Few sites anywhere in Asia can match the charm and cultural importance of Luang Prabang, the old royal capital of Laos situated on the Mekong River. With a legacy dating back some 800 years, the town and its verdant riverside surroundings were inscribed as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1995.
Luang Prabang's rich layers of architecture -- Buddhist temples, palaces, wooden houses, colonial-era villas, vintage shophouses -- have survived for centuries, despite sitting in a seismically active zone.
