Our mammoth bus journey!
Trip Start
Nov 25, 2004
1
18
169
Trip End
Jan 26, 2005
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Phonsaven, Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
We really wanted to go to the Plain of Jars in Phonsaven which is an area with sites where huge stone jars have been discovered and no-one really knows what they were used for. Rumour has it that an army general used them to make rice wine for his troops but theres loads of different stories flying around...bit like stonehenge really! But anyway we were planning to head here on our way back up North! Now that we had to cross the border to the east of Vientiane there was not much point in us going up north again so we decided to take a hit for the team and get a bus to Phonsaven (Plain of Jars) from Vientiane! The man at the bus station told us it was an 8 hour journey - 12 hours later we arrived there!!! But it was worth it...I have never seen scenery like it! The reason it took so long is that again we were heading high up into the mountains but this time we were literally above the clouds! MAD and we're hoping the photos do it justice! We drove past mountain villages in the truest sense where the air was unbelievably fresh and the only thing stopping our way where chickens, pigs and cows! I had a heart-attack everytime the bus driver nearly squashed them...much to his amusement!
The Plain of Jars themselves were really interesting! If we're both being honest when we got to Site 1, I think we were both abit disappointed probably as we'd travelled such a long way to get there but there wasn't really much there!!! Luckily though Sites 2 & 3 were amazing and set on fantastic landscapes in the middle of no-where. The other shocking thing about this area is that it is the most bombed area in Laos. There are still thousands of unexploded bombs in the area and a guide has to accompany you everywhere. The figures are alot better now but at one time they estimated about 10 deaths a week with 40% of them being children!! Terrible!!! There are bomb craters everywhere as well! Really makes you think how lucky we are!
Anyway...onto more lighthearted stuff! We decided that it would be quite nice to catch the bus back to Vang Vieng that afternoon to have a nice relaxing evening there and then spend Xmas Eve travelling leisurely back to Vientiane (only 3 hours from Vang Vieng!) This was not to be! We got to the bus station nice and early and placed our bags on the bus! Decided to grab some food and about 2:30 headed back to the bus to sit down - our seats had been taken! AAAAAHHH! Paul got on the bus and asked the couple who had sat in our seats if we could have them back! He just got given the bags back! This is where it all went pear-shaped!!! The ticket seller got on the bus and started asking all the Laos people to move which went down REALLY well!!!! Just to make things worse, I then got on the bus, tried to get my rucksack off the bag shelf and consequently dropped a bottle of water on this womens head! WHOOPS! This was when we decided it was probably a good idea to get off the bus, get a refund and travel the next day! Think any of you would have done the same!
As it happened we had a really nice evening and a few beers later we were on track again! The bus journey back was great fun with our renegade bus driver who was determined to make everyone sick! He succeeded much to his amusement! We just felt sorry for his right-hand man who had to give out the sick bags! Great job! We also discovered the meaning of 'riding shotgun' as all the buses are equipped with their own security man adorned with an AK47! Nice!
