Luang Prabang, Laos is a magical little city. Because it was colonized by the French, the city is a mix of ancient Lao temples and charming French bakeries. It is small, safe, and a wonderfully relaxing place to be after the frenetic pace of life in Hanoi.




One of the most beautiful aspects about Luang Prabang is the huge population of Buddhist monks who live there. The city has something like thirty temples within one square mile, and all of them house schools for young monks. Every morning at dawn, the monks go out on the streets of the town for the alms ceremony, where the townspeople give them food. It was an incredibly beautiful ceremony. I also loved hearing the chanting from the temples every evening, and stopped by several times to listen.





The city is set on the peninsula between the Mekong and Khan rivers. We took a boat ride on the famous Mekong River, and also saw local fishermen bringing in their catches at sunset.

But by far the best part of being in Luang Prabang was the incredible people. One of the best nights was when I went to the city's night market and photographed all the vendors in their stalls. It was family time, and everyone seemed to be having so much fun.













Basically, this is how I felt for the week we spent in Luang Prabang:
