Plain of Jars

2008-12-03, Phone Savan, Laos

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We decided to go to the plain of jars to get off the beaten track a little. But after a horrendous 7 hours of bumping and twisting along mountainous Laos roads (it reminded me of the bus journey at the end of the Italian Job without the gold and many more potholes) we realised why most people don't bother going. However, the plain itself is well worth a visit.

No one is sure why the jars are there. The locals say they are man made and were used as containers for Laos Laos (a rice whisky that'll blow your brains out). Archaeologists say they are granite and were used for cremations. Science can be so boring sometimes!

We were shocked by how much this area had been bombed during the Vienam war. Laos is the most bombed country in the world and this was the most bombed province. We had to stick to thin little paths and small areas where they were sure all the unexploded ordanance (UXO) had been cleared. Almost a third of the bombs dropped by the US did not explode and that means that locals still can't use much of the land for farming, keeping one of the poorest countries on earth in poverty.

There wasn't much to Phonsavan itself. But it was nice to be somewhere with so few tourists for a change.