A jarring experience

---

Come next morning I was not exactly well rested, but was keen to get up and check out of the hostel and check into the nice hostel (actually called “Nice Guest House”) we’d gone past the previous night. That done we had some breakfast and then waited outside the tour organisers for our minibus to the Plain of Jars (or “pots of jars” as Sammy put it). Some Lao children came up to us to test their English, trying out a variety of pre-prepared questions. When our minibus arrived two of the girls were invited to come along with us and the two Germans in our tour group.

We drove out to a “whiskey village” where some local people prepare rice whiskey. Tasting was limited due to the fact that I don’t drink, the Germans had stomach complaints and Sammy doesn’t like whiskey. We moved on quite quickly to the first of three archaeological sites - hilltops with prehistoric stone jars and (usually) bomb craters from when the Americans had decided historical monuments were clearly a threat to their existence. The jars are (apparently) some sort of funerary urn although research into their origins has been somewhat limited due to the legacy of said bombing - there are about sixteen sites spread across the area, but only three are cleared of bombs. The guide was quite informative at first, but then ran out of things to say. The girls, however, had a continual stream of questions for us. After the first two sites and a random visit to a wrecked Russian APC we returned to have lunch at a shack where lots of other tour parties appeared to be congregating. I decided after one bite that the chicken in my soup was not cooked so was quite careful about eating much of the rest.

After lunch we visited the final site, which was actually the closest to town. More jars, but not much more to see, although our guide decided to give up and let the students lead us around the site. This involved making them pose for silly photos (attached) and answering silly questions. We returned to Phonsaven, bid farewell to our guide and young interrogators and then watched a film we had missed the previous night at the MAG office.

---