Laos and the Plain of Jars

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Hello all. Right now I'm back in Luang Prabang but did make the small excursion to Phonsavan to see the Plain of Jars. Odd little town, Phonsavan, loads of Russian influence (sorry, didn't take any photos, can you believe it?!) I found out that during the Secret War, many of the buildings were destroyed so not much thought was put into architecture while bombs were going off all around. The province this town resides in was one of the worst hit with US bombs over a nine year period. The saddest part is many of those bombs dropped, about 30% didn't explode thus the country-side is riddled with UXO (unexploded ordnance). Sad thing is it seems there is only one organization from Britian that is trying to clean things up but at the current rate, it will take 100 years to remove all UXOs. I'd love to get up on my soapbox and put the question out about why the US doesn't come in and clean up their mess from bombing a country that declared itself neutral but I won't (guess I kind of did). Just something to think about while you read on, in a country that has all of that around them, the people here are beautifully peaceful.

Okay, onto the Plain of Jars. They are thes huge stone urns but it's not certain what they were used for. Some theories are they were for food storage, some say they were for keeping the dead but nothing has been found inside any of them to confirm any of the theories. There are three sites for visitation, there are many others but they haven't cleared them of UXOs so they are off limits. They range in size from one metre to three metres in height and weigh between 600 kgs and one tonne. Not what I was expecting, thought they'd look more like jars, but still worth the effort and bus ride to get out there. We also stopped at a distillery where they make Lao Lao, rice whiskey. It was run by this tiny little Lao woman who has been doing it for 16 years. We got to taste some that came right out of the still, we were told it was about 70% proof. Tasted awful but was oddly smooth, just warmed your insides, the funny thing is there was not much for safety inside that distillery shack. Also, I'm back to solo travelling, my friend Michelle has moved onto Vang Vieng, a place that I didn't really want to see while I wanted to spend a bit more time in Luang Prabang. So enjoy the pics and I'll be in touch again later.

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Photos

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UXOs

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They make spoons and bracelets from aluminum found inside the bombs.

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The Lao Lao rice whiskey distillery

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sign about the mines

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farmers working in the field adjacent to a jar site

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abandoned Russian tank

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the turret from the tank, these little kids were playing in it when we arrived.

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a tree grew up inside the jar and split it apart

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the painted bricks showing that you must walk inside the white areas, those are completely clear of UXOs

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Jars

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This was the largest jar of all the sites.

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A view of one site from afar.

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I liked that this jar wasn't above ground.

Comments

[Stephanie]

Good to hear from you
Hi Cheryl - I always look forward to reading new entries on your travel blog as I'm sure everyone else is. Sounds like you are having a fascinating adventure. Could you add a new email to your travel blog list? It is for my boss: [e-mail] I had sent him the link so this afternoon I left him reading about your adventures from the beginning. I think he is living vicariously through you as he finds the history and the places very interesting. I have less than 3 weeks of work left. We're thinking of you. Thanks for the postcard. Take care. Stephanie