What To Expect & Best Things To Do • Indie Traveller

Despite being Laos’ most tourist-focused location, Luang Prabang is an utterly charming city with many terrific places to visit, eat, and explore — as contributor Skylar shares in this guide to Luang Prabang.

Cracked cement stairs reach up in front of me through the woods. A thumb-sized ball of sticky white rice is placed every few feet along both edges of the stairway. Two Lao women lead me by twenty feet or so, chatting quietly and dressed in bulky jackets against the cool morning fog. They carry their sticky rice in small baskets that hang down by their sides. Each leaves their periodic little offerings on their respective side of the stairs. One runs out of rice before we reach the small pagoda at the top of Mount Phu Si, a hill in the middle of Luang Prabang.

The women take a couple photos of the pagoda at the top before kicking off their shoes and ducking inside. The sunrise arrives soon but keeps quiet about it all, mostly obscured behind clouds from last night’s…