Laos

Luang Prabang International is small and calm. Fill the Lao Digital Immigration Form online up to 3 days before you fly and keep the QR on your phone. Americans and most nationalities can do the eVisa in advance ($40 to $50, 3 to 5 business days at laoevisa.gov.la) or buy the visa on arrival at the counter for about $40 in USD cash. Bring a passport photo and a passport valid 6+ months.

The essential temple of Luang Prabang and the reason the old town earned its UNESCO listing in 1995. Low sweeping roofs, gold stenciled walls, and the Tree of Life mosaic. Go in the afternoon when the tour buses thin out.

328 steps up the 100-meter hill in the middle of town to a small gilded stupa. The classic sunset spot, which means it gets packed: arrive by 5pm in high season or the summit is standing room only. The quieter move is sunrise, when you share it with monks and nobody else.

A few blocks of Sisavangvong Road close to traffic every evening. Eat your way down it: Luang Prabang sausage (sai oua), crispy Mekong riverweed (khaiphaen) with jaew bong chili paste, and a cold Beerlao. The textile stalls behind the food are hill-tribe made and actually worth browsing.

Before dawn, monks from the town wats walk the streets collecting their daily meal. This is Tak Bat (Sai Bat), a merit-making ritual, not a show. If you go: cover shoulders and knees, no flash photography, keep a respectful distance, never touch a monk or their bowl, and if you give alms, kneel with your head below theirs. Buy sticky rice from a local vendor, not the aggressive hawkers. When in doubt, observe quietly from across the street. That is the respectful move.

Follow the monks' route to the morning market in the narrow lanes on the Mekong side. Herbs, river fish, forest mushrooms, sticky rice, dried buffalo, bamboo shoots. Eat as you walk: grilled skewers, fresh fruit, and Lao coffee so strong it stands up on its own.

A small, free museum on the Secret War: from 1964 to 1973 Laos became the most heavily bombed country per capita in history, and the ordnance is still killing people today. Deactivated bombs, survivor stories, and a video room. Allow a full hour. It reframes everything else you will see in the country.

Two stops for Lao craft, both worth it. The Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre is a compact museum of the country's ethnic groups: textiles, jewelry, tools, plus a fair-trade shop. Ock Tok Tok, on the east side of town, is a living weaving village where you can watch the looms and eat at the riverside cafe.

The town's most respected Lao restaurant, run as a social enterprise. Book the evening tasting menu ahead: or lam (the peppery Luang Prabang stew), mok pa (fish steamed in banana leaf), and a full jaew tasting. If it is full, the night market food run from day 1 never misses.