Phonsavan

---

We had a brief stay in PHonsavan which was so interesting learning a bit about the Laos recent history, and the "secret" war with America. This area was heavily bombed for 9 years when America was at war with Vietnam and is still heavily affected by millions of unexploded bombs (UXO's).

The Plain of Jars that we visited is one of the few sites which has been completely cleared, for tourism purposes and while we there we had to keep within markers so we didn't venture into uncleared territory. It was a very mysterious place with stone jars from 500BC which no one is too sure why their there. Archaologists guess that it may have been to do with burial rituals. There are myths of giant gods who used them for making Lao Lao (a famous Laos whiskey made from sticky rice - it's very nice!).

To learn more about clearng Laos of the bombs see www.maginternational.org

---