I've been in Southeast Asia since early February, retracing some of my past footsteps and setting down new ones, too. It's my first time in Laos, a land-locked country that has been open to western tourists only 10 or 15 years.
Luang Prabang, the most popular tourist destination in Laos, is a low-key, provincial capital city and former home to one of the old monarchs of Laos. Now a UNESCO World Heritage site, Luang Prabang is likely to remain a small, walkable city between the Mekong and Khan rivers with a lovely mix of traditional and colonial architecture.