Luang Prabangຫຼວງພະບາງ

By tradition, the site at the meeting of the Mekong and the Nam Khan was a small Lao principality known as Muang Sua before it became the capital of the kingdom of Lan Xang in the 14th century, in the story of King Fa Ngum. The town takes its present name from the Phra Bang, a revered gold Buddha image that Lao tradition says was given to the king by the Khmer court. The image is still the palladium of the nation.

In 1560 King Setthathirath moved the political capital downriver to Vientiane, which was closer to the centre of the kingdom and less exposed to Burmese attack. Luang Prabang kept its rank as the royal and religious heart of Laos, and it was the residence of a king for most of the centuries that followed. Wat Xieng Thong, founded in 1559–60, dates from the end of that royal age.

The 19th century was violent. In 1887 the Haw, bands of raiders from the north, sacked the town; the French, who were extending their influence in Indochina, offered protection, and in 1893 Luang Prabang became the seat of a protectorate kingdom. The French kept the king on the throne and built the administrative quarter, and they left behind the shuttered villas along Sisavangvong Road. The Royal Palace was built in 1904–09 for King Sisavang Vong.

The 20th century took the monarchy away. Laos became independent in 1953 and passed through a long civil war between the royalist government and the communist Pathet Lao, with heavy American bombing across the north. In December 1975 the Pathet Lao took power, the monarchy was abolished and the last king was sent away. The Royal Palace became a national museum; some monks left, and the town stayed poor and quiet for two decades.

The town's fortunes turned in the 1990s. In 1995 UNESCO inscribed the old town on the World Heritage list, and tourism gradually replaced the old economy. Guesthouses in old French houses, weaving cooperatives and cafés followed. The challenge for the town today is to keep its rules on building height and heritage while more visitors arrive each year.

The old town is a peninsula about 2 km long and 1 km wide, with the Mekong on the western and southern side and the smaller Nam Khan on the east. Phou Si, the hill in the middle, is the visual anchor: the royal palace sits at its foot on Sisavangvong Road, and the stupa on its summit is visible from most of the peninsula.

Sisavangvong Road runs along the spine and holds the palace, the shops, and the night market that sets up each evening at the foot of Phou Si. Around it are the lanes with the French-Lao houses that were once the homes of officials and merchants and are now guesthouses and cafés. To the north-east, the road runs toward Wat Xieng Thong and Wat Sen at the tip where the two rivers meet, and this end has the calmest riverside.

The southern lanes are quieter still. Wat Hosian and the small streets around it are the home of long-standing families and the monks of the southern temples, and Wat Manorom, at the south-western end, is one of the oldest temples in the town. Few tourists come here, which is why it is a pleasant late-morning walk.

Across the Nam Khan, the villages on the opposite bank keep craft traditions, especially weaving and paper-making, and in the dry season a seasonal bamboo bridge links the two sides. The Mekong's far bank is more rural still, with small villages reached by boat.

Water shapes the edges of every area. The Mekong bank has a promenade of cafés and long boats, and the road along it is the place for a quiet drink at dusk. The Nam Khan bank is greener and less developed, with guesthouses whose gardens run down to the river. In the wet season both rivers rise and turn brown, and the lower terraces flood; in the dry season the water falls, the sandbanks appear and small vegetable gardens are planted along the shore.

The neighbourhoods are best understood by walking one morning from the market to Wat Xieng Thong and one afternoon down the southern lanes. Nothing is far, and the pace of the town rewards slowness.

Luang Prabang's temples have a distinct regional style. The main hall, called the sim, has a low, multi-tiered roof that sweeps almost to the ground, which gives the building a spread-wing look. Wat Xieng Thong, founded in 1559–60, is the classic example: its roof falls in graceful tiers, and the rear wall carries a glass mosaic of a tree of life. The red chapel and the hall that shelters the royal funeral carriage stand in the same compound.

Wat Mai, from the end of the 18th century, has a five-tiered roof and gilded relief panels across its front, a sign that it once housed the royal Buddha image. Wat Sen and Wat Manorom show the same principles on a smaller scale: a sim, a drum tower, a stupa and monks' quarters set around a courtyard of packed earth and trees.

