Friday, April 4, 2014
The road north along National Highway 13 and then east along National Highway 7 to Phonsavan was just stunning. The road weaved itself through the forested mountains and Laos villages. Lots of potholes but we were taking it easy so they did not have a chance to spring up on us. It is hard to describe how nice the scenery and this part of Laos is, but parts of it reminded us of New Zealand. Unfortunately there is a huge amount of haze in the air, so it is hard to capture a nice photo.
We saw a massive forest fire and it was clear that the residents nearby were a bit anxious about its progress. We even saw them watering down their straw rooftops in case the fire spread up the mountain to their village. And although the rain threatened for most of the afternoon, unfortunately for them it never materialized. About halfway along we stopped at a viewpoint restaurant for a lunch and a chance to enjoy where we were
We did not get out and explore the township of Phonsavan as we got in a bit late, and after the long drive we were keen to just wash-up and head for a drink and dinner (Vansana Plain of Jars Hotel). We will do a little exploring tomorrow. Over dinner we chatted with some other hotel guests and got a few good tips. There is a stone-henge like archeological site a few hundred kms to the north-east, which we now plan to visit on Sunday as we make our way to Xam Neua.
Saturday, April 5, 2014
Big thunderstorm overnight. Which made us worry about the condition of roads to the Plain of Jars sites. Turns out that we did not need to worry.
We visited the sites in order, starting at site 1 and finishing at site 3. Site 2 was our favorite. The Jars are quite amazing and a little surreal. The megalithic jars date back to the iron age or around 500 BC to AD 500. During our visits it was raining a little, which made the roads a little slippery but the photos a little better. And today we had clouds in the sky all day, which is a first for a while.
In the afternoon we visited MAG (Mines Advisory Group). These are the folks that work with locals and trained professionals to clear fields of UXO (Unexploded Ordnance). This area of Laos had an extreme amount of bombs dropped, and 30% of these did not explode. The UXO prevents farmers from expanded their fields and in-turn contributes to continued poverty. And of course there is the damage these bombs do when farmers try to sell them for scrap metal or kids play with them as some are the size and shape of tennis balls. It was good to see the work that MAG does. Next door was XiengKhouang Quality of Life Association, dedicated to helping survivors and victims of UXO.
