Luang Prabang

A UNESCO World Heritage city at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers in northern Laos, Luang Prabang is distinguished by a remarkably intact ensemble of traditional Lao wooden architecture interleaved with French colonial buildings on a narrow peninsula. Thirty-three Buddhist monasteries are distributed throughout the town, and the daily alms-giving ceremony — monks in saffron robes collecting rice from residents at dawn — remains an active religious practice rather than a performance. Mount Phousi rises steeply from the town centre and offers panoramic views over the rivers at sunset.