(7 Jan 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Luang Prabang, Laos – 28 January 2024
1. Various of monk at temple in Luang Prabang before Sai Bat (Morning Alms) ceremony
2. Various of tourists giving food offerings to monks at ceremony
3. Various of food market in Luang Prabang
4. Various of tourists at Xiengthong temple
5. Various of tour boats on Mekong River
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mekong River, Laos – 28 January 2024
6. Various of rail bridge across river for high speed train travel from Kunming to Vientiane
7. Various of man in boat near the rail bridge
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Luang Prabang Dam, Laos – 28 January 2024
8. Various of Luang Prabang Dam construction
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Luang Prabang, Laos – 29 January 2024
9. Various views of Mekong River and tourists at Phousi Hill in Luang Prabang
STORYLINE:
The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Luang Prabang is the crown jewel of landlocked Laos, one of Southeast Asia’s least developed countries.
Nestled among the mountains of in the north, Luang Prabang was the capital from the 14th to the 16th century before it was moved to Vientiane.
With its scenic mountains and rivers and mix of historic Laotian and French colonial architecture, Luang Prabang draws many visitors.
One of the most popular tourist activities is Sai Bat, Morning Alms, where tourists line up at dawn outside of temples to give food offerings to long lines of monks.
Laos has been a one-party, communist state since 1975, following the end of a long civil war.
It is closely aligned with its neighbours Vietnam and China.
Its population of just under eight million people is predominantly Buddhist.
Throughout the day, the food markets bustle with hungry patrons and the ornate temples receive a steady flow of snap happy visitors.
The pristine beauty of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers, which flow through the city, attracts throngs of tourists each year, many of whom arrive on small boat river cruises.
Further upstream, another mode of transport can be seen on a large bridge stretching the width of the Mekong – a high speed rail system built with funding from China as part of its Belt and Road project, which connects Vientiane with the Chinese city of Kunming.
The nearby Luang Prabang dam is one of nine that Laos plans across the Mekong.
Two others already exist, and Laos has also constructed dozens of dams on Mekong tributaries, moving at a rapid pace over about the last 12 years as part of an ambitious government plan to make the country the “battery of Southeast Asia” by supplying its neighbours with electricity.
The dam is also being built near an active fault line, and though studies of the design conclude it could withstand an earthquake, local residents are worried.
From atop Phousi Hill in the centre of Luang Prabang, scores of tourists take in the scenic views of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers.
The hill remains a picturesque and widely visited site and lies just a short distance from the ongoing development upstream.
AP Video shot by Tian Macleod Ji
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