25 Days of Laos (Part 10)

This is a journal of our 25-day trip around Laos on a rented Honda FTR that we fondly called Mustafa. It starts with a long bus ride from Hanoi to Laos and ends with a longer bus ride back to Hanoi.

Day 11: Sam Neua to Phonsavan
After spending the night in a hotel which is near a government office and the Sam Neua monument, we left very early for a 164-kilometer drive to Phonsavan. Around 35 kilometers away from Sam Neua, we spotted a beautiful waterfall and decided to have a stopover and take pictures. Tat Saloei, also known as Phonesai, can be spotted from Nam Noen. It's around 100 meters high and has a unique appearance because of the way the flowing water follows the contours of the rocks.


The way to Phonsavan was quite interesting. The kids that we passed didn't hesitate to shout "Hello!" and we spotted tons of free range farm animals moving about. 

The Sam Neua Monument -- This was shot from the entrance of the guest house we were staying at.

A Government Building very near the guest house we stayed in.

When we arrived at our guest house in Phonsavan, we saw the people we shared the tour with in Vieng Xai. With a few rounds of Laos beer and green mangoes, we got to know the two French girls and the Taiwanese guy who explored the Vieng Xai caves with us. After that, we all went to Nisha's Indian Restaurant for dinner.




Day 12: Phonsavan (Plain of Jars)
The next day, we headed to the Plain of Jars with the two French ladies and the Taiwanese guy that we met in Vieng Xai. It took us less than thirty minutes to find the first site. And, when we got there, we paid around 10,000 kip each for the entrance and 2,000 kip for the parking.


From the entrance, we walked down some steps to get to see the Plain of Jars. On the ground, you'll find several square, bi-color signs that will tell you where you're supposed to walk. According to the signs that we saw by the entrance, you're supposed to stay in the white side of the mark to avoid stepping on UXO's.


The sight of the dots of gray jars on the green grass makes the place look beautiful and photogenic. But, what really attracts the tourists to the Plain of Jars isn't just its beauty but the mystery that surrounds it. Why are they there?


People say that these jars are 2,000 years old. But, because no organic material like food or human remains were found in the jars, it was impossible to date them. Madeleine Colani, the French archaeologist who examined these jars in the found 1930's, thought that there was a connection between the stone megaliths near Sam Neua and the Plain of Jars. According to her publication in 1935, she found a bronze, human shaped figure and some beads in some of the jars but the location of these artifacts are currently unknown.

According to a local legend, these jars were created to ferment wine for the celebration of Khun Jeuam's victory against the cruel ruler, Chao Angka. These jars were made from some type of cement, buffalo skin, sand, water and sugar cane and was fired in a nearby cave kiln. Some say that they were used for burying the dead. Others say that these jars were used for holding rice. While I was there, I noticed that the jars were filled with rain water and I thought that they were created to collect and hold rain water for the dry season.

Now, it's used as a bin.

Maybe it used to be an aquarium.

They say that Khun Jeuam drank from this jar. It's the only jar with a lid.

Stay on the white side if you don't want to get blown up.

I thought this hill looked interesting.

The cave that was used a kiln?!

This cave was used to shelter them from bombs.

People always want to leave a mark.

After our walk around the Plain of Jars, we decided that we've had enough jars and headed to Muang Khoun, a once beautiful ancient capital that was destroyed by the Indochina war. There really isn't much to see but the stupa that was mentioned in the Lonely Planet. We saw it from the noodle place where we had lunch. We, however, couldn't find a way to the stupa. So, we ended up visiting a temple on a slope. The view from the slope was beautiful though. And, one a very dirty and worn board in front of the place where we had lunch, we saw a picture of the old capital before the war.

We headed back to Phonsavan and chilled at Crater's which serves Western food. They've got really good sandwiches. And then, we had to get some sleep for another long ride tomorrow.

Craters Bar and Restaurant

Quick Travel Tips:


Restaurants
Craters Bar and Restaurant. This restaurant serves Western dishes as well as some Lao and Thai dishes. You can easily spot it because of the shell cartridges at the entrance. 
Nisha Restaurant. If you're tired of Laos cuisine and if you're craving for some Indian food, this is the place to go.


