Kuang Si Waterfall is a stunning multi-tiered waterfall 30km outside Luang Phabang in the mountains.

Its many tiered pools carved by cascading milky-blue water resemble a Las Vegas hotel water feature – it’s so idyllic.

A slippery path leads up the side of the waterfall and you can slide and climb down to secluded pools hidden in the thick jungle.

UNESCO declared Luang Phabang a World Heritage site in 1995. Laos’s second-largest city is situated on the confluence of the Khan and Mekong Rivers, surrounded by low hills filled with small villages and glimmering temples. In the distance limestone mountains fade into the haze and the Mekong and Khan snake off to their demise. 

If you catch the bus from Luang Phabang south over the mountains you’ll reach picturesque market town Van Vieng. Set on the banks of the gentle Nam Sueng River with limestone cliffs abruptly thrusting up from rice paddies in the near distance, it’s probably the most touristy spot in Laos and with good reason.

Vientiane is the capital of Laos but lacks the mad scrambling rush of most South East Asian cities.

The traffic is a relaxed tangle of tuk tuks, bicycles and taxis with the Mekong River gliding by. The old French colonial architecture and wide boulevards create a laid-back atmosphere.

Huge stone jars litter the plains of northeastern Laos and are akin to Easter Island’s stone heads – no-one is sure who built them, how they were built or why.

There are some 400 clusters of large stone jars crafted out of sandstone and granite, scattered in a linear path across the vast plains at the northern end of the Annamese Cordillera mountain chain.