Sorry I cannot remember the name of the driver – we didn’t use an agency. We had a tuk-tuk and the very kind manager of Chitdara II Guesthouse simply went on to the street and did the deal for us. There are dozens of drivers looking for work, on the street by the river. It is important to say how many people, where you want to go, and how long you expect to be away. For this trip you might want 4 – 6 hours because you could spend a lot of time observing the bears, and then there is the walk and the various falls, and my partner went swimming. On the way to the falls we stopped at a wonderful temple overlooking Luang Prabang – my partner had been there before – I cannot remember the name but it is the temple you can see from LP and must be known by drivers. You could point it out beforehand. It is quite a climb for a tuk-tuk, from the main road – it was closed on the way out but we tried again on the way back and it was open. The beautiful balcony affords a terrific view of all of LP and young monks engaged us in English.
You could even ask your driver to suggest anything else you ought to see along the way. We also stopped at a ‘market’ – not at all worth it and I did not believe that any serious weaving went on there – it was just for tourists but it was interesting to see mega-stock and the women mainly sleeping on piles of it!
Our man was very obliging and we would have tipped him well. Talking to a few drivers will give you an idea of a reasonable price. In a tuk-tuk you don’t get air-conditioning but the air is moving and it is a better experience I think. Also one less of those big cars on the road. Take lots of water for you and your driver. And don’t worry about organising this with a travel agency. In LP you are likely to get talking to other people who want to do the same thing, or you can ask your accommodation provider to assist. By the way I highly recommend Chitdara II – it was about US$50 a night but spotlessly clean, with excellent breakfasts and our host invited us daily to the nearby procession of monks and alms giving at about 5.30am.
Time is slow in Laos and you could really organise it all when you get there. The Vientianne bus station is huge and there are regular buses going to all destinations regularly, and so cheap. Enjoy your trip!

Thanks for the tip! I wasn’t even aware that there was a bears sanctuary nearby.

yeap, it’s about an hour’s drive to get there! aw… sayang! maybe next time!