M-whY

Finding a tour turned out to be much easier than I expected. Trips usually ran about US$25-30 per car, and travelling alone, I originally thought I might not find anyone to split costs with. But as I walked down the street in the early morning, several tour operators, looking to fill the remaining seats in their four wheel drives, offered to take me with their group for only US$8.

"Hi, you guys are going to see the Plain of Jars? I think I'm joining you guys. I'm Mark," I said to a group of four waiting inside a guesthouse.

"Anna." "Chris." "Sean." "Charlotte." We soon got acquainted with one another.

"Don't take this personally, I don't you mind coming along, but we paid for the entire car. I'm going to go see if I can haggle down the price further now that there's an extra person," said Anna, and she went off to try to renegotiate a price. The driver wouldn't deal though, and after a couple attempts, she gave up. As I occupied the last seat in the vehicle, there was no more reason to delay, and we were soon on our way.

More than a dozen jar collections are scattered throughout the region, but only three sites have been cleared of UXO and are safe to visit. UXO stands for unexploded ordnance, and is an appalling legacy that local people have had to live with the last few decades. Between 1964 and 1973, the US conducted the largest bombardment of a nation in world history, despite being a signatory of the Geneva agreement that forbid any foreign military involvement in Laos. Over two million tons of bombs were dropped, surpassing the tonnage that Germany and Japan, combined, received. This covert operation was so secretive that at the time, even the US Congress had no idea it was going on.

10%-30% of the cluster bombs failed to detonate on impact, leaving the land covered with UXO. The presence of which has impeded the people's ability to use the land. Accidents are common, as mishandling the bombies (as they're called) can cause them to go off. In 1994, the British Mines Advisory Group (MAG) began clearing the area, but progress is slow and at the present rate, it'll take over 100 years to finish. (If anyone ever visits Phonsavanh, there's an informative, touching, video that the proprietors of Nisha restaurant will gladly show on request. It's an hour long, but worth spending the time to see. After seeing footage of people who've lost limbs and loved ones, it really makes you wonder what the US government was up to at the time.)

We arrived at Site 1 and paid the 7000kip (US$1=10000kip) entrance fee. A sign warned people to stay on the white side of the stone markers, as it designates areas that have been definately cleared of UXO. Another sign displayed statistics of the clearance effort. After a couple weeks of the same scenery over and over again, this was definately interesting. Huge jars, as advertised, littered the landscape.

"This doesn't feel like a plain to me," commented Anna. "The land isn't flat enough. I think I'm going to call this the Field of Pots."

Staying on the white side of the marker (most of the time), we explored the Field of Pots. Peering inside the water filled jars (or pots), we were surprised to find some with tadpoles in them.

"Check out this jar, it has a lid on it!"

"Maybe there's a gorilla inside."

"Wonder where the rest of the lids are." Of the 334 jars at Site 1, only one had a lid.

"They're in the Forest of Lids, where you'll find dozens of lids but only one pot."

We took a stroll on a beaten track, passing trench lines and bomb craters. Eventually, it circled back to the parking lot, where our driver was waiting to take us to Site 2.

"They didn't find as many UXO here. Wonder if that's a good sign or a bad sign," noted Charlotte.

We walked up a muddy trail to the top of a small hill.

"And this is the Shady Grove of Urns," proclaimed Chris.

Though the jars (or urns) weren't as large in size or number, it was still worth seeing. We spent a few minutes pondering how this particular tree managed to grow in a jar. Chris, who had a real fascination with bugs, pointed out pill-like caterpillars, furry caterpillars, and a spider eating a fly.

Like Site 1, Site 2 had many jars and few lids. Only two, to be exact. Both were laying on the ground.

"Maybe whoever built these gave up on them because the lids were too heavy to lift," I suggested.

"Yeah, that's what happens when you outsource the jar and lid industry," grinned Anna.

A small shack was where we breaked for lunch. Afterwards, while our driver slept in the car, we went to check out the last of the three sites.

"Are you sure this is the right way?" I asked, as we crossed a bamboo bridge that seemed on the verge of collapsing.

"Pretty sure. Some people we talked to yesterday told us we'd have to go through this rice paddy."

Up a hill, and we were at Site 3, which we dubbed the Hill of Vessels. My guidebook was correct in saying the view from here was the best of the three, but I was more excited to find a jar that was dry enough for me to climb into. Meanwhile, Chris continued his search for more exotic creepy crawlies.

"It's like every jar has its own species! We should write to Lonely Planet and tell them that!"

There was no rush to get back to the car, so again, we took a casual walk around the area. Some buffalo stood in the way, but quickly moved off when they saw us approaching. As they wandered around the red area, I secretly hoped one of the would step on a bomb and blow up. (Never mind that the shrapnel would probably kill us too.) At one point, we found ourselves off the main path, and nervously crossed the few meters back into the safe zone. This foray into the unknown inspired Chris to come up with a business strategy as good as any other in Laos.

"Next time I come, I'm going to bring my own bricks and lay another path. And it'll lead straight to my shop!"

Too bad the language barrier prevented us from conveying this plan to the local people. Or they might've been able to enjoy some commercial success on this enigmatic and blighted land!

Thanks to everyone for their support and comments! Knowing people are reading keeps me motivated to continue the updates!