Phansavan and the temple of Jars

I had stayed in Luang Prabang for four nights and it was time to move on. Had initially decided to go to Vientinne directly but decided to take a detour to Phansavan and check out the archeological site on the “Plain of Jars”.

Soon as I stepped on the old public bus which should have been commissioned in the beginning of the last centaury I knew it was going to be a great ride. The driver had a bag of old cassettes and the good ‘ol Lao music was soon blasting out of the hotwired stereo.

Went trough some amazing landscapes along the way and finally got to Phansavan which was…like a nowhere town in the middle of nowhere (or the town that god forgot some might say but that title has already been taken by my home town Boras).

Got myself a good hotel and booked myself in for a guided tour for the “plain of jars” and had some good food in the evening.

Following morning a little strange fellow knocked on my door and said it was time to go on tour. Due to there being no tourists what so ever in the area so I had my own guide which was very cool.

Got up to the plains and the first thing I saw was there red and white signs on the ground. When I asked about it I was told that it was the path cleared by the Mine Agency group. I was completely unaware of the secret war that had happened in Laos during the Vietnam War but apparently two million bombs were dropped in Laos by the Americans even though Laos was neutral. America had seen Laos as the gate for communism to enter to Thailand and created a CIA operation that sent in civilian soldiers who then flew small planes and directed the fighter jets of where the Vietnam soldiers who hid in Laos were. Even today up to hundred people die every year from mines and buried explosives and the majority of those are children. Very sad indeed!

The actual plain of jars was also very cool even if there was little information about it. The archeologist believe that the urns were used for ceremonial funerals while the Laos people think it was an old Chinese king who created them to ferment rice wine in celebration of a war victory.

Since the Laos government doesn’t allow excavations there will be another twenty years before we probably know for sure…or even then.

I initially decided to stay in Phansavan for two nights but since there was absolutely nothing to do I decided to jump on a buss the following day to Vang Vieng. Will let you know more as soon as I’ve been here long enough.