Luang Prabang Travel Forum

I just received an e-mail from a tour company in Luang Prabang. They told me to bring a thick jacket. We're trying to pack light. We were hoping to get away with bringing 2 long sleeve cotton shirts and a sweater. Looks like this won't be warm enough? Should we bring our fleece jackets? When does it warm up in the morning? When does it cool down in the evening? Are you cold in the Guesthouses - cold during the night while trying to sleep? Is this for all the areas we may travel to: Vientaine, Vang Vieng, Luang Prabang, Luang Namtha? Should we bring heavy cotton pants too? Would one pair be enough? Or do you find you're wearing your heavier cotton pants and shirts in these areas I've mentioned and to bring more warmer clothes instead of thin cotton clothes?
I have an acrylic/polyester pull-over sweater, which I could wear a long sleeve cotton shirt underneath - would that be sufficient and skip bringing a windbreaker jacket or a fleece jacket.

Footwear: I was only going to bring my runners. My mom was only going to bring her sandals. The tour company said that we'll be walking in streams and mud sometimes. Wondering if I should bring my aquasocks (rubber soles/shoe part is made of mess & spandex stretchy material) be smart to bring?

We'll be in Laos for the month of February. Should we also bring umbrellas, even though it's the dry season?
Thanks in Advance!
Jacquie

Jacquie I want to hear all about your Laos trip as we intend to visit November 06. maybe buy a thermal singlet you can wear underneath and it if gets too marm it doubles as a t-shirt. Check out Mountain Design???

hi,
i have been in laos last february. i have been to luang prabang, vang vieng and vientiane. when you sleep in a guesthouse its usually warm enough to sleep in a t-shirt, but if you plan to make trips with staying in a village or even sleep outside you need warm clothes. the days are very warm, so you just need something in the night. if you want to travel light i recommend one fleece jacket and one or two longsleeve shirt. one pair of heavy cotton pants is definitly enough (remember its hot during the day). i think its also nice to have one pair of closed shoes and i think runners are ok. walking shoes would maybe be better but i made a trekking trip with sneakers and i was fine as well. when you get a little bit wet, you dry soon again. the people in laos walk everywhere with sandals. when i was there it never rained, but you could better bring a light rainjacket instead of an umbrella. in the evening its still ok with a longsleeve shirt, it gets cold later in the night and very fast warm again when the sun gets out. hope i coul help you and you are lucky to go there, laos was one of the best trips i have ever been to!

Thanks! Yes, I will share my info when I get back and hope I can be just as helpful and full of good advice like everyone has been to get my plans together and underway. Cheers!

What time at night does it start to get cold? Are we okay with long sleeve shirts till about 10:00p.m., when we're out for dinner and for the evening?
Would the light fleece jacket be for during the night? - Say if it's cold in the guesthouse, or when we travel to villages and stay with ethnic groups. I take it the further north we go the colder it will get! It must be quite cold if a fleece is recommended! So much for packing light! Darn! Would a sweater, long sleeve sheer and wind jacket be warm enough? That's what my mom wants to bring? - plus we thought we would bring our own sleep sheets. Have you ever had to sleep in your light fleece jacket? So, because we're staying in budget guesthouses - it's warm enough in the room? - with the exception, I'm sure for the accomm we'll get at small ethnic villages during our 3 day/2 night tour.
Thanks! Look forward to your reply! JT