Adventures in Phonsavan’s Plain of Jars
Although I am loving Laos, the other classic destinations on the backpacking trail, apart from Luang Prabang, did not interest me much. Tubing and drinking in Vang Vieng, no thanks. The capital of Vientiane, sounds ok but maybe not worth the trip. Phonsavan, though, a less touristed town in northern Laos, piqued my interest. It is home to the Plain of Jars, several ancient sites of mysterious large stone jars that date to 500 B.C. and are theorized to be anything from funeral urns to the wine jugs of giants.
Phonsavan also has the sad honor of being the most bombed site during the Secret War, a devastating piece of history that I embarrassingly didn’t know anything about until I began researching Laos. The US dropped over 270 million cluster bombs on Laos during the Vietnam War, and nearly 80 million undetonated bombs still remain throughout the country. President Obama recently visited Laos to announce his dedication to helping clean these up, and not a moment too soon. Although NGOs have been working to help Lao people safely remove the bombs, there are constant casualties when farmers, villagers, and children lose limbs or lives from these remnants of war.
It seemed like an important and fascinating piece of the countryside to visit, so I endured a grueling 8 hour bus ride through nauseating, winding mountainous roads to get there. Once in Phonsavan, I faced another challenge: figuring out how to take a tour of the jars. It was low season in Laos and there was only one other tourist on my bus, a woman my grandmother’s age who didnt have any interest in talking to me. So the first price I was quoted when getting off the bus was $60.
Um, no.
This is one definite downside of traveling solo: when you want to do tours and you aren’t in a busy place, paying for one on your own can be incredibly prohibitive. $60 was approaching what I would pay for a day tour in pricey Iceland, and that didn’t even include a guide, just a driver. So I headed to another travel agent who quoted me $40 for a shared tour…the only trouble was, he didn’t have anyone else booked on the tour.
I headed to a cafe to grab some food and think. I was only in Phonsavan for two nights, so the next day was my one full day to see the jars. I had come eight hours, so really, I had to see the jars one way or another. I decided to head back to the second travel agent to see if he had managed to find any other tourists. But on my way there, I saw a trio of Westerners in the street.
”Hey, are you guys going to see the Jars?” I boldly inquired.
”Yeah, but the tours are too expensive. So I think we’re going to rent motorbikes. You want to come?” a girl replied.
”Sure, if you guys dont mind me crashing the party!”
But I wasn’t crashing any party, as it turned out. The three were solo travelers who had just met on the bus from Vang Vieng. Motorbike rental plus gas worked out to about $8 each for the day.
And that is how I ended up on a motorbike with a Belarussian named Vitaly in remote northern Laos.
Phonsavan is at a higher altitude than Luang Prabang, so it is a bit more temperate and thus a nice break from the sweltering sun of most of the rest of southeast Asia. Riding around the farmland, it almost felt like a northeastern American fall, with deciduous trees and a swift breeze. Apart from Vitaly, my new travel companions were Alex and Christian, both Germans (always Germans!) We went to sites 1 and 2, which were both refreshingly free of tourists.
NGOs have cleared the paths of UXOs (unexploded ordnance) so it is safe to walk among the sites. Although some people might not see the appeal of taking an eight hour bus ride to see some old stone jars, I am always intrigued by ancient structures with unknown history. Sometimes it is even more fun when you dont know the history and can let your imagination run wild.
