This blog is meant to document and share with you, the travels of Sherry and Rohan Providence. It was inspired by our plan of traveling to the countries of Southeast Asia, a longtime dream of Sherry. Enjoy with us!
We arrived in Phonsavan, after a 7 hour mountainous, windy, washed out, and a pothole filled road from Luang Prabang. A couple of times we came close to a collision that caused loud gasps from passengers. Luckily, one cannot drive fast on these roads and you are always on the lookout for vehicles as everyone drives in the middle of the road and takes corners short or sharp, ending up on the other side. I suspect that they drive like this to leave themselves room as they swerve from oncoming traffic allowing them to stay on the road. The scenery was beautiful though we don't have the pictures. Many miles of the small road going through villages that had huts on either side of the road perched on the edge of deep drop-offs.
Phonsavan is a fairly new city of about 50k people, in a province of about 250 thousand people. It was created in the mid-1970s to replace the old provincial city, Muang Phoun, which was littered with undetonated bombs dropped during the Vietnam war resulting in many deaths, especially among farmers and children. Physical evidence of the war can be seen just outside the city in the form of large bomb craters littering the fields and on the Plain of Jars, among other locations. People use the metal from the bombs for all types of items.
Bomb Craters
Pukyo Guest House
We stayed in the beautiful and quiet family ran Pukyo Guest House just outside the city. The accommodation is clean, modern, and very reasonable. The owner (David) provides transportation to and from town once per day in the evening and can arrange all tours with guides for you. It is set up like a home-stay with a large community room where guests are treated as part of the family. We even attended his daughters 2nd birthday party! David is multilingual and very helpful with answering questions arranging tours and just hanging out. We highly recommend this place to anyone.
Bomb Spoon Village
There are also a number of "Bomb Spoon Villages" outside the city, so-called because villagers make a living by re-purposing bomb casings to make spoons, chop-sticks, bracelets, pendants, ornaments, etc.
There are also lots of war artifacts on display in businesses and Information centers throughout the city. Before houses or any buildings can be constructed in areas outside the city, a bomb survey must be done by the city government. All areas cleared of bombs are marked as safe. Of the estimated 30% on undetonated bombs that fell on the province, only about 2% have been cleared. So the danger of being killed or maimed by a bomb is still very high. It is advisable to have a guide on any of your adventures.
We saw some of the most beautiful rice paddies you ever did see. Though dry with no rice, they still are beautiful...the camera cannot do them justice.
Plain of Jars
Marvels in their own right, the Plain of Jars are must see. There are a number of sites in the Phonsavan area that is opened to tours. They are simply referred to by numbers. We visited Sites 1, 2, and 3. The sites are all located on hills and can be traced back to the quarries from which they originate. The reasons for the Jars and their locations are still being debated as archeologists continue to dig for evidence. Local lore has giants drinking whiskey and dropping the cups while having a huge party. The sense of the scientific community is the vessels used to store things or burial type urns.
Jars on Site 1. Between two jars that had covers
The jars were mostly all buried but are now exposed by archeologists digs since the 1930s when the first French archeologist came to the area.
Jars Site 2
Sherry being attacked by a hairy caterpillar
Archeological digging at Site 2
Jars Site 3 has the most concentration of Jars cluster of different sizes and shapes
Tham Piu Cave
The Tham Piu Cave tells one of the saddest stories of the Vietnam war. Located in a village not too far from the Ho Chi Minh trail, the cave was a refuge for villagers during American bombing raids. One such raid targeted the cave as it was thought to be a Vietcong hideout. All 374 civilians hiding in the cave were killed. A US bomb hit it head-on.
The site is still revered by local people who visit regularly to burn incense and pay their respect. The entrance of the cave is marked by the statue seen below.
Water Cave
Directly below the Tham Piew Cave is an underground water cave. During the Vietnam war, locals will use this secret cave to wash themselves of agent orange and other chemicals from bombings. Our guide Tey took us to this cave which, from looking you closeup, you still could not see an opening.
Entrance to the water cave
Tey entering the cave
After some hesitation, we proceeded to enter the cave following our guide. A couple minutes of bending and crawling and we were in a large but dark cave with a river running through it...nice cool, clean, crisp water, with sea-sand like floor.
Crawling into the cave
Roof of cave
Hmong Village
The Hmong are an ethnic minority in Laos and primarily live in the mountains. Though Phonsavan sits on a plateau over one thousand feet above sea level, it is surrounded by mountains. The government, in an effort to help the Hmong people, offered land around the city for them to resettle. These villages still retain their traditional way of living. For instance, houses are built with one door and one window so as to keep out evil spirits.
If there is a death in the family, then another door is created to remove the body from the house. After the burial, that door is then sealed up so the spirit cannot come back into the house.
Like the other villages in the area, the Hmong village that we visited also make good use of the bomb casings left over from war. They make fences, vegetable planters, a pigeon coop, etc.
a kid playing on a bed inside the house
Tey demonstrating the workings of a rat trap
Ho Chi Minh Trail
Our guide Tey took us to a portion of the Ho Chi Minh trail that runs through Laos. According to Tey, the trail through Laos is about 800 kilometers (497 miles) long. The hillsides are littered with bomb craters for miles. Some hills have to vegetation but grass.
Wet Market
Our last official tour of Phonsavan was a stop at the local market. This one was interesting because of its name, the Wet Market. An inquiry about the name reveals that the "wet" in the name refers to vegetables. They are all here...
People in Laos eat more leaves and flowers/blossoms than anywhere else we've been. Lots of weeds in the West are human food here.
Bumpy skin pumpkins
Watercrest paddies...very clean water here
Giant bamboo shoots use in salads or for drying as chips
There is a plant or flower for every ailment. Have kidney stones? Use the flower seen in the pic below.
And of course, there are livestock, crafts, clothing, and other good found at the market like anywhere else.
Piglets
Then there are the vendors with their babies on their back. They are always doing multiple jobs.
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