Accommodations
Kongkeo Guest House. This is a cool guest house to stay in. Not only is it affordable, it's got really nice and clean bungalows and it's got warm and friendly people running it. And, if you're a fan of bombs, bullets and guns, you'll definitely have fun looking at and taking pictures of their unique decoration.


Plain of Jars. The entrance fee for Site 1 is 10,000 kip and the parking ticket is 2,000 kip. In Site 1, they sell some really cool souvenirs. With so much metal from plane and tank wrecks from the war, the locals had this brilliant idea of making spoons and jewelry from them. So, if you're looking for something unique, then get yourself one of these items.



The Journey Continues:

• Part 11
• Part 12
• Part 13
• Part 14 
• Part 15
• Part 16
• Part 17
• Part 18

25 Days of Laos (Part 9)

This is a journal of our 25-day trip around Laos on a rented Honda FTR that we fondly called Mustafa. It starts with a long bus ride from Hanoi to Laos and ends with a longer bus ride back to Hanoi.

Day 10: Vieng Xai to Sam Neua
The day began with a visit to the Vieng Xai caves, a network of caves in limestone mountains which were used as shelter by the Pathet Laos and 23,000 people during the Indochina War in the 1960's.  Hidden in the caves are hospitals, schools, meeting rooms, military barracks, a theater and a radio station. 


During the 1960's, in order to stop the spread of communism, the United States bombed this area in order to get rid of the Pathet Laos. Their original hide out was in the nearby area of Xieng Khouang but after their base had been bombed, they moved their base to the limestone caves of Vieng Xai. After that, Vieng Xai was heavily and regularly bombed by the Americans. More bombs were dropped in that area than any country in Europe during World War II -- Around 2,000,000 bombs were dropped in this very small area. The people of Vieng Xai had to stay in these impenetrable caves and do their farming and gathering in the evening once the bombing has stopped.


Despite the tremendous amount of ordinance that were dropped in this area, the Americans managed to keep this war a secret. And, for some time, even the Laos government kept this secret. It was only around 2 years ago that this place was opened to the public. 


Since we were late for the morning tour, we had to pay for a private tour (around 120,000 kip) along with an entrance fee of 40,000 kip which included an audio guide that was narrated by John Hurt and contained some accounts of people who lived during the war. We were very lucky that four other tourists arrived and we split the fee for the private tour.


The tour included the caves inhabited by the key leaders of the Pathet Laos. These are: Kaysone Phomivhane who was the leader of the Laos People's Revolutionary Party, Nouhak Phoumsavan who was the Minister of Finance during the Second War, Prince Souphannouvong who was the first president of Laos PDR and Khamtay Siphandone who was the supreme army commander of the Secret War. We also got to see the hospital, the school, the theater and the barracks.

A Meeting Room (found in Kaysone's Cave)

Wash Room

Bedroom

A Contraption Used For Pumping Air

Air Holes

Nouhak's House By The Cave

Bomb Crater

Memorial Stupa For Souphanouvong

Hospital Cave

Really Old Medicine Bottles

After the tour, we headed to the restaurant where we had drinks yesterday. This time, they were serving food. Unfortunately, I found some maggots wriggling in my fish laap. After my unsatisfactory lunch, we packed our bags and head to Sam Neua where I finally got to eat my lunch at the Dao Nao Muang Xam Restaurant very near the guest house we stayed at. Not only did I enjoy eating the fried rice that I ordered, I also enjoyed the company of the two French girls that we shared the Vieng Xai tour with. It's quite funny that we ran into them there.

Sam Neua

Quick Travel Tips:
Watch The Most Secret Place On Earth to know more about the Secret War before coming to
Vieng Xai.


Accommodation
The place we stayed at cost us around 80,000 kip and is around one building away from the Dau Nau Muang Xam Restaurant. There, we got our own en suite bathroom, a TV, A/C and a shared terrace.



The Journey Continues:

• Part 9
• Part 10
• Part 11
• Part 12
• Part 13
• Part 14 
• Part 15
• Part 16
• Part 17
• Part 18