The Plain of Jars

The journey to Phonsavan started at the bus station, where the driver and his cronies were attempting to squeeze 13 people into the 12 seats of our mini bus. These seats are made for slight Asian frames, not the big bums and wide shoulders of western tourists, so when the man suggested four of us share three seats, there was outrage. After an hour and 15 minutes of debating, during which nothing was achieved, we set off with the four smallest passengers sharing three seats. For once I was grateful not to be one of the slimmest in the group; they were in for an uncomfortable eight hour ride.

Our minibus whizzed us off around the tight bends of the mountains along highways 13 and 7 to Phonsavan. Even sitting in the front seat I was as green as the surrounding countryside and was grateful for the odd landslide blocking our way, allowing me to stretch my legs and recover from my nausea.

Phonsavan is an ugly, dusty town that lines highway 7; the only reason people go there is to see the mysterious Plain of Jars. The countryside in northern Laos is scattered with these huge megaliths and nobody really knows why they are there.

Craved from a single stone over 2,000 years ago, the jars are thought to have been used as funerary urns by an Iron Age civilisation. Some measure up to 2m in height.

We decided to cycle to the main jar site (site 1), along Phonsavan’s dusty roads. It is possible to visit the jar sites as part of a package tour, but after the horrendous journey from Luang Prabang the previous day, neither of us could face another day as in a minibus. The 7km ride took about 45 minutes and entailed a few hills that took my breath away on my 1950’s style one speed bike.

The jars were interesting enough but in my opinion, not worth the 15 hour detour. What was interesting, however, was the history of the area regarding the Vietnam war. Known as the Secret War as it was never mentioned in US army official documentation until years after, Laos was devastated by US bombs; two million tons of ordnance was dropped on Laos between 1964 and 1973, equating to roughly one bomb every 9 minutes for 9 years. The bomb craters are still visible all over the countryside, including several at the Plain of Jars Site 1. I can’t even imagine what that must have been like for the people living here; planes from an enemy you’ve never seen dropping bombs around you because your country happens to border Vietnam. It must have been terrifying.

It’s estimated that 30% of the bombs dropped did not explode as they were dropped to low to detonate or simply malfunctioned; that leaves 80 million unexploded ordnance (known as UXO) littering the Laos countryside, buried in farmers’ fields, hidden under houses. Every month more deaths and injuries occur as UXO are discovered: farmers digging their land, children playing in the forest, people searching for scrap metal. The bombs are still killing people 40 years after the war ended.

Phonsavan is the capital of Xiang Khouang province, one of the most heavily bombed areas of Laos and the most bombed province in the world per capita. Today the bomb shells are everywhere; used by the locals as decoration, building material, foundations for houses, water troughs and fire pits, even the key ring to our guest house door was a bomb!

The UXO has hampered the development of this country by rendering so much land unsafe to use. Farmers can’t grow enough food, roads can’t be built and towns can not expand as the land needed is full of ordnance that could explode at any moment.

We visited the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) in Phonsavan, an organisation dedicated to finding and clearing UXO in order to make more land available for farming and development. We made a small donation and watched one of the documentaries they have showing.

It seems that where ever we travel in this region we are confronted with the devastating consequences of the Vietnam War, even in the innocent bordering countries, Laos and Cambodia. It’s heartbreaking.

Documentaries about the Secret War in Laos (all available on youtube):

Bomb Harvest

Bombies

The Secret War

How To Get To…

Plain of Jars Site 1 by bike: Follow highway 7 out of town (west) until you reach an intersection with traffic lights and a petrol station on the left hand side. Turn left, continue approximately 4km until you see a sign for the site on the right hand side. Bikes can be rented in town for 20,000kip ($2.50/£1.50) or 40,000kip for a mountain bike.

We Stayed At…

Kong Keo, near the minibus station. A shabby bungalow on a quiet backstreet, with a cosy nightly fire in the communal area. 60,000kip ($7.50/£4.50)

The Temples of Angkor

When we first arrived in Siem Reap we didn't have a clue about how much it would cost to go around the temples, we thought we could walk around ourselves, earning us a few sniggers from the locals - the temple complex covers 390 square miles! Fortunately we had the good sense not to go with the first enterprising tuk-tuk driver we encountered, who offered us his services over three days for $80! After a couple of days weighing up our options, we ended up spending our three day temple passes ($40 each) as follows:

Day 1 - Half-day tuk-tuk sun rise trip
As we expected, the sunrise in the middle of monsoon season was not worth the 4.20am wake up call, it was black one minute, grey the next, however it did mean we were among the very first tourists arriving at the temples. We started at Angkor Wat, the most celebrated temple that even features on Cambodia's nation flag. I expected it to be bigger.

