Laos boasts some of the most beautiful landscape in Indochina. It has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site because it is a well preserved and an outstanding example of the fusion between traditional architecture, Laotian urban structures, and those built by the European colonial authorities in the 19th and 20th centuries. Luang Prabang is a city located in north central Laos, on the Mekong River about 425 km north of Vientiane. The city was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name. Until the communist takeover in 1975, it was the royal capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos. Cycling Vietnam to Laos