Laos trek: Hiking in remote mountain villages is still possible despite the tourism boom

The steps of the gold-tipped temple at the summit of Mount Phousi are thronged with tourists taking selfies. Beyond their grins, the sun is blazing out over the Mekong River. If this 150m pinnacle seems busy, it's nothing compared to the Unesco-protected centre of Luang Prabang below, where the popular night market is unfolding next to the Royal Palace. And yet, from up here, Laos's second city seems little more than a patchwork of red-brown rooftops struggling against rampant trees, almost indistinguishable from jungle. If abandoned, I suppose, Luang Prabang would be swallowed whole in less than a century.

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