Bus to Phonsavan
We took an overnight bus from Vientiane to Phonsavan, which was a real adventure. The bus broke down in some way early in the trip, and the driver stopped and a crowd of men gathered around the engine discussing what to do. We started up again, only to stop and have another discussion. Eventually around midnight we met a bus going the other way, and both buses stopped. Some people started getting off, but it wasn't obvious what was going on or what we should do. No one spoke English except another traveler who was equally in the dark. Eventually it became clear that everyone was getting off, so we did too. We stood around in the fog on the side of the road for half an hour or so, when some of the people who had been on our bus started lining up at the other bus. We were doomed and going back to Vientiane. We got on the other bus, but then both buses turned around and each went the way it had come: the broken bus I suppose back to Vientiane, and ours back to Phonsavan, where we were trying to go!
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| Min got a great shot of the aisle seats |
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Someone brought their motorbike on the bus and parked it across the aisle
by Min |
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| The bus stopped for breakfast high in the mountains. It was really chilly there. |
We finally rolled into Phonsavan after fifteen hours on the bus. I was expecting worse, so I was pleasantly surprised.
Phonsavan
The town of Phonsavan has a local market where I bought a jacket and some socks (it was really cold). There were also pigs in portable containers.
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| by Min |
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| by Min |
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| by Min |
The area around the town of Phonsavan is called the Plain of Jars, named after the stone jars found in many sites around the area. The Plain of Jars was also the site of some of the heaviest bombing by the US during the secret war, and much of the area contains 'bombies', tennis ball-sized anti-personnel bombs that are still live. Farmers are killed sometimes while tilling fields, and children often find them and think they are toys, and then are killed when they toss them. During the rainy season they are often uncovered by erosion so there are new ones every year. You can't avoid seeing signs of the bombing everywhere, since people use bomb cases and other pieces as parts of houses, as planters for vegetables, as bells, et cetera.
We visited the main three jar sites, and stopped at a few local businesses.
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| Man making spoons from aluminum. Originally they used aircraft and bomb parts, but these days mostly just scrap aluminum. |
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The spoons are cast in wooden molds
by Min |
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| Peeking at some 'lao lao' brewing. It's slightly sweet, very strong rice wine. |
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| Our driver sampled the lao lao and bought some. I tried it too; it's quite good. I'd drink it over whiskey any day. |
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| The jar sites were cleared of UXO by a group called MAG. These red-and-white marker marks the boundaries of where it's safe to walk. |
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| Min took a picture of this girl and gave a print to the girl's [grandmother?] |
Trekking to see more jars
There are several jar sites that require a trek through the mountains and an overnight stay since there is no road. We stayed overnight in the small village nearby. I was pretty jarred out at this point since there's so little known about their origins; there's no history to go with them.
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| More jars! |
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| These ones have moss. |
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Min found this really cool ant crawling on one jar.
by Min |
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Our guide bought some vegetables for dinner from a woman walking to market from the village near the jar site. There's no road, and it's about a 3-hour walk through the mountains each way.
by Min |
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| Little did I know, the vegetables were the only dish besides rice! Good thing they were tasty. |
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| Where we slept |
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| Min trying the human-powered mill in the village |
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| This kid was always chasing chickens |
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| by Min |
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| This young man played a really cool instrument |
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| I gave him a copy of his photo
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| His father came out and played for us too. |
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| Hmmm. Better stop now before things get out of hand. |
Min's printer turned out to be a great way to brighten strangers' days. Min was always seizing opportunities to give parents impromptu portraits of their kids, and I even did it once. They loved it, and it's definitely a step up from just showing them the LCD screen and then walking away.
After trekking, we stopped at another village known for using bomb casings in their construction.
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| Hiking back out through rice fields. During summer when it's green it must be gorgeous. |
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| Garlic planter out of a bomb casing |
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| Putting up a new roof |
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| Bomb casings as building supports |
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| Fence slats |
We also stopped at another lao lao brewer and tried theirs.
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Lao lao in a repurposed diesel container
by Min |
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Traditional lao lao jar with long straws
by Min |
The guide who took us trekking to see the jars, Some, invited us later to his parents' house for lunch and to see his village. We had to rent a motorbike to get there. I'd never ridden one before so I practiced in the morning; it's not so hard, except that my legs were way too long. When we got to his village, Some showed us fishing spots in the river, and we stopped at the almost-finished temple the villagers were building. His father went to work on it while we were eating lunch. I think everyone took turns volunteering.
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| We rented a motorbike to go to Some's village |
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| On the way we passed this house with bomb casings as fenceposts |
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| Some's mother cooked sticky rice and some really good dishes |
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| I don't know what this was, but it was really good |
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| Some |
Some also took us to Tham Piew, a cave used for shelter during the Secret War. It was bombed by an American plane, killing all 374 people inside. The cave is still blackened inside. I really think it's awful that the US government was killing all these people and contaminating the country with UXO while keeping it a secret from the public. How can you protest a war you don't even know about? It's a small consolation that I didn't experience any animosity due to my American identity while in Laos; my experience was that no one held a grudge.
On the way back to Phonsavan we stopped at a center where they practice traditional weaving.
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| Trying on a headdress |
To save time getting back to Thailand, we took a domestic flight back to Vientiane. Some was kind enough to give us a lift to the airport in Phonsavan (conscripting his friend with another motorbike). The terminal was... quite small.
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| Getting ready to leave |
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Riding to the airport
by Min |
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| This is the whole terminal! There should be more airports like this. No running around trying to find your plane: there's only one plane. |
Back to Bangkok
We had a flight to catch in Bangkok so we went immediately from the airport in Vientiane to the train station to get an overnight train. There's a tiny little train that crosses the Mekong into Thailand, then you switch to the sleeper train for the long haul.
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| About to leave Laos on the train |
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| In Thailand now! |
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Good to know! On the sleeper train to Bangkok.
by Min |
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| The train was pretty comfortable. It even had a dining car. |
From Bangkok we went to Taiwan for Chinese New Year with Min's family. As of this writing, it's now after New Year and we're traveling a little bit within Taiwan.
Next up: Taiwan
