Blogs from Phonsavan, East, Laos, Asia - page 7

Sunday June 17, 2007 Laos Motorbike Trip - Day 5 (Phonsavan and neighboring areas) 190Km Covered After an early breakfast we were excited to get out and explore. We followed Dave the bomb dude’s map and found a dirt track into the red mud and rice paddies. We stopped and took pictures of these rice fields. Some of the most beautiful we had seen in SE Asia. As we approached the site of the bomb craters I was amazed at how big they were - especially knowing they were over 30 years old. We drove right up into the field - Dave had told us the whole area was completely safe now - and parked our bikes right next to the craters for some great pictures. The reddish-brown mud of the craters contrasted beautifully with ... read more

Phonsavan, Plain of Jars __________________________ D: Hallo mal wieder! Momentan haenge ich seit ueber einer Woche in Vang Vieng rum und hab' einen Riesenspass mit im Wasser planschen und faulenzen (naechstes Kapitel). Daher bin ich ein bischen hinterher mit dem Blog. Also hab' ich meinen Aufenthalt um einen Tag verlaengert um die relativ milde Temperatur auszunutzen und mal wieder das Reistagebuch auf einen neueren Stand zu bringen. Also, von Luang Prabang gings dann los nach Phonsavan. 8 Stunden mit dem oeffentlichen Bus: kein Aircon (brauch auch kei' Sau wenn man ja die Fenster aufhaben kann, kein extra Stauraum fuer Gepaeck (aber dafuer gibts ja die hinteren Sitze,) und ein bischen weniger Beinfreiheit (was mir auch nix macht, da ich ja nicht der allerlaengste bin). Dafuer ein bischen billiger (aba nett viel). Und dann natuerlich ist man ... read more

Luang Prabang - PhonsavanJason & Kirstyn O Spent one more night in Luang Prabang before heading south east to Phonsavan. The bus ride was an easy eight hours on a rickety old bus, but luckily not too many people aboard so we were able to stretch our legs. It was a very windy road on the way there through the mountains passing lots of hilltribe villages on the way. A lovely trip! From Phonsavan we based ourselves for a few days to explore the Plane of Jars. Booked a tour with a man who was extremely passionate about the area and spoke excellent english, so was very very informative. No one really knows for sure how old (thought to be 2000 BC) or why the plane of jars exists, but the most believable story so far ... read more

Phonsavan is an unassuming town east of the capital, Vientiene. Although it may not look like much from the window of a bus, it has a lot of history. It is known for two famous things. The first being that it is home to the Plain of Jars, five sites of huge sandstone jars dating 2500-3000 years old. They are not quite sure what they were used for, but most agree they were for their dead, a kind of cemetery. The people of this time must have had to drag the sandstone boulders from many miles away and then carve them into shape. Most of them had lost their tops and only two have carvings of figures on them. You have to go on a tour to see the jars because, the other reason Phonsavan ... read more

Vores sidste blog var allerede da vi skrev den lidt outdated, for vi var allerede over en uge inde i vores ophold i Laos, saa nu kommer der en ny rejsefortaelling.... YAY :I Vi tog en af vores ynglings nattoge, med en ekstra ladning kakkelakker, til Laos' graense, hvor vi ved rent held mooedte nogle super flinke folk. Bl.a. Daniel, en supersoed australier som vi endte med at dele vaerelse med. Vi var i Vientiane, Laos' hyggelige & afslappede hovedstad, i godt tre dage og noed det til fulde. Foerste dag lejede vi cykler og tog paa sightseeing. Her saa vi bl.a. That Luang, som er Laos' forgyldte nationalsymbol (den optraeder ogsaa paa alle deres pengesedler) og Patuxai, AKA den vertikale landingsbane (kaldet saaledes fordi at de under konstruktionen loeb toer for cement og derfor selvfoelgelig ... read more