From Veng Viang B and I took a minibus to a town call
Phonsavan. Near this bustling town there are many sites filled with large stone jars. For B, coming back to Laos and enduring another Asian cycle trip hinged on this side trip. This area of Laos is one of the many areas that received heavy bombing during the Vietnam war and many many bombs are still around and unexploded today. We had read about this and felt lucky that we arrived in town with enough time to visit the survivors center and the
MAG center. Seeing this stuff up close makes wikipedia pale in comparison. In town and especially in small villages the evidence of bombing is striking. Old bombs are used for just about anything you can imagine...house stilts, planters, air-compressor tanks, roasters, etc., etc.. In some poorer areas there is also a scrap metal industry that pays people to return old bombs for the metal. If you think this is a bad idea, you're right. I won't repeat what I've learned...some good stuff
here.
The plain of jars were a definite hit with us and our new French buddies, Simon and Chloe. We got a driver for the day and wandered around the country side and villages looking at the jars, doing shots of rice whiskey, playing Laos bocci, drinking beer, looking at more jars, and doing some regular whiskey shots. OK, so Simon and I walked away quite tipsy from this day of archaeology but we had hit it off with our driver and he made sure to take care of us "Laos style"...being culturally sensitive how could we say no!
To meet back up with Peter and Monica we used the Star Trek teleporter to get to Vientiane.
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