Vientiane

We sometimes find that, as we get to the end of a long trip, we wind down - perhaps a bit too much. We found that a bit here in Vientiane. Whilst we still had about a month left of our time away, the next places were either with family or friends, or in the Middle East on the way back, so this felt like the last stop on our main trip.

It may be that our general disaffection with Laos made it worse this time, but we found ourselves feeling rather lacklustre. It is a shame, because of the four places we visited, the capital was probably potentially the most 'real' Laos experience - albeit of course a city one.

The lack of photos - I don't know what happened to the ones I took - doesn't mean we didn't do anything at all, but we only really pootled around, close to the centre. We had planned to take a bus out to the sculpture park, which looked fascinating, but lousy weather put paid to that, and certainly we did spend quite a bit of time dodging the rain here.

We wandered around a few temples, took a look at a monument or two and found a few shops to look in. We also visited the market, but that was a little disappointing, with predominantly lots of western clothes and phone cases.

Aside from that, we sheltered from the rain in a few nice cafes, and had some tasty evening meals at mostly western style restaurants; Pimenton was a decent steakhouse, and there was a perfectly acceptable Japanese place in the same street.

Overall, I suspect that Vientiane merits another visit sometime.

Lovely landscapes, though not much else, in Vang Vieng - but at least we didn't get shot at!

Vang Vieng

Our next destination in Laos was Vang Vieng. We were getting the normal bus this time, with only very slight trepidation after hearing about the one a few weeks ago that was shot at by bandits.

Apparently it was going along the same road we would be using, and they fired about 50 shots into the bus. Thankfully, the driver saved the day by being quick on the uptake, he swerved - which both moved him a little further away and made the passengers fall away from the windows - and got out of there as fast as he could.

Vang Vieng

I am pleased to say that our journey passed with no such excitement - just one poor woman who got terribly travel sick for a long part of the journey. It is apparently a route where locals are more prone to it, because of the winding roads as you pass through the mountainous karst region. It is beautiful scenery, if you're not feeling ill.

As is often the case around here, we weren't quite sure where we would be dropped off. Most information, and man at the bus station we got our tickets from, said it would be about 3km outside of town. When we got off, we weren't sure - and no one seemed to be able to tell us. A tuk tuk driver was very keen to tell us it was some distance away, and wanted to take us and the three girls we were chatting to, for what seemed like quite a lot of money.

Vang Vieng

Thankfully, the girls had an internet connection and were able to look up where we were on their phones. It turned out that the big carpark we were next to was in fact the old airstrip that runs behind both of our respective hotels. We were a five minute walk away. Needless to say, we didn't take the tuk tuk; sadly this was just another example of someone trying to take us for a ride - this time both literally and metaphorically!

Anyhow, Vang Vieng. We nearly didn't bother, as its reputation is the worst kind of backpacker hell. To appeal to the young backpackers that started coming to Laos, Vang Vieng set up the river for tubing (for anyone not familiar, that is going down the river on a large inflated tyre inner tube). They opened numerous pubs along the way, and very soon this was a drink and drug fuelled party town.

Vang Vieng

Not only is this very hedonistic behaviour contrary to the Buddhist way of life, and presumably quite galling to locals who have to get by on so little, it also resulted in numerous accidents, injuries, and indeed deaths.

So even though people were getting a nice little income from this, they did clamp down. You can still go tubing, and there are a couple of pubs you can stop off at, but you are no longer supposed to be allowed back on the water if you are drunk.

Vang Vieng

However, the town is very much a backpacker central, albeit that now the whole scene has calmed down considerably, and many people now spend their time exploring the scenery of the karst mountain area and the numerous caves to be found here.

There are still multiple bars, including one which constantly shows back to back episodes of Friends, and places where you can buy 'happy' drinks and pizzas. But alongside that, we saw posters asking tourists not be disrespectful by walking down the streets in their shorts and bikinis, and one piece of graffiti that was rather more direct and told tourists to go home.

Vang Vieng

I think if you are going to head off exploring, this is still a worthwhile place to visit, because the area is beautiful, but aside from that, there really isn't much here, and the place is still far too overrun with tourists to make it a place to come to really absorb the culture. It is a shame really, as this is really an awful example of tourists ripping the heart out of the places that the visit.

