Homestay Laos

Homestay Laos is a family-run homestay experience based in Luang Prabang, Laos, hosting guests in the villages of Muang Soune and Ban Lae as well as in town. Muang Soune village, on the Nam Ou River, has no road access at all, so the final stretch from Luang Prabang is by boat, arriving directly at a private landing dock. Kham, who built the homestay on land owned by her father, has hosted guests here since 2014, employing her own extended family, an aunt for cooking, an uncle who runs both boat and tractor, a cousin's household as backup, alongside Mr Vong Say, the only English speaker in the village, who guides visitors around. Guests sleep in a genuine 100-year-old Lao Leu stilt house, with mosquito nets and mattress beds, a fish pond and garden.

Days can be spent checking fishing nets on the river, walking out to the rice paddies, or helping cook dinner. Visitors sometimes get invited to a blessing ceremony or alms-giving at the village temple, home to one resident monk and three novices, all local boys who chose to ordain. The village itself grew larger after a nearby dam project merged it with a neighbouring settlement, and Kham's enterprise now provides some of the only paid, non-farming work available in Muang Soune.