Another in the series Somewhere on Earth, this film tells three stories of ordinary – or rather, extraordinary – people in Laos, a little-explored and land-locked country in SE Asia. The country, and most of the stories, are dominated by the great Mekong river which transverses the whole country.
The first story concerns Leua, who has just bought his first motorised long-boat and sails the river selling his pottery to remote villages along the riverbanks. His family, including wife Bouavone and their two children, travel with him. The waters can be dangerous, and Leua has to be careful, as his whole family is at risk if he misjudges the waters.
In the second of the stories we meet Pheng and his uncle Pao, who drive an old Soviet army truck delivering goods along the mud roads in the inner part of the country. One of his deliveries is of banana trunks, a favourite of the diminishing numbers of elephants in the country. When he is not driving Pheng is interested in meditation, and the spiritual life and we see his visit to a temple.
The last section this week in set in the south of the country at Kon Phapeng, where Souane makes his living as a fisherman around the treacherous waterfalls, the largest such in SE Asia. His life seems particularly dangerous, but he seems to live peacefully and happily, doing the work he knows best and eeking out a living for his family. We also see him visit the local shaman, and walking impossibily slippy tightropes to access his fishing spots.
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