A few years ago we visited a very small place on the UNESCO World Heritage List, Luang Prabang in northern Laos – we fell in love with the place.

Pi Mai – not safe even on motorbike

Since then, we’ve been back numerous times and been there for the three main festivals of their Buddhist lunar year:

• Pi Mai (Lunar New Year)
• The Boat Racing Festival, and
• The Fire Boat Festival

and we’ve made videos of all plus a selection of the temples, tourist attractions, markets, food and much more.

We had some wonderful adventures there but the original reason we were drawn back was not the pageantry nor the temples nor history but just the feel of the place.

Nirvana Buddha, Wat Xieng Thong

I have never been anywhere as peaceful and lay back.

Laos don’t rush. Nor do they raise their voices, nor do they sell hard.

On our first trip a few years back, even in the night market, the one designed for tourists, you had to ask to be served. Hard sell is just not something they do.

There is a strong French influence and good croissants, baguettes and coffee are easy to find

We ave posted a few videost on our YouTube site, Robertson Guides, but the rest we have used to make a video guide to Luang Prabang.

As I write we have just to complete the interactive maps and then submit to iTunes to publish – wish us luck!