Phonsavan
I suppose I was silly to think I may be able to slip through Asia, eat a lot of local food and not get sick. Well, Asia fought back and foiled some of my plans as I was completely out of commision for a day. It did, however, allow me to see the end of the 3 day festival signifying the end of Buddhist lent. The festival involves boat making and then races on the Mekong at night with candles in them (there's a photo of the lanterns at night and of some monks preparing their boat). From here I headed east to Phonsavan to the mysterious Plain of Jars. This is a region that is covered in massive limestone jars randomly decorating the hillside and plain. The origin, purpose and history of the jars is unknown. The best explaination our guide offered was that thwy were used in burials ~2000 years ago since some have found bones and jewellery beneath them. All in all it was really neat to see, and one of the reasons so little is known about them is due to the massive amounts of UXO (unexploded ordinance) which remain from the US bombings. It takes a very long time to attempt to clear the remains of the millions of cluster bombs and people are still dying every year. The photos are of the largest jar weighing in at 6 tonnes and a scenic shot. One of the coolest things was that Phonsavan is at 1200 meters so it actually got cold at night - a first for me in Asia!
posted by Erin @ 6:02 AM
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