Tien Chiu

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You are here: Home / Travels / Laos / On the River

On the River

Vangvieng is a tiny little town about 1/3 of the way between Vientiane and Luang Prabang. Its sole raison d’être is adventure trekking: I kayaked down the Mekong River, floated down it in an inner tube twice, and went whitewater rafting (all for the first time). Unfortunately, because water and digital cameras really don’t mix, I only got to take photos from our stopping-points… (Needless to say, one cannot replace digital cameras in Laos!)

As usual, clicking on any thumbnail will get you to the larger photo.

Mekong River View The Mekong River in dry season. It runs broad, shallow, and slow...about walking pace, sometimes a slow jog.
Crazy Kayak Guide Kayaks, with one of our crazy guides in the background. They were wildly entertaining--splashing us and everyone else on the river, and intentionally capsizing themselves every few minutes, to enjoy the cool water.
Man Leaping Off a Cliff Man leaping off a cliff (top left)
Tien Jumping Off a Cliff Me leaping off a cliff. It was 20-odd feet high--just long enough to realize the full extent of your stupidity before you hit the water. Fun, though!
Tien Swimming Swimming under the cliff. The water was delightfully cool, rather like a heated pool.
Mekong Bridge A bridge across the Mekong. This is a "good"one; most were made of bamboo roped together.
Guide Cooking Lunch Our guide, cooking lunch.
Fisherman on Mekong A fisherman bringing his boat in. Power boats are actually quite uncommon on the river--they're mostly rowed with bamboo poles.
Sleeping Cave "Don't worry, we'll give you a torch," they said. I didn't realize they'd meant it literally...so I wound up exploring by flickering candlelight.
Sleeping Cave This was called the "sleeping cave". Take a closer look...the limestone was full of glittery crystals, very beautiful.
Sleeping Cave Another photo of the same cave
Sleeping Cave Closeup, with a good view of the glittering crystal.

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