Phonsavan – Bombed to Submission

Phonsavan was one another stop on our Laos trip where we encountered a transportation nightmare. We took a minibus (not a mini bus at all but a mini van) from Luang Prabang because we thought we would get guaranteed AC and more leg room. A double negative is supposed to make a positive, but in this case no way. We ended up with no legroom and zero AC ‘not enough power to climb hills when AC is on’, ummm I think jamming 14 people in a vehicle made for 7 is the reason there is now power when climbing hills.

Our primary reason for going there was to visit the site of an ancient archeological mystery, the Plain of Jars. While we were at COPE, our contact Nam had also explained that the area was the highest concentration of political target bombing during the secret war.

After travelling for 8 hours in the mini bus with our pals Claire and Dale we arrived in Phonsavan to a welcoming party of guesthouse employees trying to rip open the car door like a pack of rabid monkeys. One Japanese guy showed interest and they were all on him – nice having a sacrificial lamb!

One Jar Site Stats Regarding UXO

PHONSAVAN THE NEW CAPITAL

The old Capital of the province,  Xieng Khoung, was bombed into complete submission and totally leveled by the Americans during the secret war. When things settled down, the people of Laos decided to rebuild the capital in a new place. In comes Phonsavan, nothing here existed before 1975 yet everything seems to have aged exponentially in the past 35 years. The buildings lining the main street have a grimy charm about them and the majority of people use old bomb shells to decorate their place of business, it’s like the wild west of Asia…I actually saw a few guys wearing cowboy hats.

JAR SITES

The main jar sites are spread out over three locations in the countryside. Each of them is throughly unique and worth a visit, attired I was skeptical and thought if you see one jar you have seen them all…glad to report I was wrong.

We started with site 2 which is set in a hilly portion of forest overlooking the countryside which surprisingly looked like rural England, minus the rice fields. The jars were dotted all over the place, some in great condition others in terrible condition. Our travel crew got a local guide kfor the day who was super knowledgeable and worth every Kip. He is trained to be a UNESCO guide when the jar sites finally receive UNESCO approval – they cannot be declared an official site due to the UXO that still litters the area. Although the main sites are clear, the surrounding areas are still polluted with the unexploded bombs of yesteryear. Speaking of which, it is quite incredible to see the bomb craters at each of the sites where some jars were no doubt turned to dust by a massive bomb splattering into the earth. In some cases you could literally stand two feet away from a bomb crater that was etched into the earth some forty years ago. Crazy to see hard evidence of a war that apparently never happened…

The next stop was the third jar site where you have to walk through rice fields and by water buffalo with rocket launcher casings for cow bells to get to the jar area. This one was, in my opinion, the coolest one of them all. Set in a forest right next to some rice fields, the jars are concentrated in such a small area but there are slot of them. The way they are laid is the best part, it made for some great photographic opportunities.

Rice field walk to jar site three

BOMBED OUT CAPITAL OF XIENG KHOUNG

After wrapping up site three, we were all getting a little jar’d out Soweto visited the old capital to see the effects of the bombing missions on the city. When we arrived we noticed that people are finally starting to rebuild their homes and lives in the area, a very surreal sight. First stop was the bombed out Buddha which used to sit in a temple and is now exposed to the elements after a direct hit took out the temple. It is a pretty haunting site – a religious icon wasting away, slowly inching towards a decrepit state. One thing our guide pointed out was the face of Buddha, his eyes were shot out by troops in the ultimate actor disrespect towards the Buddhist religion.

Bombed Out Buddha

BACK TO THE JARS

Our last stop was jar site one which is closest to Phonsavan and has the biggest jars of them all, some as tall as five feet. Although interesting, this site is by far the most popular among tourists and is much better travelled than the others, likely due to the fact that no paved road exists to sites two and three. I thought the niftiest part of is site was the marked bomb craters which were everywhere, insane to see what a profound impact the actions of yesterday have on today. There is also a huge limestone cave that was used as a crematorium in ancient days which is a very cool site to see.

Like where's waldo, but with South Africans - our pals Claire and Dale at site 3

WHY DO THE JARS EXIST AND HOW DID THEY GET THERE?

The craziest thing about the jars is the fact that nobody has any idea how they got there or why they exist. Countless archeologists have checked it out and have no idea when, why or who placed them there.

Although it defies science, our guide gave us an interesting explanation as to why the jars exist where they are. According to legend, the jars were made by giants at the first site where the crematorium resides. The giants filled the jars with booze and travelled the countryside, when they decided to have a party they stopped and started drinking, the next day the giants picked up and left all their empties behind.

Giants? Booze? Stone jars? Sounds like a hell of a party and way cooler than any scientific explanation…I hope the next time this piss up goes down I will be around to witness it!

Piles of empties from the giants

Photos! Photos! Photos!

footy! footy! footy!