Luang Prabang City of the Golden Buddha Formely known as Moung Swa Location: Located at the foot of a high rocky mountain - Mount Phousi - on a peninsula at the confluence of the Mekong River and the Nam Khan.  It is 500 kilometres upriver from Vientiane and 300 metres above sea level. Climate: There are three main seasons: The cold season from November to February. The hot season from March to April or May and the rainy season from May or June to October. It rains more in the North. History: For the most part of her history the town was the seat of kings. The kingdoms ruled from Luang Prabang had not been large for the first 600 years of  her history. Only Prince Fa Ngoum made Luang Prabang the capital of a kingdom of significant size. In the course of its long history the town had often been conquered  (Cham, Khmer, and Sukhothai, Vietnam..) and burnt down. After invasions, many destroyed structures were rebuilt, some of them again and again, roughly the same as they have existed before an invasion. In 1358, the sacred Pra Bang image of the Buddha (Royal Holy Image) arrived in Luang Prabang. The Pra Bang image was believed to possess extremely protective powers and, thus, by its presence garnered significance to both the capital and its inhabitants. The Pak-Ou Caves The caves are inhabited by thousands of Buddha statues, some allegedly more than 300 years old. Monks used to live in the caves, too. When Laos was still a monarchy, the caves were visited every year by the king. A small royal Wat is near the caves. In 1560 Muang Swa's name was officially changed to Luang Prabang in honor of the sacred Pra Bang image. In 1563 King Setthathirat moved his government to Vientiane; but by then, Luang Prabang had already been capital for some 800 years.