Plain of Jars

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November 10/11 Plain of Jars



We had an long drive to Phonsavan and the Plain of Jars. It took most of a day of slow driving through the mountains to get to the plains around Phonsavan. Most of the drive was like this: twisting road, turn every 1-200 feet, grind up to the top of a mountain/ridge, hoping that you were not behind a truck so you were going slower than the normal 20 km per hour, pass through a village with small houses on each side of the road, do not run over children, cows, dogs or chickens, go down hill at slightly faster speed, see a few very small fields when you get to the bottom of the valley and pass through a couple of villages. Hope the driver dodges the axle swallowing potholes. Repeat. The repeat again. Read your book when road is not too bumping.



The scenery was beautiful, green ridges and mountains in every direction covered in fog, flowers and blooming trees, and of course the villages. We stopped in a small dusty town for a quick lunch. we had Laos fast food. The little cafes that line the street have 5-7 pots sitting out that you can choose from: pork, chicken, strewed chicken, a couple of things that you won't recognize and don't want to ask about, rice and veg. The noodle soup is always good, wonderful broth, lots of noodles and veg and chicken. A note on the chicken. You know the chickens we did not run over but someone else did a couple of hours earlier.....or when they get old.... they go in the pot. They are tough and stringy from dodging trucks, buses and cars so order something else! Best to be vegetarian when eating Laos fast food!



Phonsavan is on the short list for the most nothing place of 60,000 people that I have ever visited. It consists of three wide roads, two that lined with miles of small dusty shops selling the same basic foodstuffs, mechanics with motor bikes, cars and trucks in various stages of assembly or falling apart, and the odd place selling clothes. The road to the airport is lined with nicer homes and a few office buildings. There do not appear to be any wats/temples. If there were, they were so insignificant that we were not taken to see them. God, we spent an hour with our guide at the morning fruit and vegetable market and it was the high point of our time in town.



We started at the best hotel in town. To get there you turn off the paved road onto a narrow gravel road that might be wide enough to let 2 small cars pass. After lurching along this for several minutes, past houses and the odd garden, we turn up a hill on an even narrower lane to get to the hotel. The lane gets short listed as the bumpiest road in a town! The hotel was fine.



We had some free time after we arrived in Phonsavan. So we decided to look around town. We took the hotel van in and got dropped off at Craters. Phonsavan is in the middle of the most bombed area of the most bomber country in the world. Crates has a display of unexploded bombs in the front. They make an not bad instant cappacino. We walked around and saw nothing but dusty shop that we did not enter. We'd planned on eating ion town but changed our mind when the power went out. It was pitch black with a bit of light from the odd car. We managed to find a tuk tuk driver that spoke some english and went back to the hotel. It was Deb's first experience with a tuk tuk. She didn't too happy with the ride. I'm not sure if it was crawling over the electric equipment or the carpenters tools or the narrow bench. The ride down the alley to the hotel was not too bad if you held on tight. We ate at the hotel even though the power came back on!



The Plain of Jars is pretty neat with all these big stone jars scattered over several sites. They were up to 6 feet tall and 16 tons. We visited 2 sites and basically had them to ourselves. The second site was set on a hill and over looked a valley full of fields and rice paddies. They were harvesting the rice. The jars are interesting in themselves and the sites have an atmosphere that reminds me of the standing stones ion England. The sites were are marred by bomb craters some 15-20 feet deep, full of trees and plants. They added a touch of sorrow to the site and a reminder that history was not all in the dusty past. History is on your face in Laos.





The visit to the morning market was very interesting. Our guide took the time to explain the various vegetables, fruits and other items for sale. Things like fruit and veg are easy to take. Buckets of fish, frogs and song birds are not. The silkworm larva were one of the most expensive items for sale . The wiggling mass of white worms did not appear to be a big seller. The market was an contrast of old and modern with teenage girls or jeans sitting on a small stool in shorts (very rare in Laos to see a girl in shorts) or jeans sitting beside Mom or Grandma in traditions long dresses and head dresses. One of my favorite sights was a teenager in jeans texting as she was plucking the feathers off a song bird.

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