Hello all.
Papa Don, I hear that you are getting the printouts of all my emails and reading them...I'm so glad! I didn't have an email address for you, but I was hoping Uncle Bill was sharing...!!!! haha.
I'm currently feeling sore and tired and a little out of it, after a 612km bus ride that took no less than 26hours. And that is NOT a typo. Ridiculous. But there was really no other way....
Last week I set out from Vientiane to a place called Phonsavon, whose main claim to fame is the legendary Plain of Jars which pretty much surrounds the town, from the SW to the NE. They're basically what you would imagine from the name - large stone jars (most of them big enough to hold a person!) scattered across meadows. As of yet, there has been no conclusive evidence as to the age or purpose of these jars, which seem to have been carved from individual boulders. Most people think they are about 2000years old, and possibly used for funerary purposes. Dunno. I thought it was amazing that such a historic site is treated so casually; you can climb all over these things and no one minds. I joined up with two guys (one Israeli, one Belgian) and rented a car to take us to the three main sites, as well as an old Russian tank. That part, not so exciting. But the jars were neat. Some of them have lids, and one had a carving of a human shape on the side of it. Eeery to think of who made them and why. Theres tons of UXO (unexploded ordnance) in the area, left over mainly from a massive bombing campaign by the States. The Jar sites were only cleared about 5 months ago, and our guide pointed out a spot where an unexploded bomb had been resting, 3ft below the surface, directly beneath a tourist footpath. Creepy. Most of the surrounding areas have only been visually cleared, and so you have to stay within a pathway marked by red tiles, so as to avoid being potentially blown to bits. Plenty of rural farmers have lost limbs, or their lives, in this way.
Most people don't bother to come all the way out here to look at rocks....but the scenery on the bus ride out was incredible, and the landscape is completely scarred with bomb craters even now, 30 years later. The bus I'd been travelling on broke down about midway to Phonsavon, and all these little kids from the nearby villages came flooding out to stare....they loved having their pictures taken, so they could look at them on the digital screen after. The 2 hours waiting for the next bus to come through pretty much flew by. Well, kinda. 2 hours is a long time....and then I had to stand the rest of the way to Phonsavon. At least no-one can say I'm being sheltered on this trip!
The next day was another long bus trip to Xam Neua, heading even further NE into Laos...very close to the border with Vietnam. This region of the country was basically the communist (Pathet Laos) headquarters until their takeover in 1975. The reason I wanted to come all the way up here was to see the caves in nearby Vieng Xai where the PL officers hid out during the Indochina War.....in most cases, living in these natural caves for 8 or 9 years. Their families, bodyguards, doctors and secretaries lived there with them. The caves are insane ~ fully equipped with emergency chemical warfare rooms, russian oxygen machines, living areas, meeting chambers, etc. For most of the war, they had no generator, so lamplight only. Would have been terrifying, I think. For me anyways....
Vieng Xai is probably the most beautiful place I've seen so far on this trip. The bluest skies ever, limestone cliffs reaching way up to the clouds, super friendly people (not jaded by tourists yet) and great little ponds scattered throughout this little valley town....I kinda wished I could have stayed longer, but there is literally no reason to. The history of the place, and the caves themselves, are fascinating.
And that brings me pretty much to the bus ride that nearly killed me...I decided to do it all in one go, instead of stopping halfway in Phonsavon. Bad idea. The bus was kinda like a city bus....no reclining seats or anything like that...crammed in, with bags of rice, bags of live roosters (who, btw, crow ALL DAY LONG..i thought that was a MORNING thing...???), and blaring loud syrupy lao pop music ....the whole time. The bus is so crammed full that when they have bathroom stops (read -side of the road stops), people climb out and back in through the windows. All the bags strapped to the roof, making the whole bus ridiculously topheavy - can't be safe on those winding mountain roads. These are the things you try not to think about!! But I made it back to Vientiane in one piece, thanks to my trusty long-lasting Gravol!!
A friend from Vancouver is heading into Vientiane tomorrow afternoon and we're meeting for dinner which is exciting for me. A face from home!!! Tomorrow is also the day I get my passport back, hopefully with some shiny new visas stuck in - Cambodia, Vietnam, and China. If everything worked out ok, I should be leaving Laos next week!!!!! A couple of friends I had been travelling with earlier will be in Phnom Penh around the same time, so we will hopefully be meeting up again.
What are everyones plans for Christmas?? Would love to hear from all of you....Andre thanks again for the new pix! Nice to see what I'm missing back home....
And Mini, Dave, and Zoe (haha) congrats on the new place!! Get some pictures out to me asap, ok? I'm so happy for you guys, and hope that moving Zoe wasn't the minor chaos we thought it'd be....
Opa I hope you are feeling better now, back at home...hospitals are definately no fun. I'm glad to hear you're out of there!!!!
and finally.......I'm just so excited, I have to tell all you who won't even care, my friends Mo and Rob just recently welcomed their 2nd, a girl Kate, to their family....shes so sweet. I'm missing ALL the babies!!! First Sarah, then Kate, and Mel is pregnant.....Michelle, I'm warning you...if you dare have babies before I get back.....
ok, love you all,
xoxo Laura
