Yep, They're Jars - Phonsavan

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Day 79/80/81 - Phonsavan

The three of once again dragged ourselves out of bed at a ridiculous hour to catch the bus south to Phonsavan - "Plain of Jars". The bus was quite empty so we each got to spread out and have our own row which was a first for us. It ended up being a complete blessing since it was by far the worst bus journey we've had in the last three months. Even worse then Myanmar. It wasn't the roads that was issue - they were even paved. It was the winding up and down, across and around the mountains at top speed. The constant swerving gave us all severe motion sickness and half way through the ride, they handed out black plastic bags that we assume we in case any of us started to barf. Luckily, we didn't end up losing our breakfast and made it to Phonsavan by mid afternoon. But we did have the unfortunate experience of seeing a women carrying a dead dog my its tail as we were driving out of the bus rest stop. G warned Steph not to look but she couldn't help herself and regrets it everyday that she actually witnessed such a thing.

After checking out a handful of guesthouses, we finally picked on that was just 80,000 Kip for the 3 of us. Then proceed to get a bite to eat - more yummy baguettes for us. But the particular thing about our hotel and restaurant was that each had stacks and stacks of UXO's (unexploded ordinances). It was a bit wierd and uncomfortable since the two of us knew the bombs probably had something to do with the US.

Next to the restaurant was a MAG office. The two of us knew some about the secret bombing the US did in Laos during the war but got to read up more about it and watched a video on the still current affects these unexploded bombs are having on rural Lao people. We walked out all a bit bumped (esp. the two of us being American's and all) but glad we at least now know some more about the things that went on here not too long ago.

After shopping around for a tour to see the famous "jars" that are scattered throughout the area we got a fair enough price from a friendly nuch of Lao guys. And headed to our favorite Indian place - Nisha for dinner. There we met these 3 hilarious little British boys that we both thought could be no older then 17 years old. (We only mention them bc we later see then again at the same Indian restaurant but in Vang Vieng).

The next morning, Jane wasn't feeling so well, so she decided to stay home and rest up. The two of us along with this really sweet Canadian girl - Camille, boarded the minibus with our two tour guides and set out.

The first site we visited was pretty crowded but with mostly local tourist. Also, the area where the jars are have all been cleared by MAG but the surrounding areas have only been cleared visually. So as long as you stay on the marked path it was okay, but still it was a little scary knowing that there is no 100% guarantee that we won't get blown up. The first site also has the largest jar - weighing in at 6 tons - which was quite impressive.

We then proceed to the next two sites along a very bumpy dirt path and stopped for lunch before visiting the third site. The 3rd site was by by far the most scenic having to walk through rice paddies and hike up a bit onto a hill. The beautiful rolling hills in the background were such a nice view but every so often you could see these huge craters in the hills and when asked what they were, our guides replied, "American bombings".

It did get a bit old going site to site looking at jars, but it was such a mystery as to why these were made and what purpose they fulfilled. Of course, we had our theories - garbage cans or toilets. But they have found human remains in just one of the jars which leads must people to think they were used for burial purposes.

We were back in town by 3pm or so and walked around town, which there wasn't much to see. We ended our day once again at Nisha's for their amazing Aloo Di Piaz dish and nan bread.

The next morning, we were nervous about the bus ride to Vang Vieng that it might be as horrific as it was getting to Phonsavan. But it ended up being okay and we made it into Vang Vieng around midafternoon.

Little did we know that Vang Vieng would become our home for the next 11 days! Read more about it in our next entry.......

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Photos

MAG Marker
The white has been cleared of land mines, the red hasn't.

UXO
Unexploded Ordinances