Lost Journal Entry: 23rd-26th August 2002: Plain Of Jars. Northern Laos

I’ve decided to put journal entries concerning my ‘lostoverseas: South East Asia 2002/03’ adventures. Today’s is concerned with the mysterious ‘Plain of Jars’ in Laos.
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http://lostoverseas.bravehost.com/laos.htm

23/8/02: Check out, catch a tuk-tuk to the bus station. (For some reason, I can’t remember why, we don’t catch a bus) We start walking south, and try for an hour to thumb a lift. In the end Julian flags a pick-up truck, and we ride on the back to Phu Khun. Really uncomfortable ride, but the views are amazing. I listen to Pink Floyd to switch off. Arrive at a small town at 14:00, have some noodle soup, and lovely pineapple shake. Just in time as it starts to rain heavily.

We somehow manage to miss the bus to Phonasven. A lot of sitting around in the afternoon. We have tea, and then have issues with two guesthouses. In the end we sleep in a room in the town police station.

24/8/02: Get up at 07:30 and find out that there were a couple of prisoners in a cell near bye! They had apparently stolen 3 million kip. Most of the morning is spent hanging around drinking coffee. After some time negotiating we get a local bus to what we think is Phonsovan. Unfortunately we stop mid-way in a small village.

Here we change transportation to an old Russian 4X4 army truck converted to a people carrier. We wait around for ages for another bus to arrive. Then 30 people pile into the truck with us. We leave eventually over the most horrendous dirt track I’ve ever seen. The whole construction of the passenger unit is bending, creaking and shaking. I’m worried that with all the weight of the bags on the roof, the whole thing will collapse on us. After about an hour all the trucks get stuck in the mud.

The next 3 hours are spent waiting around in the cold as the guys use winches to pull the trucks out of the mud. At 23:30 we are off again. It’s a beautiful night. Full moon and mist make for a spectacular evening, even if its annoying to be waiting around. We stop a couple more times as another truck has a puncture and we get stuck in the mud again. It eventually takes 8 hours to cover 20km.
Sitting on the side of the truck when it tips at nearly 45 degress without falling over is quite scary, especially when you see a shear drop down the mountain. We arrive at a proper road. The last part of the journey is very uncomfortable as 30 people are all moving and squashing each other.

25/8/02: This day just morphs from the previous day. I don’t think I got any proper sleep in the last 24 hours. We arrive at the bus station at 06:30. Check into a guest house and have breakfast. Have a sleep for 4 hours, have lunch, then back to bed. At 18:00 catch the sun set behind some really spectacular clouds that produce some amazing colours. One thing to note is the use of bomb casings and shells in the construction stilts for the local buildings. There are also many shells and bombs standing in the guest houses.

26/8/02: Sort out a trip to the Plain of Jars with our guest house. We haggle a deal for site 1, 3 and a Mong village for 30,000 kip each. So at 11:00 we head off to site 1. It says in the lonely planet guide book that a quary was found in Muang Sui with half finished jars. We travelled through Muang Sui on our way from Phu Khua to Phonsavan. Really nice day, a bit overcast but still hot. Site 1 has the largest of the jars (6 tonne).

There are two sections of plains, one higher than the other. Also find the jar with a carved man represented. The site is certainly strange, but not that impressive. The bigger picture or mystery is impressive though. How they got the jars here, what they were used for etc.

The second site is further south, but we miss this one to visit site 3. Apparently there are 26 sites. We have to walk through rice paddy fields to trek to the 3rd site, which is on slight hill. Smaller than the first site, but seems more picturesque. My first reaction to this site was it looked like a little cemetery with grave stones as jars. This is certainly one explanation for these mysteries jars. Tombs!

Climb further up the hill to catch the view. Shame to see bomb craters left by the US. Nothing grows around the area of the crater. The Mong village is nice. Great to see the villagers are still genuine even though tourists come round every day. Jason gets his Poppy Seeds from a local old woman.
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For more information on this amazing mystery termed the Stonehenge of Laos please visit the following sites.

http://laputan.blogspot.com/2003_01_12_laputan_archive.html#87414145
http://www.traveladventures.org/continents/asia/plainofjars.shtml
http://www.uiowa.edu/~bioanth/laoskeep.html
http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t8474.html