Asia Weekly

Laos Travel News

Letting go in Laos

Laos’ charming backwaters will slow the pulse rate of even the most highly strung Asian executive, says Stephanie Brookes in the Bangkok Post. The slow put-put of the barges that cruise along the Mekong River dictates the pace of life around the ancient royal city of Luang Prabang, where visitors will find it tempting to relapse into the kind of meditative state usually reserved for the most opium-addled ne’er-do-well. The UNESCO World Heritage site appears timeless, and the blend of 14th-century palaces, French colonial architecture and jungle scenery remains “free of the advertising billboards and backpacker nightclubs” that taint many of Asia’s tourist towns. Although the Pak Ou Caves upriver are likely to be bustling with tourists, it’s still possible to lose yourself in the darkness of the caverns, and take time out to sit and enjoy the stillness. On returning to the city, early birds can join in the morning alms-giving, and “feel boun (merit)” after donating food to the saffron-robed monks as they shuffle past. “In Asia they say, ‘the Vietnamese plant rice, the Cambodians watch it grow and the Laotians listen to it growing,’ and there is no better way to realize this truth than by spending a little while in Luang Prabang.”

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