Colourful rectangular wooden boats carrying tourists are chugging along at a leisurely pace across the Mekong River.
The atmosphere is idyllic, disturbed only by the monotonous throbbing of the boats’ engines. Hills rise gently on both sides of the mighty river, water buffaloes are grazing on the banks. A fisherman in a longboat casts his net, while the heat of the day slowly descends on Laos from the pale blue sky.