Mind you, some of the locals know how to party too. We were here during some music festival or other, which was taking place late into the evenings on the old airstrip, not nearly far enough away from our room. Not that we'd have minded had it been any good - we'd likely have been joining in - but most of it sounded truly awful.

You'd also find groups of local teens down by the river, with their huge sound systems in the back of their, often equally huge cars, booming out music. This blast of modernity was an interesting contrast to the very rickety looking bridge, which you can hear creaking when traffic passes over it.

Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng

Phonsavanh - Plain of Jars

Jar site 2, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Whilst Phonsavanh is certainly an interesting place, to find out about the terrible bombing that happened here and the great work of the QLA, it isn't really somewhere that you would visit just for itself.

However, in the surrounding countryside, alongside the bomb craters and UXOs, there is an archaeological site that is quite intriguing, and is the reason that most visitors come to this region.

Jar site 2, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

The Plain of Jars covers a huge expanse and is littered with around 2,500 large old stone jars. No-one is entirely sure how old they are - estimates range from 1,500 to 2,500 years old. And no-one is sure what they were put here for.

One theory, is that they were used to store alcohol for a huge feast  celebrate King Khun Chuang's victory over an unruly Chieftain, Chao Angka. Given that some of these jars are significantly taller than me, that would be a lot of alcohol!

Jar site 2, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

A more widely held view, is that the jars were used to store dead bodies while they decomposed, before then cremating them. This theory is supported by the fact that human remains have been found in the areas, a man made cave on one site seems to have been used as a crematorium, and the white quartz stones are believed to be grave markers.

Jar site 2, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

There are numerous jar sites around the region, but most are not open to the public, largely due to the likelihood of getting blown up. The amount if bombing in this region means that there is a very high risk of UXOs.

Those sites that are open have been cleared, which is indicated by the white and red markers. the white markers show that the pathway has been fully cleared, while the red markers indicate that the ground level has been cleared, but there is no guarantee that there isn't something deeper. These areas are safe, but it is strongly recommended that you do not stray from these cleared zones - Laos is not a country where you should decide to explore the countryside.

Jar site 2, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

We took a driver/guide out to the see the jars. It is a bit more expensive than going on your own, or with a big group, but we liked the freedom of it just being us, and the information that the guide was able to give us. We decided to go to the three main jar sites nearby, and to fit in a couple of small extras.

After a stop off at the information centre, which does have some quite interesting background and explanations, we set off to see the jars. Writing this some time after going, I can't recall which of the three sites it was, but there was one where our driver had to negotiate a very muddy track, where people were in the process of using a digger and their vehicles to pull down trees to build a new temple.

Jar site 2, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

The jar sites are intriguing. They are not as visually impressive as somewhere like Easter Island's moai, but it is the kind of place that makes you think about both the people of the past, and how, whilst we have come to learn so much about our history, there are some things that we just can't be sure of.

And not being sure of this, does also make me question some of the accepted wisdom about other aspects of our past. After all, where there are no first hand pictorial or written accounts, much of it is just educated guesswork.

Making spoons, Ban Napia, Phonsavanh

As well as the jar sites, we dropped in at the village on Ban Napia, where the local people used to melt down old bombs to make spoons and other items.

These days they tend to bring in aluminium, but the process of melting it down and casting the items in handmade moulds, is still the same. We watched a lady making them in her garden, while her child and dog played nearby. We bought a couple of the spoons.

Making spoons, Ban Napia, Phonsavanh

Our other stop off was at a garden distillery. We were able to have a look around the shed, to see where the rice was being fermented, and to taste the end product or rice whisky, or as it is know here, lao-lao.

It was certainly strong stuff, but actually not as rough as we had expected it to be. We bought a litre for around 95 pence; we still had a bit left when we visited my sister and her partner - they weren't impressed!

One thing we did find very interesting here, was the opportunity to speak with a few local people about their country. We had noticed a significant number of big fancy cars and very large houses in the area, and had wondered who could afford these things. The general consensus was that these would either be corrupt officials taking bribes, or people who were smuggling goods across the borders and profiteering that way.

