Blogs from Plain of Jars, East, Laos, Asia - page 2

Ich bin in Phonsavan und es ist eiskalt! Nur 18°C abends und es herrscht ein eisiger Wind, so dass es sich noch kälter anfühlt. "18°C sind doch angenehme Temperaturen", werdet Ihr nach Eurem kalten Winter jetzt wahrscheinlich sagen, ich rede aber nicht von angenehmen Erster-Frühlingstag-und-endlich-Sonne-18-Grad, sondern von Mitte-August-und-seit-zwei-Wochen-nur-Regen-und-wann-wird's-mal-wieder-richtig-Sommer-18-Grad! Ich machte für einen Tag Zwischenstation hier, weil ich mir die Ebene der Tonkrüge anschauen wollte. Der deutsche Name ist eigentlich nicht ganz korrekt. Eigentlich handelt es sich um riesige Steinkrüge, die an drei Standorten in der Umgebung von Phonsavan scheinbar wahllos in der Gegend herumliegen. Sie stammen von einer Megalithkultur und sind ungefähr zweitausend Jahre alt. Ihr genauer Sinn und Zweck ist noch nicht ganz geklärt. Es spricht einiges dafür, dass es sic... read more

Keith and I signed up for a trial-run of a brand new trek, trek being the word used here for a long-hike through the jungle. An ‘ecolodge’ had been built in a poor, remote village in the jungle with the idea that money could be brought to this community by having tourists trek through the jungle to get to it. Tourists would pay to stay in the village, to have the villagers cook for them, as well as pay local tour guides to show them the way. We were told the trip would be two days of hiking through the jungle, with an overnight stay in a Hmong tribe village. I’d always wanted to try doing this, as there are many such treks for sale in LPB, but they usually cost $50. This one, since it ... read more

Phonsavan is approximately 6 hours drive from Vang Vieng up Route 13 then it is a right at Muang Phu Khodir onto Route 7. As you travel north on Route 13 you travel through some stunning scenery, the mountains are beautiful, the roads follow windy routes around the hills and through tiny little villages that populate along the sides of the road, there appears to be large aid projects funded by Australian Government and UNICEF to provide water, which is pumped up from the stream way below. There are centralised water points where the locals shower next to the road and thier house stand precariously on the edge of the hill raised up by stilts. As we passed through the villages you notice chaps loitering along the roadside and at what appears to be entry and ... read more

We were the last to get on the minibus and ended up the weird foldy end of the row chairs which proved violently uncomfortable through the very windy and mountainous roads. We stopped off for food after a few hours but neither of us trusted our stomachs enough to consume food, while we were drinking the industrial strength Laos coffee the owner produced a dead flying squirrel for our lunch! Luckily we managed to get away with just taking a photo and got back on the bus for the rest of the vomit inducing journey! We arrived in Ponsavanh with our stomach lining intact and checked into the aptly named nice guesthouse, which was very…… nice. We went down to the food market had a steaming bowl of noodle soup, booked our trip to the jars ... read more

The Plain of Jars, near Phonsavan, Laos, is a big plain of, well . . . jars. This vast expanse of stone jars is one of the great unsolved mysteries (aliens, anyone?) of the world and is pretty much the only reason to make a trip to Phonsavan. It has the feel of a town that is just starting to be developed into more of an attraction-- still on the traveling path, but a bit less trampled than the usual backpacker circuit. The people I met there were perhaps a bit more 'serious' in their travels, especially in comparison with the spring break-esque party scene I had left behind in Vang Vieng. According to an NGO in Phonsavan called MAG (Mines Advisory Group), Laos is the most bombed-out country per capita in the world due to ... read more