Mekong, dry season.

The Mekong River, Northern Laos during the dry season.

The Mekong River changes dramatically during the year. In the wet season it is a mighty river that not only carries the monsoon runoff, but also meltwater from the eastern Himalaya. The river scours its bed and banks as vast quantities of water swiftly flow towards its mouth in southern Vietnam.

During the dry season, the water level drops drastically leaving a shadow of its former self meandering through a vegetation free lunar landscape of sand and gravel.

This will change of course, now that the Chinese are building dams along the Mekong in Yunnan Province. The seasonal cycle that Laotians, Cambodians and Vietnamese have come to depend on over countless centuries will come to an end.