Can’t wait x

Will be very happy to hear about your stay in LP . Thanks in advance . 

[joizy]

I’d say make sure you start in Bangkok and end there. At least that was my experience. Luang Prabang is a beautiful place, but I never found anything there beyond the temples. It is definitely worth a visit, but not a sex destination. As others have said, you might get lucky on the apps, but probably with other tourists.

[Keithambrose]

39 minutes ago, joizy said:

I’d say make sure you start in Bangkok and end there. At least that was my experience. Luang Prabang is a beautiful place, but I never found anything there beyond the temples. It is definitely worth a visit, but not a sex destination. As others have said, you might get lucky on the apps, but probably with other tourists.

Stay off the home made gin!

[PeterRS]

On 6/27/2024 at 6:46 AM, fedssocr said:

no, this was 15+ years ago when Purple Dragon was still in business

Back in the day, I also hired a Purple Dragon guy for a night tour. Before he came to my very nice guest house on the banks of the Mekong, I had gone around the corner for dinner where the two waiters were quite stunning and i suspected both gay. When my evening guide arrived, I was very pleasantly surprised to see that it was one of the waiters! He took me to the night market (which I had already visited) and then to what he said were a gay bar and a gay disco. Both were virtually empty.

I had hoped he might join me in the guest house but for whatever reason he could not. But on my last afternoon as I was sitting having a coffee looking over the river and killing time before going to the airport, a group of senior schoolboys came and sat at an adjoining table. All were cute and we exchanged smiles. After about 5 minutes one came over and asked if I liked the friend he sat next to. He said he liked me! But I had checked out of my room and in any case had no time. But it indicated that there was then certainly some gay activity in LP.

I loved my four days in the small city. I wonder how @AndyUK found it.

[joizy]

5 hours ago, Keithambrose said:

Stay off the home made gin!

I don’t know what that means but it sounds like an unnecessary insult.

[captainmick]

1 hour ago, joizy said:

I don’t know what that means but it sounds like an unnecessary insult.

In the November of 2024, six tourists died in Laos after drinking shots contaminated with methanol

[joizy]

18 minutes ago, captainmick said:

In the November of 2024, six tourists died in Laos after drinking shots contaminated with methanol

Oh, thanks for the explanation. Had nothing to do with my comment. 🤷‍♂️

[floridarob]

28 minutes ago, joizy said:

Oh, thanks for the explanation. Had nothing to do with my comment. 🤷‍♂️

Don't take it personal..... I took it as if you're going to be hanging out/ fucking other tourists, make sure you're not drinking tainted alcohol, was a worldwide scandal when this happened, and I think it happens more than reported.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cde7j9j76x0o

[joizy]

27 minutes ago, floridarob said:

Don't take it personal..... I took it as if you're going to be hanging out/ fucking other tourists, make sure you're not drinking tainted alcohol, was a worldwide scandal when this happened, and I think it happens more than reported.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cde7j9j76x0o

I still have PTSD from when I first joined this forum and felt like I was being hazed. Fortunately the worst offender that crazy Slovak guy, seems to either have been booted off or …

I appreciated the explanation. I don’t follow Lao news.

[Moses]

18 minutes ago, joizy said:

I appreciated the explanation. I don’t follow Lao news.

You don't have to follows specific Lao news, because poisoning by methanol is general problem within backpackers in South-East Asia, and Laos isn't country where such cases are regular. 

There are 15-20 deaths yearly from poisoning by methanol in Thailand. 

Most dangerous is Indonesia with their "arak" home made spirit - 329 cases at past 5 years.

Main rule for tourists is "do not drink home made spirits, do not buy branded but suspiciously cheap alcohol"

[zoomomancs]

Perhaps the place to find young, handsome Lao men is in the bars of Bangkok and Pattaya? I was disappointed by Luang Prabang. I had read about backpackers playing in the river but found a touristy market town, with even the massage shops not looking promising for a quickie. But it’s pretty enough for a short visit.

[Keithambrose]

2 hours ago, joizy said:

Oh, thanks for the explanation. Had nothing to do with my comment. 🤷‍♂️

I was trying to be helpful.....

[PeterRS]

2 hours ago, captainmick said:

In the November of 2024, six tourists died in Laos after drinking shots contaminated with methanol

As @Moses points out, poisoned drinks are not limited to Laos. Besides, the six who died last year were in the backpackers hangout of Vang Vieng, a known party town about 140 kms south of Luang Prabang. I am not aware there have ever been reports of any similar deaths in Luang Prabang. Vang Vieng is a bit closer to Vientiane and easily accessible as the first major stop on the Laos/China railway. Moral is absolutely don't accept drinks from strangers.

[joizy]

3 hours ago, Moses said:

You don't have to follows specific Lao news, because poisoning by methanol is general problem within backpackers in South-East Asia, and Laos isn't country where such cases are regular. 

There are 15-20 deaths yearly from poisoning by methanol in Thailand. 

Most dangerous is Indonesia with their "arak" home made spirit - 329 cases at past 5 years.

Main rule for tourists is "do not drink home made spirits, do not buy branded but suspiciously cheap alcohol"

Obviously, I am unaware of this trend, but thanks for the info. 

[joizy]

2 hours ago, Keithambrose said:

I was trying to be helpful.....

It was very out of context and I had no idea what it meant. Also, I’m not the one planning on going to Luang Prabang.