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Plain of Jars, craters & a Russian Tank..

All these long bus journeys... I think this one was close to the worst... we had a small bus which didn't have proper seats - which meant no headrests - more like the seats you have on a bus back home, which are fine for short journeys, but no good for sleeping on or being comfortable! Plus we were sat on the back seat which seemed to emphasise all the bumps big time.. I think I needed to strap down my bra with exyra duck tape or something - I nearly injured myself!

After 8 (joyful) hours, I was very happy to get off the bus in Phonsovan, we settled on the guesthouse opposite the bus station and checked in, booked ourselves on the tour for the next day and then had some much needed food!

The tour group included a Kiwi couple, an Australian guy, English girl, 2 German guys and an American - Zach whom we had previously met in Vieng Xai..as well as us... The Plain of Jars is actually 3 sites which have been cleared of UXO (Unexploded Ordanance) by MAG - which I think is a British group.. but there are still markers down on the ground one site red & one side white - you should keep inside the white lines as the red area has only been visually cleared... (although I think I made a toilet visit to the red zone...not knowingly of course!) The Jars are large stone urns which have been researched by several archaeolgists and presumed to be some kind of burial ritual from many centuries ago..something which is close to the Buddhist burial ceremony which still goes on today in the smaller villages. Interesting and of course very lucky that these have survived this long, including a war where many bombs were dropped all over the area.. there are several craters right next to groups of these jars so perhaps some of them have been destroyed.. After lunch we also got to visit a Russian tank which is still in the area - damaged by enemy fire..I say still in the area because there used to be an American aircraft here too - but the locals have taken it for scrap metal... Several of the guesthouses etc have many of the cases & cluster bomb shells as decorations and ornaments..we all kept our fingers crossed that they were all safe...

We found out that Jan-Erik is in Luang Prabang.. and we're gonna be meeting up with him sooner than expected - hooray! But guess what... thats after another 8 hours on a bus....

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