Laos was the second country we visited on a tour that also included Thailand and Cambodia, and while we only spent two days in the country it was still an awesome cultural experience. During our visit we stayed in the city of Luang Prabang and ventured out into the surrounding areas. Luang Prabang is located in the north-central part of Laos and consists of 58 adjacent villages, of which 33 villages comprise the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Town of Luang Prabang. This historical quarter has been remarkably well preserved over the centuries and is famous for its architectural, religious and cultural heritage, including the French colonial influences of the 19th and 20th centuries. The city itself dates back to the 7th century and served as the royal capital of various kingdoms as recently as the 1970s when the last monarchy was dissolved following the Laotian Civil War. When we visited, the city's combined population was only 56,000 (of that, almost 45 percent live in the historical quarter). The city center has four main roads and is situated on a peninsula at the confluence of the Nam Khan and Mekong Rivers. On the early morning of our second day in Luang Prabang we participated in an alms-giving tradition that has become quite popular with tourists. Every morning at sunrise, the monks from the city's numerous Buddhist temples and monasteries walk in a procession through the city's main streets accepting alms from the locals. The alms (consisting mostly of food items such as sticky rice) is what the monks consume each day. After the alms-giving procession we walked over to the restored 16th century Wat Xieng Thong temple, considered one of the most important monasteries in the country, for a tour of the site. This was a very long and rewarding day of sightseeing. All of the activities we participated in will be highlighted over the subsequent photo pages from our visit to Laos.