The French left a second layer: villas with shuttered windows, verandas and steep tiled roofs, and public buildings in a Lao-French mix. The Royal Palace is the finest example of the merger, with a French-style plan and Lao roofs and decoration. Many old houses along the side streets have been turned into guesthouses, cafés and small hotels, often with their gardens intact.

UNESCO listing in 1995 brought strict rules on the height and style of new buildings in the protected zone, and local authorities restrict demolition. This is why the town still looks low, green and cohesive when many Southeast Asian towns of the same size have been transformed. The rules are not always easy to enforce, and pressure from developers and from tourism is constant.

A good way to read the architecture is to visit Wat Xieng Thong at opening to see the classic style, then the palace museum for the French-Lao mix, then walk a side street to see the houses with their upper-floor shutters.

Lao cooking is built on sticky rice, herbs, fermented fish sauce and chili, and Luang Prabang's version is often called the country's most refined, in part because of the royal court's kitchens. Sticky rice, eaten by hand from a small basket, is the base of almost every meal, and dishes come to the table to be shared.

Or lam is the signature stew: it uses dried buffalo or meat, aubergine, long beans, herbs and the wood pepper called sakhan, which gives a numbing warmth. Luang Prabang salad, with watercress, boiled egg and a creamy dressing, is another local dish, and kai paen, crisp sheets of river weed with sesame, is a snack sold in restaurants and at the night market. Jeow, chili dips made with grilled aubergine, tomato or dried buffalo skin, come with every table.

Khao soi in Luang Prabang is not the coconut-curry noodle dish of northern Thailand. It is a bowl of rice noodles in a clear pork and tomato broth, topped with minced pork, fresh herbs and chili, and eaten at breakfast or lunch. The morning market, from before dawn, is where locals buy fresh herbs, meat and sticky rice, and where many breakfast stalls set up.

The French left baguettes, coffee and pastries. A baguette sandwich with pâté, vegetables and chili is a standard breakfast, and cafés along Sisavangvong Road serve croissants and Lao coffee grown on the Bolaven Plateau in southern Laos. Beer Lao, the national lager, is drunk everywhere, and lao-lao, the rice whisky, is sold in bottles and shots.

The night market's vegetarian buffet lane is a modern arrival, a cheap fixed-price meal, and the sindad, a Lao barbecue and hotpot cooked at the table, is a favourite evening meal for groups. Cooking classes, often starting with a market visit, are a good way to meet the dishes.

Buddhism sets the rhythm of Luang Prabang. At dawn, monks and novices in saffron robes walk barefoot in a line along the main roads to receive food from the townspeople, a ritual known as tak bat. It is a daily act of merit for the givers, not a performance, and the town has struggled with tourists who crowd the monks, use flash, or buy poor-quality food from touts. A respectful visit means watching from a distance, in silence, or not going.

The town's calendar is busy with festivals. Lao New Year, Pi Mai, falls in mid-April and is the biggest, with water-throwing, processions and the bathing of the Phra Bang image at Wat Mai. In October, Ok Phansa marks the end of the Buddhist Lent, with boat races on the Nam Khan and floating lanterns. The Hmong New Year in December brings dancers, ball-tossing games and craft stalls to town; ask your guesthouse where it is held that year.

Crafts are the town's other identity. Weavers around the town make silk and cotton textiles with natural dyes; the night market sells them alongside paper lamps, silver and paintings. Many stalls are run by Hmong and Khmu families from the surrounding hills, and buying directly from the makers matters more here than in most places.

Daily life is quiet. Streets are calm by 22:00, and many guesthouses lock their doors around 22:30; the night market packs up before 22:00. Mornings start early, at the market or the temples. Visitors who follow the same rhythm, with temples and markets early, a long lunch in the shade and the river at dusk, find the town easy.

The pressures are real: more tourists, more hotels, heat and smoke in March and April, and the challenge of keeping the town liveable for residents. The best way to be a good guest is to follow the temple rules, buy locally, use bottled or refillable water and stay somewhere small.