I can no longer recall the first time I learned about the Mekong, though like most people my age it was likely in a film about the Vietnam War. But I do remember one day in the mid-1980s, when I was about ten years old, sitting on a couch in my family's home in suburban Atlanta. On the television was a movie called Love is Forever. Based on a true story, Michael Landon played a journalist who risks his life to rescue his Lao girlfriend trapped in Laos. I remember little from the movie except this: that there are places in the world where a river divides people. In the scene that I can still recall, Landon is standing on the Thai side of the Mekong (where there was freedom) and looking into the Lao side of the Mekong (where there was oppression). The movie would be a flop if it were shown in theaters today, but back then it moved me to hate the fact that there are places where politics keep people apart. It also planted in me a desire to one day see the Mekong for myself.

What follows are nine photographs of the Mekong, taken in 2004 as I traveled in several countries through which it flows. Like the world of politics, the Mekong is changing. It is changing naturally as it runs its course from Tibet to the South China Sea. But it is also changing on account of human activity.

This is the Mekong River in eastern Tibet, not far from the town of Chamdo. The Mekong is the world's twelfth longest river, and it gets its start high on the Tibetan Plateau. From here, it tumbles down through China's Yunnan Province, flows into the flatlands of Southeast Asia, and then, part way through Vietnam, breaks off into several branches to form the Mekong Delta before spilling into the sea.

This is the Mekong several hundred miles downstream in the Chinese city of Jinghong. In the nineteenth century, the French had hoped to turn the Mekong into a superhighway of trade but gave up the idea on account of the number of cataracts in the river. But China, a nation that delights in subduing nature, has now begun to take on the river, shoving rocky reefs and cataracts to the side to make room for its expanding economy. It is also building a series of dams on its portion of the river.

 This is the Golden Triangle, where Myanmar (the left side of the picture), Laos (right side of the picture) and Thailand (where I'm standing) come together. The region is known for its drug production.  I didn't try the drugs, but I did rent a motorbike for the day...

During my day on the bike, portions of the road were surprisingly quiet, and I would sometimes go for half an hour without seeing another soul. I enjoyed feeling like I had the river to myself, such as in the cornfield above, where I'm standing in Thailand looking over at Laos.

Two days after the motorbike ride, I crossed from Thailand into Laos and then began a two-day journey by boat down the Mekong.  Laos is the most bombed nation on earth (during the Vietnam War, the U.S. dropped more bombs on Laos than Vietnam), and since the war ended thousands of Laotians have died by stepping on or plowing over unexploded ordnance (according to some estimates, up to 30 percent of bombs dropped didn't explode on impact). But one does not feel the tragedy of war while sitting along the river. This is the view from my guesthouse in the town of Pakbeng, where we pulled ashore to overnight.

Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the cultural capital of Laos. It may very well be the world's most laid back city as well. This is the view from my breakfast table.

And if you stand up from the breakfast table and walk for about half an hour, you'll find this view atop Mt. Phousi. Here the river bends to the right, continuing its majestic path to the sea. 

Joel Carillet, chief editor of wanderingeducators, is a freelance writer and photographer based in Tennessee. He is the author of 30 Reasons to Travel: Photographs and Reflections from Southeast Asia. To learn more about him, follow his regular photoblog, or purchase images, visit www.joelcarillet.com