Laos

I spent New Year's 2020 in Vientiane, and it was the calmest New Year's of my life. It's a capital that feels like a small town, with wide boulevards, almost no traffic and a neon "2020" sign doing its best to make it feel like a party. The Patuxai, an Arc de Triomphe lookalike, has an ornate ceiling and a climb to the top for a view down the palm-lined avenue and the fountain plaza below. Pha That Luang, the giant golden stupa that's the symbol of the country, looks like it's made of sunlight.

The best surprises were the small ones. That Dam, an old brick stupa in the middle of a roundabout, is crumbling and overgrown with plants, and locals say a seven-headed naga lives inside it. Temples with red and gold tiered roofs sit on almost every block, with white stupas guarded by elephants and rows of golden Buddhas. I ate grilled skewers, Lao sausage, papaya salad and baguette sandwiches, a leftover from French rule, from street stalls, and the Mekong runs right past town with Thailand on the other bank. Nobody in Vientiane is in a hurry, and after a few days, you aren't either.