Luang Prabang is the former capital of Laos. It sits on a promontory where the Nam Khan flows into the Mekong. We stayed at the Apsara Rive Droite (*), which is on the far bank of the Nam Khan. You get to the main town by the hotel’s small motor boat. A local ordinance insists that the presence of the hotel should be disguised, so to look like part of the village the garden is surrounded by banana groves and bamboo fencing. Out of season in June, we had the place entirely to ourselves.

The town itself is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and still largely undeveloped. The national museum was formerly the royal place until the kings were deposed by the Pathet Lao in 1975. The museum collection is made up largely gifts to the king, including, from the United States, the Lao flag carried to the moon on Apollo 11 and a small piece of moon rock. Round the back in the garage is the collection of royal motor cars: a couple of Lincoln Continentals, a Ford Edsel, a beaten up Citroen DS, a Toyota jeep and a speedboat, used to visit the orchards across the river. The museum has information on the lives of the royal family up until 1975 but nothing later. The last king in fact died a few years afterwards in a re-education camp. The museum also houses the Pra Bang, the small statue of the Buddha that gives the town its name. It was made in Sri Lanka in the 1st century and was a present from the Khmer empire in the 14th century.

The Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre exhibits local crafts and when we visited there was a presentation on the development of Taoism in northern Laos. From the centre of town there is a good view of the town and its rivers from the heights of the Phaw Si stupa.

It is worth driving out to the local waterfalls. The trip to Tat Sae is completed by narrow motor boat along the Nam Khan. In the local village we stopped for some Lao beers. Some larger houses were being built. Our driver explained that work would continue until the money ran out, and then stop until more funds became available after the next harvest, when building would resume. The completed house would require many building seasons to complete. On the way it rained heavily, and we saw how effectively the terraced slopes capture rainwater for the rice paddies.

We had arrived in Laos at Vientiane, the current capital, a few days earlier. If you are travelling on to Luang Prabang, the important choice is whether to drive or take a flight. Against all advice I decided the road trip would provide a more interesting experience. Its 380 km by highway 13, but highway, in Laos, can mean a single track road whose surface is breaking up. The second half of the journey is through the mountains, which are spectacular, but very slow going as the road climbs up and over 2000 metre high passes. We left Vientiane at 8:30am and arrived in Luang Prabang at 7:30pm. I think our driver was over-cautious. We stopped for lunch on the terrace of the Elephant Crossing Hotel (*) overlooking the Nam Song river at Viang Veng.

Laos is undeveloped, although there is now Chinese financed exploitation of natural resources. In the lowlands, the fields are largely given over to rice cultivation, with water buffalo, goats, pot-bellied pigs and geese wondering through the villages.  Further north in the mountains, the villages are strung along the mountain road, the front facing the road, the rear dropping precipitately. Outside many of the shanty constructions are large satellite dishes, picking up television broadcasts. I can’t see where the power source is but there must be generators somewhere.

I think I was right to make the trip, but we decided driving back would be too much, and we booked some seats on Lao Airlines for the return. It takes 40 minutes by air. Lao Airlines have new ATR’s handsomely painted with white frangipanis, the national flower. In the 10 minutes of level flight, in-flight service hand round dried fruit chips.

Vientiane, like many other south-east Asian cities which have not yet seem much development, is low rise and the telegraph poles along the roadside carry a heavy burden of electricity cables. The Mekong River here is wide and at this time of year the water level is low. We stayed at the Settha Palace Hotel (*), which is very comfortable. Pick up from the airport is in a dark green London style taxi-cab.

Vientiane is a one day town. We walked to two nearby temples Ha Pra Keo and Wat Sisikut.  Wat Sisikut is the older, dating from 1818. The main hall is enclosed in a cloister which houses numerous images of the Buddha. There is a much evidence of subsidence. Ha Pra Keo is a modern recreation dating from 1942, but it is a fine building and is set in a well maintained garden. From there we drove by tuk-tuk to Pha That Luang, a gilded stupa which is the national monument, and the Patuxai monument. This is very ugly, a fact acknowledged by the tourist information at the site, and the best view is from the platform at the top, from where you cannot see the monument itself. The national museum is housed in a fine building which needs some renovation. The collection is only moderately interesting.

My advice is not to worry too much about sightseeing either in Vientiane or Luang Prabang. They are towns for strolling around where cafes and bookshops are the most important destinations.