Jar site 2, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Certainly a consistent message that we heard, not just here, was that Laos is a very corrupt country, where individuals will often have to pay bribes to get permission to build, or run businesses. Another thing we heard often was a dislike of the amount of influence that the Vietnamese still had in the country. Of course, criticism of the ruling party or its policies is potentially a criminal offence in Laos, so anyone we spoke to would naturally be very careful to avoid doing so.

 

Jar site 3, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

 

Jar site 3, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Jar site 3, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Jar site 3, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Jar site 3, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Jar site 3, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Making lao-lao (rice whisky), Phonsavanh

Making lao-lao (rice whisky), Phonsavanh

Jar site 1, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Jar site 1, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Jar site 1, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Likely crematorium cave, Jar site 1, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Jar site 1, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Jar site 1, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Jar site 1, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Phonsavanh - town and bombies

Craters Restaurant (with old bomb casings), Phonsavanh

Our next place in Laos was Phonsavanh, and having looked at the various options for getting there, we booked onto the VIP bus. This included a pick up from our hotel, to take us out to the bus station. It arrived eventually, but of course they don't send enough out to pick everyone up, so I was sat on the back rail for the journey. At least my legs were inside - the next people to be collected had to cling on the outside. And ours wasn't the most overcrowded one we saw arriving!

Once at the bus station, we saw plenty of buses with names on to various destinations, but none labelled as Phonsavanh. After some confusion, we were ushered over towards a couple of twelve seater mini buses. We waited for a good half an hour before they told us to get on, and then it took them another thirty minutes or so to lash the luggage to the top and cover it with tarpaulins.

Then we waited again, until they decided that, as neither of the two buses was full, they didn't want to take both, only one. So they made the people from the other one get into ours. Which was all well and good, except that there were more people than seats. They squished four people onto the three seats at the back - which would doubtless invalidate their travel insurance in the event of an accident - and two other people didn't get to travel at all.

Map of bombing missions over Lao, Phonsavanh

They then had to change around all of the luggage on top, so by the time we actually left, we were about an hour and a half late. Not what I would call VIP - or even just acceptable - service.

Now I wouldn't mind this kind of thing if we were travelling on the normal buses, but this was another of those cases where they charge you way more that the normal kind of 'costs plus profit' fares, and still are late, overcrowded, and as two of our would-be passengers found, not even guaranteed to travel despite booking a seat. This is the kind of thing that made me unhappy with Laos, in a way that I hadn't found in Myanmar, Thailand or Cambodia.

Anyhow, after the obligatory lengthy stop at a place where they wanted you to spend money on food and drink so that they get a kick back, we made it to Phonsavanh. Our hotel sent a car to collect us, even though it was only just down the road. Of course the idea of this being that then we will use that driver for any trips that we want to do. In fact we did use him, as his prices were no worse than anywhere else. But we'll talk about our trip out in the next post.

Cluster bombs, as dropped in Lao, Phonsavanh

Phonsavanh is a strange little place. This area was the worst hit by the US bombing campaign, with some 580,000 airstrikes, dropping around 1.9 million tonnes of bombs in the region. To put that into context, that is around two thirds of the amount dropped by the allied forces during the whole of WWII.

Even leaving aside the questionable practice of dropping bombs on a country that you are not supposed to be fighting, the really shocking thing is that, apparently, many of the bombs dropping here were completely unnecessary. It is widely reported that many were dropped simply because planned raids on Vietnam were called off, and the bomber crews just jettisoned their payloads here, rather than having to go through a more complex procedure on returning to base.

The original town, like so many around here, was destroyed, so this new town was built in the late 1970s. There is one main street, plus a market up by the old airstrip, and then the rest is largely just residential. The main street itself bears testimony to that terrible bombing campaign. Old bomb casings have been repurposed for practical use and as decorative features, and there are restaurants called Craters and Bombies, although we preferred to eat in Bamboozle.

You will also find the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) Office-UXO Visitor Information Centre and the UXO Survivor Information Centre. We went in to the latter, and found it a really worthwhile visit. It is run by the Quality of Life Association (QLA) which is a local not-for-profit organisation that offers support to people who have survived, or been bereaved, through UXOs (unexploded ordinance).

