Standing at the top of Sacred Hill, an artist begins to paint a landscape of fluid strength. He draws upon the endless coursing currents of the Mekong merging with Nam Khan to outline broad watery, gray silhouettes of distant peaks. To the foreground, he adds spots of red tiles breaking through the dense crown of green. Borrowing from the tale of a powerful Naga inhabiting the hill that is carried upon the whispering winds, he adds the pointed tips of golden stupas along the slop of the hill. He imagines the colors of sunset spilling across the landscape, purpling clouds and burnt orange tinging the waters and adds it to paper. With a final dab, he steps back and before him is the view from Mount Phousi on canvas.

Reached by ascending around 300 steps from either Sisavangvong Road or Thanon Phousi, this peak is infamous to tourists in Luang Prabang. Along the way are Buddhas in the meditation mudra or seated beneath multi-headed serpents. The path throughout retains its rustic charm, untouched by roads for buses or trucks. At Mount Phousi, you will have a view so perfect, it looks like a scene from a painting.