A travel feature from the Jakarta Post on Luang Prabang in Laos.
Luang Prabang: The cultural and historic heart of Laos
Jakarta Post, 09 December 2012
If you’ve ever wondered what Asia must have felt like a century ago, before the Cold War conflicts that tore it apart, then the old city of Luang Prabang in north Laos is probably one of the few remaining places to offer a glimpse of those bygone times.
Nestling on a sliver of land sandwiched between two rivers and surrounded by lofty green mountains, the old city is easily the country’s — if not Asia’s or the old Indochina’s — most magical and romantic city, and a strong tourist magnet as a consequence.
A tiny mountain kingdom for more than 1,000 years, Luang Prabang is blessed with a legacy of ancient Buddhist temples and French-era colonial shop-houses that, together with its history, earned the city Unesco World Heritage status in 1995.
Full story here.
