Lovely Laos: Luang Prabang Old City - Laos' Culture Capital & UNESCO World Heritage Site | ຫຼວງພະບາງ

#Laos #travel #tourism ☕ Please help support my channel by buying me a coffee here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/willetts... Thank you! 🙏 Welcome to the city of Luang Prabang in northern Laos – the country’s cultural capital as well as its former capital. Luang Prabang is a beautiful place, full of cultural heritage and charm in its traditional architecture as well as having French colonial influences that together have made it a UNESCO World Heritage City and a tourists must-visit destination whilst in SE Asia, let alone Laos. Located on a peninsula at the confluence of two rivers (one of which being the mighty Mekong), Luang Prabang is said to have been first settled in the late 7th century as Muang Sua by a Thai/Lao prince called Khun Lo after his father Khun Borom awarded it to him. In 950AD, it became a Khmer vassal state. During the 11th century it became known by its Thai name of Xieng Dong. It then rose to prominence as the capital of the first Lao kingdom (Lan Xang, meaning ‘land of the million elephants’), one of the largest kingdoms in SE Asia, from 1353. The city owes its present name to the Phra Bang, a revered Buddha image (meaning ‘Royal Buddha Image’) that was brought to the city by a Khmer king in 1359 in order to provide Buddhist legitimacy to the new kingdom. The fragmentation of the Lao kingdom at the end of the 16th century left Luang Prabang a militarily weak independent city state, surrounded by other kingdoms. In 1707, Lan Xang fell apart because of a dynastic struggle before becoming the capital of the independent Kingdom of Luang Prabang. The 1887 sacking of the city by the Chinese Haw led the Luang Prabang monarchy to accept the protection of the French, whose influence led to the construction of the many fine colonial villas here that sit alongside traditional Lao architecture. The city fell into decline in the latter half of the 20th century following the reluctant withdrawal of the French as well as the 1975 revolution which brought an end to the Luang Prabang monarchy. The relative poverty of newly independent Laos perhaps helped save Luang Prabang from the ravages of 20th-century city planning. The reopening of Laos to tourism in 1989 resulted in a remarkable turnaround in the city's fortunes, as crumbling timber houses and colonial mansions were restored and transformed into immaculate guesthouses and boutique hotels and in 1995 the city was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List with some 34 temples being protected. I love this place. There's so much to see here that this video is part 1 from the Old City. There will also be another that will include places to visit from the other side of the Mekong River as well as those just outside the Old City. I first came here in 2008 and since then the city has been transformed into a major tourist destination with boutique hotels, spas, high-end restaurants, antique shops and cafes. Don't worry if you're on a budget though as there are still plenty of cheaper hostels and guesthouses around to stay in but there is a definite shift to make things here more up-market than a backpackers stop along the SE Asia trail. Here, in this video, I start off by telling you a bit about the city's history before walking around the main sights within the Old City: 0:00 - Intro 1:37 - History 4:04 - Wat May Souvannapoumaram 6:50 - Morning Market 8:54 - Wat Pa Huak 9:34 - Haw Pha Bang 10:12 - National Museum 11:00 - Statue of King Sisavangvong 11:29 - Sisavangvong Road 14:08 - Wat Sensoukharam 15:11 - Wat Sop Sickharam 15:28 - Wat Syrimoungkoun Xaiyaram 15:57 - Wat Khili 16:29 - Wat Xiengthong 19:42 - Wat Pak Khan Khammungkhun 20:11 - Riverside Park 21:22 - Wat Pa Pha 22:15 - Wat Xieng Mouane 22:56 - Wat Siphoutthabat Thippharam Locations of the places visited in this video are as follows: 📍 Wat May Souvannapoumaram: https://maps.app.goo.gl/qEhDApwrfwFGc... 📍 Morning Market: https://maps.app.goo.gl/3QGU44NkDC4ki... 📍 Wat Pa Huak: https://maps.app.goo.gl/gWqSnGZHK69F9... 📍 Haw Pha Bang: https://maps.app.goo.gl/tD1zkBfMeyonq... 📍 National Museum: https://maps.app.goo.gl/UVaMsL72qCuF7... 📍 Wat Sensoukharam: https://maps.app.goo.gl/GKavY4aaKDqUb... 📍 Wat Sop Sickharam: https://maps.app.goo.gl/wv3d9onPtyvB5... 📍 Wat Syrimoungkoun Xaiyaram: https://maps.app.goo.gl/UfVZnn9PW5Lzy... 📍 Wat Khili: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Kya1BhFBUVZ9v... 📍 Wat Xiengthong: https://maps.app.goo.gl/2g6T1aoEXm1Q3... 📍 Wat Pak Khan Khammungkhun: https://maps.app.goo.gl/YNasnfKd8VrkC... 📍 Riverside Park: https://maps.app.goo.gl/WXBGkv35ZKPsf... 📍 Wat Pa Pha: https://maps.app.goo.gl/GCv2Hro9PkSh2... 📍 Wat Xieng Mouane: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Ae42QuHnMFiwf... 📍 Wat Siphoutthabat Thippharam: https://maps.app.goo.gl/tYKupX28r4o2D...