During extended travel, some places you find yourself staying another night, and then another and then maybe a few more.  Luang Prabang is one of those places.  It is certainly not an undiscovered place, as the major industry here is tourism.  We've been to some other little towns that have seemingly been scrubbed of their beauty and culture by a steady influx of tourists.

It's difficult to explain, but Luang Prabang has managed to keep a soul while successfully managing tourism without becoming tacky.  There are wonderful accommodations ranging from luxury boutiques to backpacker inns.  There's amazing street food vendors all the way up to fine dining.  The natural surroundings are beautiful, the ancient culture is intact and the streets filled with french influenced buildings are lovely. 

The stores have personality and individuality (not all selling the same stuff), as well as a great night market supporting local artisans.  I'm sure it has changed a lot over the years maybe for better or worse, but from our standpoint as first time visitors, Luang Prabang is a gem. The time we spent here was completely enjoyable and relaxing.  We were not prepared to put ourselves into a food comma every night, the food options here are world-class.  We also enjoyed visiting the several cultural sights such as the temples and the museum.

An amazing experience and at the same time, a low point of our visit was at sunrise.  Each morning at sunrise in Luang Prabang, a procession of Laos Buddhist Monks walk through the streets to gather food for the day.  This tradition to support the lo
cal monks is ancient.
This ritual is available for us tourists to see and even participate in.  It is really and amazing experience.  As beautiful as this was to witness, we also saw the ugly side of tourism.  Many of the local business have signs that give simple and gracious directions for viewing and photographing the monks at sunrise.  They encourage tourist to wake up early to see the monks procession, but they ask tourists to keep their distance and to always be lower than the monks to show respect.


We saw about an equal amount of respectful tourists and disrespectful (that's too nice, obnoxious) tourists.  We saw an entire busload of people literally walk up within inches of the monks flashing their cameras in the monks faces. 

One woman even posed for a picture wrapping her arm around an unknowing monk while he was trying to get food.  As tourists ourselves, we were mortified and completely embarrassed.  Luang Prabang really is a gem, and hopefully it and tourism can grow together not at the expense of one another.