luang prabang | Without an H

Village life

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Countryside outside Luang Prabang, Laos, June 2013

Mekong views

130524-277-edited Jinghong, Yunnan province, China

Looking through the pictures I’ve posted from my Mekong trip, I noticed something missing: there are hardly any pictures of the river itself. There are a few reasons for this, I think. I naturally incline towards pictures of people – they’re the pictures that I’m best at, and that I most enjoy taking, but I do sometimes feel the need to broaden my repertoire a little. I don’t have many regrets about this trip, but one of the few I do have is not getting more good landscape and river shots. I remember being on a long bus journey in Laos, between Savannakhet and Pakse, speeding past rice paddies in the rain. As the rain stopped and the late afternoon sun emerged, the fields were lit up in the most beautiful, soft, warm light. You’ll have to take my word for it, because I didn’t get a picture. As I said, I was on a bus at the time, and that bus wasn’t stopping for anyone. I spent a few days in Pakse after that bus journey, but never saw that beautiful light again, so that rice paddy image only exists in my memory. This is just one example of a great picture that I didn’t take, along with the countless early morning street scenes that I was too lazy to get up in time for. So I’m a little disappointed with the landscape pictures that I actually did take – they’re just not as good as the ones in my head, or perhaps it’s just that they don’t grab me as immediately as my best people shots. Whatever the reason, I neglected to post many Mekong landscapes (riverscapes?) while I was travelling, so I’ve collected a few together to post now. These pictures were all taken between May and August this year.

130611-005-edited Pak Beng, Laos

130613-089-edited Luang Prabang, Laos

130615-078-edited Luang Prabang, Laos

130619-045-edited Ferry across the Mekong (1), Luang Prabang, Laos

130627-086-edited View of Laos at dusk from Nakhon Phanom, Thailand

130718-371-edited Storm clouds gathering, Kratie, Cambodia

130807-255-edited Chau Doc, Mekong delta, Vietnam

130821-056-edited Vinh Long, Mekong delta, Vietnam

130821-062-edited Vinh Long, Mekong delta, Vietnam

130821-173-edited Ferry across the Mekong (2), Vinh Long, Mekong delta, Vietnam

Nong Khiaw

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Nong Khiaw, in Luang Prabang province in northern Laos, is the kind of place that adjectives like breathtaking and stunning were invented for. A bumpy three hour bus ride from Luang Prabang town, the village is on the banks of the River Ou, surrounded by towering (there’s another one) limestone karsts. My landscape pictures don’t begin to do it justice, as I wasn’t organised enough to be in the right place at the right time, but that gives me the perfect excuse to go back another time.

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Eleven monks

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I don’t know what exactly makes Buddhist monks such compelling subjects for portrait photographs. I think maybe it’s something to do with how their shaved heads seem like an attempt to deny them their individuality, but their orange robes demand that you look at them.

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