Mar 22, 2010 | Northern Laos

Traveling through northern Laos during the month of March was pretty gloomy business. Luang Prabang Province felt like tourist flypaper, and the skies were a dingy yellow from fires that farmers were setting to clear land for upland rice cultivation. Some days it rained black ash for hours. Things got better when I reached Houaphanh Province, which is much less developed for tourism and didn't seem to be as ablaze as elsewhere.