Ock Pop Tok

Ock Pop Tok was set up to keep Lao handweaving commercially viable and to pay the weavers properly for it, and the living crafts centre it runs on the Mekong bank is open to visitors. Looms are in use in an open pavilion, the natural dye garden is planted with the plants that produce the colours, and half-day and full-day classes teach weaving, dyeing or bamboo work with a weaver rather than a demonstrator. The Naga motif weaving of Lao communities was added to the UNESCO intangible heritage list in 2023, and the patterns worked here are part of that tradition.

What to look for

• The working looms - weavers at frame looms in an open riverside pavilion.
• The dye garden - indigo, annatto, marigold and the other plants the colours come from.
• The classes - half-day and full-day weaving, dyeing and bamboo sessions with a weaver.
• The gallery - finished textiles with the maker named on each piece.

When to go

Year-round; the centre is covered and works in any weather. Classes book up in the high season from November to February and should be reserved ahead. The riverside setting is at its best late in the afternoon.

What to expect

Classes are not cheap, and the value is in the time with a weaver rather than in the object you take home, which will be a beginner's piece. Simply visiting is free but takes twenty minutes. The shop prices reflect the wages being paid, which is the point of the operation.

Nearby

Luang Prabang town is a couple of kilometres upstream, with a free shuttle from the centre's town shop.