All activities / Craft Skills (Bladesmithing, Pottery, Glass) / Luang Prabang
Craft Skills (Bladesmithing, Pottery, Glass) in Luang Prabang
A UNESCO World Heritage town at the meeting of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers, the former royal capital of Laos, known for its gilded temples, French-colonial streets, dawn alms rounds and night market, and the springboard for the country's north.
Why here
Luang Prabang is the centre of Laos's living textile tradition, and it is one of the few places in Asia where you can sit at the loom yourself. Lao silk and cotton weaving, with its supplementary-weft patterns and indigo and lac natural dyes, has been carried down through the women of the lowland Lao and the northern hill peoples, and the town's craft centres turn that heritage into hands-on teaching. In a half or full day you can card and spin, mix dyes from leaves, bark and insects in a riverside dye garden, and weave a scarf on a traditional frame loom with a resident master weaver beside you. It is a craft holiday that doubles as a way into the material culture of the country, and what you make you keep.
Best months
The studios work year-round and the teaching is indoors and shaded, so any season is fine for a class. The cool dry months from November to March are the most pleasant for combining it with the rest of the town; April and May are hot and the wet season brings heavy afternoon rain. Classes run to a set schedule and cap numbers, so book a day or two ahead.
Getting there & around
The Living Crafts Centre sits on the bank of the Mekong a few kilometres from the old town, with a free shuttle, or a short tuk-tuk ride, from the centre. A city shop and cafe make it easy to sign up in advance. Wear clothes you do not mind getting dye on, and allow a full day if you want to weave a finished piece rather than a sampler.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate
Schools & guides (1)
Ock Pop Tok
SchoolOck Pop Tok, meaning East Meets West, was founded in Luang Prabang in 2000 by the British designer Joanna Smith and the Lao master weaver Veomanee Douangdala. Its Living Crafts Centre on the banks of the Mekong has a natural-dye garden, weaving studios and teaching rooms, where visitors take half- and full-day classes in silk hand-weaving, natural dyeing, batik and bamboo weaving alongside resident artisans. Run as a fair-trade social enterprise, it works with weavers across northern Laos.