Tag plain of jars
Phonsavan is in the middle of an area know as the Plain of Jars. There are thousands of giant stone jars spread out at a number of sites in the countryside around the city. The area was a base for the Pathet Lao and was heavily bombed by the Americans during the war. As records go, Laos holds one of the saddest ones, of being the most heavily bombed country in the world by capita. Around 30 percent of those bombs failed to explode and a lot of the jar sites are dangerous to visit. There are however three sites … Read the rest
I’m on a low forested hill. Scattered all around me are large stone jars, roughly cylindrical in shape, differing in size but generally a bit bigger than a person. Most are standing straight but some are canted over and few lying flat on the ground. They were carved by some ancient people, supposedly for burying their dead, and have been left here for thousands of years. The jars show their age, they are covered by moss and lichen and many of them have been cracked or broken. I get an Indiana Jones kind of feeling about this place, but then … Read the rest