Angkor Wat at 7am

The next stop was the ancient walled city Angkor Thom, which once was home to one million people who lived in hutments around the temples. The main temple, Bayon, was much more enchanting than Angkor Wat, with it's crumbling walls and carved faces. 

Bayon, at Angkor Thom.

Carved faces of Bayon.

From Bayon we exited Angkor Thom via the East gate and stopped at two minor temples, Thommanon and Chau Say, and then Ta Keo, which we climbed to the top of in the powerful morning heat.

By 10:30 our tuk-tuk had whizzed us around to Ta Prohm, the 'Tomb Raider' temple. Unlike the other temples, Ta Prohm has not been restored to its former pristine glory, it is overrun with jungle: giant snake-like roots and creepers, and the stones from many of its walls lie scattered in piles on the floor. I loved this temple. It felt like another world, tropical, ancient and wild. The trees burst out from the walls, their roots twisting around door frames. It's unlike anything I've ever seen before. 

The outer wall of Ta Prohm.

Demolished by nature; Ta Prohm.

After a long time exploring Ta Prohm we were pretty exhausted from the heat and our early start. We stumbled through Banteay Kdei temple before flopping into the back of the tuk-tuk and heading back to the hotel for a well deserved nap!

Taking a tuk-tuk on our first day visiting the temples a was great way to familiarise ourselves with the route and the distances before taking to the roads ourselves with bicycles.

[We booked a tuk-tuk through our guest house and paid $12 for the small circuit of the major temples. If you haggle with the drivers sitting around the Old Market in Siem Reap you can get expect to pay $10]

Day 2 - Late afternoon jaunt up the mountain
We used our second day of the temple pass to climb Phnom Bakheng mountain. The temple at the top of the mountain is dubbed 'sunset point'. Fortunately, after our grey-scale sunrise at Angkor Wat I managed to talk Ric out of going there for the sunset, and I'm glad too as it poured it down that evening! An easy 15 minute meandering climb brought us to Phnom Bakheng temple and the stunning 360 degrees view of the temple complex and Siem Reap. 

Angkor Wat is significantly more impressive from afar. View from Phnom Bakheng.

From the temple you can see the perfectly flat, green countryside that surrounds Siem Reap: paddy fields and forest as far as the eye can see.

We arrived at the temple at around 3:30pm and it was deserted, we had the wonderful view to ourselves. It didn't take long, however, for the crowds to arrive, competing for the best spot to watch the sunset. As the temple started filling up we made our way back down the mountain, passing packs of tourists power walking uphill for the much acclaimed sunset. At dusk, when the heavens opened, Ric and I shared a cruel laugh from the safety of our tuk-tuk at the poor fools crammed at the top of the hill.

Phnom Bakheng

Day 3 - Biking to the far out temples
On our third and final day of temples we bit the bullet and hired bikes for the day; at only $2 each it was much cheaper than a tuk-tuk! I was actually (secretly) dreading the bikes as it's so hot and humid here, but Siem Reap is completely flat, and even I was able to cycle around with little difficulty. 

We set off early, before it got too hot, and stopped at a roadside restaurant opposite Angkor Wat for breakfast. We then ambled around Angkor Thom; Baphuon temple with one entire side made out of a stone carved, reclining Buddah; the Terrace of the Leper King and Elephants Terrace. 

Our bikes at the north gate of Angkor Thom.

By the time we got to Preah Khan it was boiling, I was tired, and then I split my pants! So that pretty much signaled the end of my bike ride and I left with the shame of having flashed two dozen Chinese tourists.

Ric carried on and completed the entire temple complex on his bike! He returned three hours later with sun stroke and spent the rest of the evening in bed. 

Prae Roup, the last one Ric visited.

It took about half an hour to cycle to the complex at a leisurely pace, it wasn't a difficult ride. From Siem Reap to Preah Khan, one of the further temples, it takes about an hour non-stop. It took Ric eight hours to cycle around the full outer circuit of temples (starting and finishing in Siem Reap.) It's certainly manageable even for a novice cyclist like me. It was a nice way to experience the temples and we could go at a leisurely pace having already visited the main temples in a tuk-tuk on the first day.