Goldenhourphotography: sun setting over the hills of Laos

This is photograph of the sun setting behind the hills of Vang Vienne in Laos.
It was taken with a canon 550d with a 18-200 canon lens.

VANG VIENG, LAOS
Here is my experience of Vang Vieng in Laos and some of the things you can do and see there. A long bus ride from Bangkok:
I didn’t know where to go next and I couldn’t speak any Laos to ask where the buses went as I stood in the big bus station, undecided.
A big bus was pulling out and stopped for a passenger who just hopped on, so I ran and hopped on too, with all my stuff, and paid the driver something, then sat down.
The next day I arrived in Vang Vieng and got off the air conditioned bus into the heat. I went to find somewhere to stay and found a place by the river that was cheap as chips.
There was a small tractor run off the road into a ten foot ditch with a crowd watching it being pulled out. I stood to watch too. Someone brought some beer, and I had a bottle of gin.
They next day I woke up sick as sick could be: bad gin. They must have got the tractor out as it wasn’t there when I looked again.

I spent the day lying on the bed recovering, with a hang-over the size of Texas.
I watched the sun go down on the balcony of one of the many cafes and restaurants that are all along the river side. It set between the mountains a beautiful red as the evening haze and a few small farmers fires made it all so very picturesque.
I have to admit, it was one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen.
I hired a little motorbike the next day, which was a thrill and after filling it up with all of two litres of fuel I set off into the hills to see the waterfall.

I had to park in the parking lot and walk the last mile through the bush on a tiny path. I stubbed my toe on a rusty piece of metal sticking out of the ground and wrapped it in a tissue to stop the bleeding, then hobbled on.
I took lots of photos of the many wooden bridges across the little river and surrounding paths which can be seen in one of my books on Amazon.
The waterfall was interesting but difficult to get a good shot of. A bunch of kids lined up to get their photos taken on the way down. That evening I took many shots of the sunset again in a different restaurant where many lounged with drinks, and mostly were under twenty five.
The next day I moved to a better place, English speaking. The chalet was quiet with air con and it was right next to the bus stop which would make it easy for when I would leave.
I had a few good meals there and found many things advertised to do. So I decided I would go to the Blue Lagoon the next day on my motorbike.
The blue lagoon.

I set off at eleven after a leisurely breakfast and took the route across the 200 foot rickety wooden bridge over the river and on to a dirt road.
There were a lot of puddles and mud. Some of them were over a foot deep and a few people were stuck in them. I stood up on the pegs and rode scrambler style as I used to do way back when. I kept the speed up and rode around the lips of the puddles and up the banks either side, very in the moment, and an hour later I was there.
I left the bike with the others scattered around the car park and walked across another wooden bridge where many coloured fish swam lazily and wandered over to where a whole bunch of under 30s were jumping from the branch of a tree the fifteen feet to the water below. It took a bit of nerve for some of the girls to do it but everyone was having a good time.
I stayed to watch for a while then made the climb up to the caves. The entrance didn’t say a lot, but inside opened out to a massive cavern where two or three cathedrals could have fit in. I could see tiny dots of people exploring far below. I tried to climb down the muddy path but didn’t have a torch to see in the darkness so had to leave it; but there’s caves all this area so I would have another chance later.
After a strong coffee I rode back along the muddy track scrambler style again stopping here and there to take a photo and this is where I shot: the girl from the hills of Laos which is one of my most successful photos.
The days went by like this riding off into the hills to see what was there.

One day I kayaked down river all day long. I didn’t have to do much of anything as all was taken care of by a little man who steered the kayak from behind and all I had to do is keep my camera dry as we went through the many rapids. I took a lot of pictures as we went down the long river.

I lie back after a while and just let the river take me on. Saw girls laughing in the river, and boys diving for fish and many other things, and I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew we were going though the tubing part of the river.
The tubing part is where people hire a car inner tube and float from bar to bar along the sides of the river. Mostly on this part of the river they would just drift along slowly as the river was at its widest. Some of the bars on either side had thousands there dancing, and the music was so loud; it all made me think of Apocalypse Now as I drifted through it all.
I went back the next day on foot and took many photos and visited some of the caves and saw a few Buddha statues in the deeps.

I spent about two weeks in Vang Vieng but didn’t see all there was to see there.
On the day before I left I took a balloon ride high up into the sky and drifted slowly in the breeze over the houses with the hot flame roaring a foot from my ear sending its heat up into the balloon to keep us flying.
The mountains were spectacular as the sun began to sink and as we came down lower and lower we drifted over the river where people in boats waved up at us. Over a hotel a bunch of girls waved up, and over the market I could see all the things being sold on the stalls and the people glancing at us as we drifted past.
We landed with a bump in a field where some kids were playing in a hay stack and as soon as they saw us they ran over to see what was happening as kids will do when a huge balloon lands in their field.
I’ll always remember the balloon ride as being one of my most cherished times in Laos.
The bus left early the next morning and took me away. But it broke down for a few hours in the hills where I looked back on it all and said to myself: one day I’ll come back again and see all the other things there are to see here in Vang Vieng.
Images are taken by me
Article is my own.