luaung prabang six

1. French colonial architecture is everywhere in Lao, from tumble down french villas long abandoned to old colonial stores beautifully restored and turned into 300 dollar a night hotels, in a country where eighty percent of the population lives on less than two dollars a day.
2. The royal palace of Lauang Prabang, the home of the king until he was deposed by the communist Pathet Lao in 1975. No one knows what became of the king, queen, or crown prince as the government has never announced their fate, but the local rumor is that they were left to die of starvation in a cave in the far north of Lao.
3. One of the temples on the grounds of the royal palace.
4. A Hmong woman getting ready to spread out her silks to sell at the night market.
5. The inside of a temple