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Published: January 30th 2011
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The East of Laos is a bleak place. Gentle hills replace the mountains of the north and the jungles are succeeded by somber grass land. Xieng Khouang province has a cool climate and a regular drizzle makes the landscape even more grey. Xieng Khouang is quoted as one of the poorest areas of the country, which considering the rest of Laos, implies severe poverty. This is in part due to the fact that it was one of the worst hit areas in the 'secret war', a not so secret by-product of the Vietnam war.
Laos was never really supposed to get involved in the Vietnam war but now, bombs for people, it is the most heavily bombed country in history. In 1954, when relations between the USA and South East Asia were starting to strain, Laos gained independence from France. The same year, at the Geneva conference, Laos was declared a neutral nation, meaning neither US or Vietnamese forces were supposed to cross its borders. Things never work out as they are supposed to. Independent Laos was far from stable and a prolonged civil war began between the royalists and communist forces. The Vietnmese liked the communists the USA backed
the royalists. Ignoring the Geneva Convention, the North Vietnamese moved in and occupied large areas of north Laos. They also established weapon routes through Loas and amassed soldiers destined for South Vietnam. The Americans too, broke their side of the bargain. The CIA moved into the northern jungles and trained anti-communist Hmong guerillas to further the war against communism. By the mid 1960s Laos was firmly in the middle of a war between the USA and North Vietnam. In, 1963, in an attempt to subdue the Vietnamese and Laotian communists, the USA embarked on a massive bombing campaign, the remnants of which are still lodged all over the country.
Between 1963 and 1974, the US dropped a total of two million tonnes of ordnance on Laos, or as the guardian reported, an average of one B-52 bombload every eight minutes for 11 years. This carpet bombing included 270 million cluster munitions, approximately 80 million of which failed to detonate on impact.
In Xieng Khouang province, there is still plenty of no man's land caused by these bombs. Many people have trouble making a livelihood as they are afraid to farm their land in case they stumble across some
unexploded ordinance (UXO). Since 1974, when the war ended, 20,000 people have been killed or injured by UXO . The bombs may be buried meters underground so its very hard to check for without good quality equipment. Laos is poor so good quality equipment is hard to come by.
In recent years, the international charity MAG has been making some progress. Near Phonsavan, the provincial capital, we drove past several fields in which controlled explosions were being carried out. As resources are limited, most clearance has been focused on community areas such as schools. Since Laos is fast becoming a tourist destination, tourist area are also being cleared. In the last few years, one such area is the Plain of Jars.
The Plain of Jars is not one, but several plains of large stone jars around Phonsavan,. The mysterious jars, which stand over a metre tall, are thought to be remnants of an Iron age community, but their function is not known. Suggestions as to their purpose range from funeral urns to fermenting vessels for Laos Laos, the local rice whisky. It is a strange, strange, place and is attracting lots of visitors as it becomes safer to
explore. Laos is hoping that the Plain of Jars will become a UNESCO world heritage site, but until recently the UXO has made it too inaccessible to be accredited. Now, three sites have been mostly cleared and the Laos government is hoping that it will be accepted.
Jar site 1, was the biggest Jar site we visited. After driving along a muddy path we arrived in the car park, where MAG signs told us about the UXO clearance. As I said above, the sites were 'mostly' cleared. This means that although the surface of the whole area has been checked, only the paths have been checked for buried ordnance. MAG has put down red and white markers along the edge of the paths. “Stay between the white markers”, the signs all say. In many places the worn path doesnt quite follow the markers and you end up on the red side. The basic rule is stick to the short grass.
Site 1 was one of the most forlorn places I've been. In the secret war, fighting spilled into this area and the Jar site was used as a communist stronghold. Many of the Jars were destroyed and between
the ones still standing, there are 20ft wide bomb craters. They are covered in grass now, and a few gnarly trees. And they are bathed in drizzle.
The Phonsavan tourist office, has a big display of UXO by its doors. The government, at the encouragement of MAG, has tried to stop bombs being sold for scrap at the local recycling centres, as the foragers and smelters often come to harm when the scrap explodes. In Laos, houses and stores are often built on stilts. We visited a Hmong minority village where the stills were bomb casings. Half a bomb was being used as a plant pot and the children were running around it, barefoot and dirty.
Our guide to the Hmong village was a Hmong man himself and he did a good job of interpreting. The people were animists, they believed in spirits. If someone was ill they wouldn't go to the doctor, they would tie a white string around their house to warn the bad spirits off. We saw a few white strings. One man was sawing planks in his yard. A gaggle of filthy children were playing around him. He invited us in and we all
sat in small stools in his dirt floor house. In keeping with animist beliefs, the wooden house had no windows. It was a single dark room with a curtain at one end seperating the storage area. The oldest child, a girl of about 10, was bustling in and out preparing dinner. The man tried to answer our questions; He was about to build new house. He had seven children. They went to school, sometimes. They usually farmed the land, it wasn't communal, they didn't have enough to grow all the food they needed.
I was glad to leave the darkened room. We left the children taunting a monkey they had caught and tied up. On the way home, we stopped to look at an old Russian tank, rusting by the side of the road.
Phonsavan means 'Hills of Paradise'. I was struck by the desolation.
Travel Information:
Bus; from Luang Prabang to Phonsavan, regular bus leaving around 8 am. 9hrs. Getting in to town, there was a tout from nice guesthouse who wanted to sell tours and offered the cheapest transport to the main street.
Accomodation:
We looked at Kong Keo Guest House. It seemed nice but there was building work going on just outiside so we didn't stay.
Instead we stayed at Nice Guest House. 50,000 kip for double with bathroom - on main street, small, fine but not sociable.
Visiting the plain of jars:
Site 1 is only 10km from town so you could cycle/motorbike to it. We did a tour with the guys who met us at the bus station (Ask at Nice Guest House). including site 1,2,3, the hmong village, the tank and a few other stops. Including lunch and water it was 150000 kip per person.
For more information on UXO in Laos please visit http://www.maginternational.org/laopdr or if you are in Phonsavan, Visit their centre on the main road.
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Martin
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So sad to hear that 35 years later these communities are still limited like this. I didn't travel any further south than Vientiane and missed all of this history. Are those responsible for the ordnance doing anything to remove it? I remember being asked to sign a petition to ban the manufacture of cluster bombs a year ago, I hope it took effect. Great photo of the little girl :)