UXO Survivor Information Centre, Phonsavanh

It had its beginnings in the World Education Laos Group in 2009, but in 2011, a number of Laos nationals, including some who were themselves UXO survivors, obtained funding to set up this organisation, specifically aimed at having Laos people help victims.

They provide a range of assistance. They provide first aid training to local communities, so that they can provide good initial care, in what can sometimes be a number of days before the person can get to a hospital for full treatment. They help victims to obtain suitable prosthetics, and arrange transportation to get the person to the clinic - something that might otherwise prevent them receiving it. They provide psychosocial support, including peer group support, to help the individual through the psychological and social issues that they may face as a result of their injuries.

There is plenty of information about the bombing and those awful little round bombies that were dropped in the cluster bombs and now cause so many injuries and deaths every year. If you visit, do take the time to watch the film upstairs.

The countryside is still littered with the bombies, and accidents happen regularly. Many happen when people are farming their land, and hit one of them, often causing loss of feet and legs. Other victim are children, who pick them up like a ball, and play with them, often leading to the loss of hands, arms and maybe their sight. In the 19 years from 1996 to 2015, there were over 500 deaths from UXO in Laos, with about a quarter of those in this region. Over the same period, there were over twice as many people who survived but were injured, making it terribly difficult for them to farm and sustain themselves.

The items for sale in the shop are mostly made by the women who have lost husbands and sons to the bombies, and so have little other means of making a living for themselves. The QLA arranges for them to be trained in handicrafts, and to receive the materials needed, so that they can make these items for sale here. They receive a fair payment for the items sold, with the rest going to the work of the organisation to support the victims.

They do a lot of really good work here, and they do it on a very low income, so buying a few souvenirs, or making even a small donation, can go a long way to helping the victims.

Luang Prabang - Kuang Si waterfalls and bears

Moon Bears, Bear Rescue Centre, Kuang Si waterfalls, Luang Prabang

While in Luang Prabang, it is worth taking a trip out to the Kuang Si waterfalls. You can do this as part of a group, which is cheaper, but we opted to have more freedom, and go on our own.

We asked a few jumbo drivers for a price, and unsurprisingly found that we got a better price form a driver who was just a little further away from the main part of the peninsula. He took us, waited there while we visited, and brought us back.

Moon Bears, Bear Rescue Centre, Kuang Si waterfalls, Luang Prabang

Once you reach the place, you can visit a butterfly house, but we didn't bother, partly because we had heard that it wasn't that good at looking after them.


What we did visit, was the Bear Rescue Centre. This was set up by an Australian woman, who had heard about the practice of 'milking' bile from the gall bladder of captive bears, and decided to try to rescue them.

They now have numerous rescue centres around SE Asia, of which this is one.

Moon Bears, Bear Rescue Centre, Kuang Si waterfalls, Luang Prabang

The Moon Bears, or Asiatic Bears here certainly look happy and well cared for. It amused us to watch one, who appeared to be diligently supervising the repainting of an empty section of the enclosure.

Once satisfied that it was being done right, he would wander off and amuse himself, but he would check again every so often.

Kuang Si waterfalls, Luang Prabang

Further on, we reached the waterfalls. These aren't the largest or most impressive of falls - in fact, the main drop itself was actually the least impressive part for me.

In my opinion, what makes these worth seeing, is the lower section, where there are multiple pools, with small drops to the next. They look beautiful, and have a lovely pale colour to the water. Of course people do come here to swim, which makes getting a clear photo a bit of an exercise in patience, but never mind.

Kuang Si waterfalls, Luang Prabang

These waterfalls certainly aren't on a par with the wonders of places like Iguazu, but they are an excellent reminder that something doesn't have to be the tallest, widest or any other superlative, to be worth seeing. The Kuang Si falls have their own individual charm, and are well worth the trip out.

Kuang Si waterfalls, Luang Prabang

Kuang Si waterfalls, Luang Prabang

Kuang Si waterfalls, Luang Prabang

Kuang Si waterfalls, Luang Prabang

Kuang Si waterfalls, Luang Prabang

Kuang Si waterfalls, Luang Prabang

Kuang Si waterfalls, Luang Prabang

Kuang Si waterfalls, Luang Prabang