ADVENTUROUS SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY, THE WORK OF PEPPER K. ETTERS

Asia: Laos

Hidden among southern Laos' 4,000 Islands and Emerald Triangle is one of South East Asia's least explored regions. Home to wild elephants, tigers and crocodiles; laced with white water rivers and scoured by deep gourges; this area is relatively unpopulated. In fact, throughout much of the region, ethnic minorities still live their traditional lives, much as they have for centuries.

A young boy catches a ride across the river while herding his family's oxen in Tad Lo.
   
The broad falls of Tad Lo make for an impressive sight.
   
A group of kids plays outside their house in a small village near Tad Lo.
     
  
A tribal man hunts for food at the edge of a large cascade near the town of Tad Lo.
   
A young monk peers out from the window of a monastery in southern Laos.
   
A hilltribe man weaves a basket in a small village near Tad Lo.
     
  
A portion of the much larger Tad Lo Falls blurs during this long exposure.
   
A Lao class does calisthenics in the school yard on Don Khone.
   
A woman works her fields on Don Khong in the 4000 Islands of southern Laos.
     
  
A blind man sits outside his house in a village near Tad Lo.
   
A group of children enjoy the last rays of light while swimming in the Mekong River near Don Khong.
   
A group of minority children chase our tractor out of their village with shouts of hello, hello.
     
  
A lone boatman paddles his dugout up the Mekong River in the 4000 islands region of southern Laos.