Advertisement
Published: March 27th 2008
To get to Phonsavan we wound through the mountains once again, passing through lots of bamboo villages where, apart from the odd TV aerial, it is easy to imagine that life has barely changed over the last 100 years. Everyone in these areas must work to survive and we passed young girls who would still be in primary school in the UK, carrying large baskets of wood on their backs as they walked to their village. The other noticeable thing during the journey was the smoke in the valleys and the scarred landscape - a result of the slash and burn farming techniques of some of the minority people. This really needs looking at by the government before the mass erosion and landslides that will result have a big impact on the people living here.
In Phonsavan we found out a lot about the danger of unexploded bombs in the area (UXO). In 1962, America signed the Geneva Accord, part of which stated that Laos was to be a neutral country and not be bombed during the US involvement in Vietnam. Despite this, America began bombing Laos that same year. As this was done without the knowledge of the
American people it became known as The Secret War. Soon Laos was the most bombed country in the world as the USA dropped more bombs on it than on Germany and Japan combined in World War II. In total, 2,000,000 tonnes (yes, 2 million!!) of bombs were dropped on Laos, with the weapon of choice being cluster bombs. That's a tonne of bombs for every person living in Laos at the time. A third of these bombs didn't explode, leaving Laos with around 650,000 tonnes of UXO. These are what cause the problems now. Families dare not farm much of the land for fear of the bombs. This means that they can not grow enough food. If they do have to grow on new land their hoe or spade is in danger of hitting a bomb and leaving them dead. Children find the bomblets of cluster bombs, which are about the size of a table tennis ball. They use them as a toy. One child throws the ball to another, it explodes and they are both killed. In fact, 40% of the deaths and injuries from UXO are to children! And finally, villagers who are hungry take to using metal
detectors to find shrapnel and unexploded bombs which they can sell as scrap metal. They diffuse the live bombs but one accident is all it takes for them to be killed.
One thing we found very disturbing about all of this was the admission of an American pilot. He told how American bombers sent to attack Vietnam would often have to abort their mission. Rather than face safety procedures on landing they would dump their load of bombs on Laos as they flew back to their Thai airbase. This blatant disregard for life is something we just cannot comprehend. In one village, 400 people hid from the bombs inside a cave. The US pilot dropped his plane down low and fired a rocket into the cave, killing them all. People trying to get into the cave to find the remains of relatives could not get in for 3 days because of the heat.
After hearing all of this we headed glumly back onto the street where a young Lao girl, maybe 7 or 8, rode up to us on her bike and started chatting to us in English. It highlighted to us that it is children like this
Just chillin' on my bomb
The bomb casings were used for everything in this village. A seat for the kids and a fence in the background.who still suffer from 'The Secret War', and it's not just here but in other areas of the world too. Cluster bombs are still being used today in places like Kosovo and Afghanistan.
We visited a number of places while in Phonsavan. First we went to a field full of huge bomb craters to show the impact of the bombs that did explode. From there we went to a village and saw how the locals use the bomb shells they find. There were huts held up on bomb casing stilts, as well as plant pots, animal feed troughs and fences. The villagers had a couple of intact cluster bombs which they had found and disarm and which they offered to sell us, for a mere two pounds fifty. As tempting as this may be, and as authentic a piece of Lao history as it is, buying these things only encourages villagers to risk their lives digging up live bombs. We were disappointed, but unsurprised, to hear of the number of tourists who come to these villages just to buy disarmed bombs as morbid souvenirs.
That day we also went to the Plain of Jars, our main reason for
coming to this part of Laos. This is, as its name suggests, a large field full of big stone jars. There are sixty sites where the jars have been found so far, although only three of them are accessible due to UXO. The main lure of these jars, of which the largest weighs around 6 tonnes, is their mysteriousness. Everything people think about them is pure guesswork and it is not clear how old they are (2000 years is the most common guess), what they were for (some people say they are funerary urns, locals claim they were used for rice wine), or how these heavy lumps of rock got from the quarry to the plains. One thing we do know is that what appeared to be black moss on the inside of some of the jars was actually hundreds of big spiders, sheltering from the wind in a shuddering mass. As with everywhere else it was important to stick only to marked paths here for fear of UXO.
From Phonsavan we took a bus to Luang Prabang complete with armed guard - a soldier with an AK47. Years ago this road was notorious for hijackings and, although there
have not been any for a few years now, the soldier comes along as a precaution. There are also plenty of other soldiers along the road keeping an eye out. I'm not sure if this made us feel more at ease or more nervous.
We followed another of the Lonely Planet's walks around Luang Prabang passing no fewer than nine temples. The temples are what this town is famous for as they have somehow managed to remain unscathed by war and are home to large communities of orange-robbed monks. The old town is also UNESCO listed, ensuring that it retains its charm and does not see multi-story hotels springing up and spoiling the view.
