LUANG PRABANG, Laos - Like beautiful people, beautiful towns are always adored.

While Laos as a whole is a poor Communist country, Luang Prabang glides along in a golden bubble of coolness, propelled by quaint French colonial architecture, spectacular mountain setting and its storybook Buddhist temples.

Royal families lived here until overthrown by the Pathet Lao Communist government in 1975.

Now, Western tourists are the kings and queens.

Cell phone service, the Internet, ATMs and satellite TV have arrived, plus pizza, bratwurst, ice cream, an English book exchange shop, white picket fences, fine dining and boutique hotels.

Eco-tourism is big, too - hiking to waterfalls, elephant riding, visiting villages, taking a slow boat up the Mekong River.

I liked it, but ... it has one of those atmospheres that you either love or hate. The local people are formal and polite. Unfortunately, the town is packed with snobbish international tourists who want to be the first to visit a cool spot, then get mad when they discover anyone else is there.

Deemed a World Heritage site in 1995, the city of about 100,000 in northern Laos is in a fortunate location, hugged by two rivers - the Mekong and the Nam Khan. Only an hour by plane from Hanoi and two from Bangkok, it is a world away in terms of pristine setting and small-town feel. Gentle mist lingers at the top of lush green mountains. At dawn, hundreds of orange-robe-clad Buddhist monks walk down the street, accepting bits of rice from tourists and the devout for their breakfast, while hundreds of cameras snap. (I saw the monks' laundry hanging on a line at one monastery - orange, orange, orange and orange.)

The town is walkable, picturesque, and the World Heritage status gained in 1995 prevents its quaint downtown from ever building above two stories high. Its architecture remains a charming combination of French (who ruled here 1880-1954) and Lao - blue shutters, sloping roofs, small passageways, lush gardens.

Compared with its Asian neighbors, not that many tourists have been to Laos, which did not open itself to international tourism until 1989 and did not normalize relations with the United States until 2004.

And Luang Prabang, its major tourist attraction, has a lot worth seeing:

At the top of my list are the National Museum's cut-glass mosaics. The former home of the Lao royal family was made a museum in the 1970s after the Pathet Lao took power and exiled or imprisoned the monarchy.

Chief among the beautiful things left behind was a throne room whose walls are covered with cut-glass mosaics on a bright red background. Created in the 1950s, the mosaics make a glittering rainbow of light on sunny days.

The vista from the top of Mount Phou Si. Yes, it's 328 steps up to the top of the downtown hill (the first 100 steep steps are killers), but those who persevere will be rewarded by the spectacular mountainous green view, which looks a bit like Bavaria, and by the tiny Vat That Chomsi Temple at the peak.

The temples. Although Americans may think one temple looks pretty much like another and be confused by all the Buddha images, Luang Prabang is known for its gorgeous temples, particularly the Vat Xieng Thong Temple from the mid-1500s.

The ride on a long-tail Laos slow boat up the Mekong for lunch, stopping at Pac Ou Caves, which has a collection of 5,000 Buddhas.

The handicraft village of Ban Sang Khong near Luang Prabang, which makes beautiful handmade Saa paper and textiles. The village also has incredible butterflies - not in a cage, but just flitting around wild.

Tourism to Laos is growing 9.2 percent a year, accounting for 34 percent of its gross domestic product. That is significant in a country with only a couple of major tourist attractions - here and the capital city of Vientiane.

But it is relatively unspoiled compared with its neighbors Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. In Laos, the air is clear and the views are sweet, and the only thing you have to worry about are stuck-up tourists.

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IF YOU GO

GETTING THERE: Fly into the small Luang Prabang Airport from Hanoi, Bangkok or Siem Reap (Cambodia). No direct flights from the United States.

WHERE TO STAY: Many boutique hotels and guesthouses are in town and walkable to most sights; try the Chang Heritage Hotel (www.the-chang.com).

VISA: Laos offers tourist visas upon arrival for $35 cash and two passport photos.

MONEY: Currency is the kip, but U.S. dollars are widely accepted.

SHOPPING: Art and crafts, pottery and jewelry at the downtown shops and markets. Nearby handicraft villages sell finely woven textiles and handmade Saa paper.

FOR MORE: www.tourismlaos.gov.la