guns, bombs, mines and some jars
Well Vang Vieng is behind us now. We caught a bus out yesterday. Thankfully since Umphang I have invested in some motion sickness tablets.. that road was worse than death highway! My shoulder is bruised from banging into the window every three seconds! We saw our first civilian with a gun (well he probably wasnt a civilian but he was out of uniform so it was still weird!) he was carrying a semi automatic rifle casually over his shoulder. Everytime the bus stopped he jumped out for a cigarette. It was disturbing enough that luke and I didnt even smoke! We didnt want to be near the gun so we just sat inside the bus and watching wistfully. Logically I know that he is probably a cop or in the army and logically I know that the chances of him shooting us - or anyone else - are practically non existent but it still makes me really uncomfortable. Whenever he walked out of my sight I would feel all creepy until I could see him again and I couldnt stop looking at the gun.. but at the same time I was worried that it was rude and I would make him angry.. it was difficult!
The whole bus trip was about 6 hours (the gun guy got off after five hours) and we arrived in Phonsavan yesterday afternoon. I am not sure how I feel about the town... the gun guy caught me off guard, and the guesthouse where we are staying is absolutely COVERED in firearms and hardware from the war (bomb casings, grenades, cluster bombs, mines, rifles.. that kind of thing) I think with just the firearms I could cope but the room is also filled with dead, dusty animals, owls and cats and squirrels and stuff like that.. its really not a very pleasant place! The whole town is decorated like that (the war stuff, not the animals) I guess its free metal.. something which is usually well beyond their means.. but its very disturbing.. there are bomb casings holding up houses, being used as fence posts or light poles or steps or letterboxes.. its all very surreal!
I guess my problem is not really with the decoration choices of the townsfolk but with the fact that all this hardware makes the war very real for me. Its awful that even now - almost 40 years later - people are still dying from land mines that were planted in the ground, that people still arent safe walking in their own fields, that children get legs or arms blown off! Even now as we speak (type) there is a company working on unearthing all the unexploded objects in town. They have a special marking system so people know where they can walk and where they cant. Its unbelievable that its still needed you know? But what is more unbelievable is that before today it never even occured to me that people lived like this.. That there would be a town with huge craters in the ground from bombs dropped decades ago and people just walk around them as if its nothing! It makes me kind of ashamed of my upbringing.. I am so sheltered! And just think how bad it is going to be in Vietnam!!!
We went on a tour today to the plain of jars and our tour guide took us to his old village. He was seven years old when the village was bombed. Most of the bomb casings and stuff had been taken away (for decoration but also to be sold in Vientiane where it gets melted down into other things) but there was a TANK still there. no wheels or anything, really just the shell, but after nearly forty years the shell of a tank was sitting 20 metres from his old house (his parents dont live there anymore funnily enough)
ANYWAY. The plain of jars were great. We went to three different sites today and had a look, it was incredible to see but its a bit of a shame that there isnt any real answers about what they are doing there or what they were for.. lots of theories but not much data.. they dont know how old they are or anything like that which was a shame. Apparently there have been people wanting to do some research on them but because of the land mines it makes it a hard place for people to work. All three sites were incredibly peaceful though and the actual jars were great. they were all different sizes and different shapes. some with lids, some without. There are some photos on our site for you to have a look at, its kind of difficult to describe.. We also saw a huge old cave that was supposed to be used as a cremation place (there was even a natural chimney in the roof which was pretty cool), some of the theories about the plain of jars include this cave.. that it was a huge kiln etc etc.
We are catching a bus back to Vientiane tomorrow and will probably spend the night there before heading down south. I am not sure how the internet situation is going to be once we get into the real Laos countryside so if you dont hear from us too often dont worry too much!
xxx
The whole bus trip was about 6 hours (the gun guy got off after five hours) and we arrived in Phonsavan yesterday afternoon. I am not sure how I feel about the town... the gun guy caught me off guard, and the guesthouse where we are staying is absolutely COVERED in firearms and hardware from the war (bomb casings, grenades, cluster bombs, mines, rifles.. that kind of thing) I think with just the firearms I could cope but the room is also filled with dead, dusty animals, owls and cats and squirrels and stuff like that.. its really not a very pleasant place! The whole town is decorated like that (the war stuff, not the animals) I guess its free metal.. something which is usually well beyond their means.. but its very disturbing.. there are bomb casings holding up houses, being used as fence posts or light poles or steps or letterboxes.. its all very surreal!
I guess my problem is not really with the decoration choices of the townsfolk but with the fact that all this hardware makes the war very real for me. Its awful that even now - almost 40 years later - people are still dying from land mines that were planted in the ground, that people still arent safe walking in their own fields, that children get legs or arms blown off! Even now as we speak (type) there is a company working on unearthing all the unexploded objects in town. They have a special marking system so people know where they can walk and where they cant. Its unbelievable that its still needed you know? But what is more unbelievable is that before today it never even occured to me that people lived like this.. That there would be a town with huge craters in the ground from bombs dropped decades ago and people just walk around them as if its nothing! It makes me kind of ashamed of my upbringing.. I am so sheltered! And just think how bad it is going to be in Vietnam!!!
We went on a tour today to the plain of jars and our tour guide took us to his old village. He was seven years old when the village was bombed. Most of the bomb casings and stuff had been taken away (for decoration but also to be sold in Vientiane where it gets melted down into other things) but there was a TANK still there. no wheels or anything, really just the shell, but after nearly forty years the shell of a tank was sitting 20 metres from his old house (his parents dont live there anymore funnily enough)
ANYWAY. The plain of jars were great. We went to three different sites today and had a look, it was incredible to see but its a bit of a shame that there isnt any real answers about what they are doing there or what they were for.. lots of theories but not much data.. they dont know how old they are or anything like that which was a shame. Apparently there have been people wanting to do some research on them but because of the land mines it makes it a hard place for people to work. All three sites were incredibly peaceful though and the actual jars were great. they were all different sizes and different shapes. some with lids, some without. There are some photos on our site for you to have a look at, its kind of difficult to describe.. We also saw a huge old cave that was supposed to be used as a cremation place (there was even a natural chimney in the roof which was pretty cool), some of the theories about the plain of jars include this cave.. that it was a huge kiln etc etc.
We are catching a bus back to Vientiane tomorrow and will probably spend the night there before heading down south. I am not sure how the internet situation is going to be once we get into the real Laos countryside so if you dont hear from us too often dont worry too much!
xxx