The first temple stop, Wat Xieng Muan, is a place where monks learn different arts, such as woodcarving and painting, in order to help with the upkeep of Luang Prabang's temples. We also stopped to admire the Royal Palace, with its own large temple, theatre and lily pond. Along the banks of the Mekong River we passed different types of architecture from traditional Lao to colonial French. All of the temples had wonderful decorations, with statues and paintings adorning the paths and walls. There
was no sunset to speak of that day so we postponed our climb up Phu Si, a hill full of temples in the middle of town, until the following day. When we did get up there we found it to be absolutely teeming with coach-trip tourists. I had that feeling of fame once again as two Asian girls asked for their photo with me, before settling among the crowd to watch the sun sink as a deep red ball into the Mekong. The other notable point of the walk is that it was so hot that my sunglasses melted and fell apart. This is the fourth pair of sunglasses I have got through so far and it is now a running joke.
Just outside Luang Prabang there is a big waterfall, Tat Kuang Si. It's a nice place with very clear water, but we seemed to be a bit disappointed by waterfalls now. The problem is that they can not live up to Erawan Falls in Thailand, which was just perfect. Allee's hygiene problem haunted her again at Tat Kuang Si. A natural pool was full of people swimming and splashing around but, within five minutes of Allee getting
in, they all disappeared. Maybe she needs to shower more? After the waterfall we took out enough money to last our final week and a half in Laos. Unfortunately, the bank only had 5,000 Kip notes and so our 6 million Kip came as a big block of money, tied together and filled up our day bag.
Some of our money was spent on a great meal that night as we had a Laos-style BBQ. That meant we got our own BBQ in the middle of our table and cooked meat, noodles and vegetables on it. It was a great way to eat and meant that we slowed down and really enjoyed the food. As it was Easter there was also a lucky draw which I won a T-shirt, that Allee quickly claimed. The rest of the night was spent at a bar watching football. We ended up with a group of Man Utd supporting Tuk-Tuk drivers and so became honorary Liverpool fans for the night to give a bit of balance. Much to the drivers' delight, and our disappointment, Man Utd won 3-0.
The following two days provided one of the trips' highlights - elephant riding. We
Allee at the Jars
Today, Allee was very naughty so I put her in the death jar to think about what she had done. paid a little more in order to use a company with a good reputation for eco-tourismn and taking care of elephants. They also offered 'Mahout training', i.e. bareback elephant riding. On arrival at the Elephant Lodge we first went on a one hour traditional elephant ride, sitting in a seat on the elephant's back. We also both got the chance to change places with the mahout and ride part of this on the elephant's neck. It is a bit scary at first, being that high with nothing to hold onto, but after a couple of minutes getting balanced it was great. Riding through the jungle on an elephant's neck felt like such an adventure, as if we were the explorers discovering Asia so long ago. The day was to get better though as we then removed the seat from the elephant's back and rode on our own, taking the elephants to their home for the night in the jungle. This was still only mid-day, so the elephants have plenty of time to eat and relax.
The next morning we collected the elephants from the jungle at 6.30am, and rode them once again bareback, down to the river. In the
river we were given brushes to give the elephants a good clean - judging by the state of them they had been giving themselves dust baths during the night, so they needed it! We also hand fed the elephants. Allee enjoyed this so much that she even held bananas - brave indeed! This was one of those 'once-in-a-lifetime experiences' and something neither of us ever dreamed we would get the chance to do. It was still morning when we left the elephants and set off to carry ourselves on a four hour trek through the local countryside and villages.
There was only the two of us and a guide on the trek so it was very peaceful - that is until the guide would burst into song, Cat Stevens and Bryan Adams were his preferred melodies. We saw lots of colourful butterflies, strange insects and a red gecko as we walked along. We also stopped in Hmong and Khmu villages where the children would wave and the adults would say hello. Hello in Khmu is rather fittingly 'Smiler'. It was very hot and humid and I literally dripped with sweat so we must have been a strange sight to
the villagers. Outside the villages we also saw some of the 'slash and burn' farming up close, while the scenery looked parched. It is dry season at the moment and, in a few months, this area will be lush green. Being dry season did not stop a huge thunderstorm last night though. The lightning was so bright it seemed to be shooting through the window.
Today we are relaxing before taking a ten hour local bus to Luang Nam Tha tomorrow.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.051s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 9; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0289s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Martin
non-member comment
Ant the journalist
Ant you do at times surpass yourself with your journalistic comments. How did you get onboard that Elephant? Bet you didn't or couldn't vault on as I would have. Martin