In Luang Prabang there is one great spot to get a view of the city and that is Mount Phou Si. When we decided we wanted to see the top of Mount Phou Si at sunset I was dying a bit. Not sick, just overly exhausted from days of almost constant travel without tons of rest, kayaking like something was chasing me (which was mildly accurate but not as scary), and then the panicked swimming in the waterfalls had all added up to leave me with a desire to do nothing but curl up in my hotel bed. (We stayed at the Treasure Hotel Laos)
I thought maybe the climb would be easy, like the one I had climbed in Bangkok. A nice gentle shuffling slope to the top. I was terribly, horribly wrong, and found myself hiking up steep stairs with people selling birds for luck in little baskets along the way. At the top it was crowded with people, all waiting for sunset which would be hours away. The space wasn’t big and made the large mass of people difficult to manuever around. There were steps around the temple, Wat Choi Si and those were filled with people as well, I sat down on the corner of one and waited for the throbbing of my head and limbs to subside.
The view is nice, you get to see a lot of Luang Prabang if you’re patient and don’t mind the crowds, though it may be better if you don’t try to show up during peak photography moments (Like sunset)