It has been likened to Shangri-La, this old provincial capital of Laos. Early in the mornings, the cloud mist collects on your skin as you walk past still-active Buddhist monasteries built 400 years ago.

The streets of Luang Prabang are a blend
of both Lao and French styles.

Along the way, you can stop in a refurbished restaurant, once a whitewashed French colonial administration building, and sit under the wide veranda, feeling the cool breeze of high ceiling fans. Watch children park their bikes at the bakery on their way to school, or old men sipping strong coffee in the cafis. Teak houses line the quiet roads, or are perched high on stilts along the Mekong River. Many have easy-sloping roofs, with intricate carvings above the doors to let in light, and shutters that swing open above hardwood floors.

If nearly every building in Luang Prabang seems a historical landmark, that's because many of them are. In 1995, the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared the town a World Heritage Site, and in conjunction with local authorities has steadily been restoring traditional Lao and French colonial architecture.

	Trip Practicalities Getting There and around Laos Poor roads and old vehicles have made travel difficult in Laos, even today. For the first time in history, a road has been paved all the way from Vientaine to Luang Prabang. Buses leave daily, headed in both directions. While this is convenient (if you can call a 12 hour ride on a truck with Communist era shock absorbers a convenience), it will certainly increase tourism and trade. With Luang Prabang no longer cut off from the rest of the world, things will change in this quiet town very soon. A more relaxed way to arrive is by slow boat up the Mekong, which has long been the major form of transportation. Boats from Huay Xai, on the Thai-Lao border, or from Vientaine can take days, but the reward is cultural interaction. Along the river, small villages with thatched huts on stilts are untouched by progress and the outside world. When it gets dark, your boat captain will simply pull over and negotiate a price with villagers to sleep in their house. Once in Luang Prabang, it's a good idea to hire a guide to show you around. With such a long history and variety of subtle influences, a local can reveal what's below the surface and give meaning to details. It's possible to pick up a guide from one of the local cafes, or you can ask at the tourism office on Thanon Phalanaxai. Also, feel free to drop by the UNESCO office in the old customs house on Thanon Navang. They have printed information and historical maps. UNESCO has selected Luang Prabang as a historical site for good reason. It's one of the few destinations in South East Asia that still gives a sense of what it might have been like to travel before tourism and modernity. Follow their lead and treat it with respect.

Luang Prabang is at the center of a long history, and the buildings tell the tale. Once the capital of Lan Xang, the 14th century Kingdom of the Million Elephants, Luang Prabang was the seat of an empire that stretched across much of South East Asia. In 1694, the Kingdom split into Luang Pabang in the north, Vientaine in the center and Champassok in the south.

Luang Prabang came under Chinese, then Burmese, and eventually Siamese control. Then, in 1893, in order to maintain their own sovereignty, Siam gave the region of Luang Prabang to the French, who hoped to open trade routes to Vietnam.

Repairing a Cultural Heirloom

Although it has a history of kings and was the center of an empire that once extended into present-day Thailand, Burma, Vietnam, and Cambodia, the old provincial capital fell into disrepair with the 1975 revolution, which abolished the ancient monarchy and set up the Communist People's Democratic Republic of Laos.

A good deal of the province was also destroyed by U.S. saturation bombing during the Vietnam War. Shops were closed, pagodas deserted or burned, and centuries-old traditions faded, including the skills of builders. Until recently very few tourists were allowed in the country, and not many bothered to visit what had become a ghost-town.

With the current government's liberalizing of external relations and the easing of travel restrictions, the cultural heirloom of Luang Prabang is being brought out of storage for display. Over 600 buildings are currently classified as historical, and the refurbishing includes a resurrection of traditional building techniques, which the UNESCO team had to learn anew.

Two stone-masons, aged 75 and 85, provided the recipe for traditional Laotian mortar: stew buffalo-hide for nine hours, add crushed yang bong bark, tamarind seeds, chopped rice straw (soaked in water for two days), some markfen leaves, khi bi resin, and a measure of sugar-cane juice. Pour them all together into a mix of lime and Mekong sand, and stir.

Luang Prabang is undergoing a renaissance, a re-birth, and that alone makes it a great time to visit. Monks' dwellings, or Koutis, have been restored to their original form or rebuilt using local materials.

Several of the many pagodas have also been refurbished, and are now providing secondary education for children of poor families -- the saffron-robed novices you see around town. Even the Buddhist clergy are helping to preserve Luang Prabang's heritage by reviving traditional art skills such as stencil painting, enamelling, giltwork and religious sculpture.

Luang Prabang has an extraordinarily high number of well-preserved, active temples, which attests to the spirituality of the people living in the area. Thirty-two of the original 66 monasteries built before the French arrived are still standing.

In addition, you can explore secular buildings of traditional Lao and French colonial design. The entire town can be seen in two days on foot or one day by bike. Start early and break for a long lunch, as the sun and jungle heat can become severe.

By five in the evening, the shadows are long and you can resume your touring, perhaps walking to the top of Phousi, the hill in the center of town, to watch the sun push behind the mountains, exhaling a slow breath of orange light across the Mekong River.

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