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Pick a Jar, any Jar


Destinations > Asia > Lao Peoples Dem Rep > Phonsavan > Travel Blog: An adventure to follow... > Pick a Jar, any Jar


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An adventure to follow...

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Island Bums - Previous Entry
Temples Galore - Next Entry

Pick a Jar, any Jar

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Flag of Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Sunday, Jan 27, 2008  05:00

Entry 65 of 75 | show all | print this entry
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Colourful Travelling
Colourful Travelling

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Bushwaking
Bushwaking

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A town in the middle of nowhere which has pretty much nothing going for it other than the mysterious plain of jars (and good cheap food). After a very long windy road (10 hours) on a cross between a local and VIP bus we arrived in this one street town to plan our visit. A note on VIP buses, you get a bottle of water and a cake which is not included on the local bus!

The jars are large carved rocks in the middle of fields, there are something like 40 sites scattered around the province (3 open to the public) and nobody knows where they came from or their purpose. They are more mysterious than Stonehenge but less enigmatic than the heads on Easter Island. Our guide had a theory that they are made with sandstone, animal skin and sugar cane but this is ridiculous. A geologist who we met later confirmed they are all made from rock and he has been studying the quarries. The other theory our guide proposed is that the jars were used for burial but the fact that they have all different shapes (some with very tiny openings) and there are no bodily remains doesn't make this likely. The only other point of note was the really terrible road that we took to get there 35km in 1.5hrs.

This is one of the regions that was most heavily bombed by the Americans during the dark days of communism vs capitalism, so there are loads of bombs and shrapnel around. Many of the restaurants, guest houses and tourist office use these as objets de decor. We didn't realise how much the country was destroyed during the war with Vietnam, but it's actually quite obvious that the Vietcong would use Laos and their caves to hide in and transport supplies. Not the only reason for the destruction though since it started before Vietnam and ended afterwards.


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Island Bums
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Temples Galore

 
Table of Contents
1 - 20 | 21 - 40 | 41 - 60 | 61 - 75
Religion and History | Nextshow all entries

61.When are we Getting out of Here - Hue, Vietnam Jan 13, 2008 ( This entry has 12 photos 12 )
62.Silence - Savannakhet, Lao Peoples Dem Rep Jan 17, 2008 ( This entry has 10 photos 10 )
63.Pas Maries, que... - Pakse, Lao Peoples Dem Rep Jan 19, 2008 ( This entry has 13 photos 13 )
64.Island Bums - Si Phan Don, Lao Peoples Dem Rep Jan 21, 2008 ( This entry has 13 photos 13 )
65.Pick a Jar, any Jar - Phonsavan, Lao Peoples Dem Rep Jan 27, 2008 ( This entry has 10 photos 10 )
66.Temples Galore - Luang Prabang, Lao Peoples Dem Rep Jan 29, 2008 ( This entry has 11 photos 11 ) ( Comments 1 )
67.Northern Towns - Luang Namtha, Lao Peoples Dem Rep Feb 02, 2008 ( This entry has 25 photos 25 )
68.Peace in the Capital - Vientiane, Lao Peoples Dem Rep Feb 11, 2008 ( This entry has 12 photos 12 )
69.Shock of Cultures - Nakhon Ratchassima, Thailand Feb 14, 2008 ( This entry has 12 photos 12 )
70.London on Steroids - Bangkok, Thailand Feb 26, 2008 ( This entry has 4 photos 4 )
71.Beastly Islands - Ko Phayam, Thailand Mar 03, 2008 ( This entry has 5 photos 5 )
72.Politeville - Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand Mar 06, 2008 ( This entry has 5 photos 5 )
73.Election Fever - Penang, Malaysia Mar 08, 2008 ( This entry has 5 photos 5 )
74.A Greenland - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia Mar 16, 2008 ( This entry has 8 photos 8 )
75.Lost in Europe - Seville, Spain and Canary Islands Apr 01, 2008 ( This entry has 7 photos 7 ) ( Comments 1 )

Religion and History | Nextshow all entries
1 - 20 | 21 - 40 | 41 - 60 | 61 - 75

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Explore Phonsavan, Lao Peoples Dem Rep
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Travel Blogs
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Plain of Jars by benabroad
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How about them jars eh by will
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Forum Discussions
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Overlooked & Underrated by peacefrog
Photos and Videos
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Phonsavan Travel Blogs (93)
Lao Peoples Dem Rep Travel Blogs (1,446)
Phonsavan Forum Discussions (1)
Lao Peoples Dem Rep Forum Discussions (0)
Phonsavan Photos and Videos (1,079)
Lao Peoples Dem Rep Photos (5,000)

 


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