Luang Prabang
Former royal capital of Laos

Luang Prabang consists of two sections, the older, residential section (above) with most of the older temples, and the newer, more commercial section. The older section is by far the more attractive and interesting. Two rivers form this section into a sort of peninsula; the Mekong is its northern boundary, and the Khan river ("Nam Khan"), shown above, is the eastern and southern boundary. (In this photo, we are looking in a generally western direction.) This photo was taken from Phu-si, the hill in the center of town where you can get a good view of the entire town and the surrounding mountains. (2002)
For a map and more photos, try this site: http://staff.psy.gla.ac.uk/~frank/laos.html.

This is the Mekong. (Photo from Phu-si.) (2002)

The residential neighborhood outside the back gate of Wat Xiengthong. (2002)

Gate to a deserted French colonial house in the residential section. (2002)

A deserted French colonial house in Luang Prabang's residential section. (2002)

The Mekong from one of the outdoor resturants along its shore, Luang Prabang. (Many of these 2002 photos are dark because they were taken during the rainy season, which is during the summer.) (2002)

Typical sidestreet in the older residential section of Luang Prabang. (2002)

Another typical sidestreet in the older residential section. This one runs along the Mekong (on the left). (2002)

A backpacker's room in the $6/night Phatouphone Guest House. The old bamboo walls give off a strong musty smell that will prevent you from sleeping. The guest house has a great porch with a great view of the Nam (River) Khan, the staff is friendly, and the rooms upstairs, for the same price, are bright and big and don't smell. (2002)

This is a very small part of the deluxe room (actually two rooms connected by this passageway) at Sayo Guest House. The room has traditional Lao chests (quite similar to Chosun dynasty Korean chests), a great dining table and chairs (seemed French), and, as you see in the photo, a beautiful wood floor. At $28 a night, though, I thought it a bit rich for my blood. (2002)

The first section of the 300-step stairway up Phu-si (the mountain in the center of Luang Prabang with temples on the way up and at the top). (2002)

This is the most popular form of river transportation for tourists in Luang Prabang. I didn't see these in Vientiane. The most popular form of land transportation is the bicycle--in other words, not many motor vehicles--because Luang Prabang is so small. (2002)