Arrived in Phonsavan around mid afternoon to find it really a one horse town. It has two main roads which cross through it to somewhere else.. We've come here as nearby is the Plain of Jars which is a neolithic site where hundreds of stone jars are situated and also it's somewhat close to the Vietnam border.
When I said that Luang Prabang didn't have streetlights, they are actually privileged as Phonsavan doesn't even have one! On our way to the Plain of Jars today the tour guide was telling me the town only got electricity in 2003 so that may explain things. We visited three of the sites where the jars are found. No one knows exactly why these jars were built or how they were used but they are about 2000 years old. They are dotted about the hills in the area and there are a few more sites where there are jars but they are not open to the public as they are riddled we unexploded bombs. Indeed most of the countryside around here has them and there are rumoured to be hundreds of millions of small bombs which are yet to be cleared. This is one place you don't step off the path under any costs anywhere.
It's quite sad really as some people are so poor here that they go into the countryside and dig for the bomb to try and sell the metal and explosives for scrap. Many die trying seemingly. They can sell 1 kilogram of metal for as little as 25 cents. Where we were today you could see many bomb craters where the Americans bombed the countryside repeatedly making it one of the most bombed countries in the world. Not much to do in the town so we're leaving at 6.30 in the morning to go on another 12 hour bus ride to Vinh in Vietnam. More thumbnails ...
Where I stayed:
Nice Guest house
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