Butterfly Park in Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang in Laos is a lovely place to visit, if only it were slightly less touristy. When I was there, I was delighted to find a place called The Butterfly Park in Luang Prabang.

I visited the park after a look around the Kuang Si Falls. It's just about 300 metres down the road from the water falls' car park.

It's a lovely, tranquil park run by a Dutch couple, who after visiting the village on a round the world trip, decided to stick around. They bought some land next to a lovely turquoise stream and started building the park, planting lots of local and exotic plants. They created an enclosure to attract colourful butterflies and other local animals. Their mission is to study nature and share how precious it is with visitors young and old, local and foreign.

I had read about the park in my Rough Guide and after my dip in Kuang Si, I decided to walk down the road and have a look. I was welcomed by the friendly owners at the reception booth, delighted to speak a bit of my own language.

Equipped with a detailed description of the life cycle of the butterfly and a map of the park, I started my stroll. It's not a big park, but its setting is simply gorgeous; colourful flowers line the path that leads past a thundering stream, its backdrop a dense bamboo forest.

In the butterfly enclosure a variety of butterflies are fluttering around or resting on pretty flowers or feeders that have been set up to create some extra food sources. There is a separate area that holds cocoons and a little bit further down there are two wooden chairs in the water. Little fish will flock towards your feet as soon as you hover above the water line, eager to start nibbling away at your toes. Like all those expensive fish spa tanks, but this is au naturel.

The path eventually leads to the cafe with a terrace on a mini peninsula. I couldn't resist the offer of a real Dutch coffee with cake, so sat down and had a chat with the owners. What an inspirational couple they are, leaving the comforts of Rotterdam for a conservation park in rural Laos.