For the local people of Kieng Than Lei, in Southern Laos, the day was already well underway by the time I stirred from my good nights sleep. The room I stayed in at the little guest house backed onto a rice paddy where women (and one man) were hard at work planting rice. It looked like hard work to me, bent over and stood in water for hours at a time. There was a little chatter between them, but for the most part they seemed to be working in silence.

After breakfast I took to the road again to continue my two-wheel trek along the Southern Swing. Clouds gathered above me fairly quickly and within just a few short moments of getting on the moped the heavens opened. There was no improvement to the weather from that moment on. The rain fell in varying volumes, only stopping entirely for a few brief moments at a time, seemingly to catch it’s breath, re-group, then come again more than before.

Although I didn’t photograph it, my lasting memory of the day will be riding though the villages feeling pretty miserable. However, seeing the children splashing around in temporary pools of muddy water and playing naked in the rain without a care in the world was actually pretty cool, and it helped put my otherwise unimpressed mood into context.

I like mopeds and motorcycles, but it’s fair to say I like being warm and dry much better!