Archeological mysteries and U.S. bombs

Our next stop was the mysterious Plain of Jars. Around the town of Phonsavahn there are over 50 sites with very large stone jars, possibly thousands of years old. Archaeologists don't know who made them or what they were used for. Local legend has it that giant men drank whiskey out of them.





But what really defines this region isn't the jars, it's war. The fields are littered with these massive bomb craters:

And before you even see the jars, you are warned not to wander off the path. There are still uncountable numbers of unexploded munitions in the soil all over Laos, especially in this province. Around one particular jar site 127 unexploded ordinances (UXOs) had been removed.


Bombs sit outside of the hotels and restaurants. Villagers use the scrap metal to make spoons, and use shell casings to make planters and all sorts of other creative things. The following picture is from the front of our hotel.


From the Lonely Planet: From 1964 to '73, the USA conducted one of the largest sustained aerial bombardments in history, flying 580,344 missions over Laos and dropping two million tons of bombs.. Around 30% of the bombs dropped on Laos failed to detonate, leaving the country littered with unexploded ordinance (UXO).

That's 2000 lbs of bomb for every man, woman, and child living in the country. And it was done illegally, without the American people or congress knowing. People are still being maimed and killed on a regular basis because the ground is literally littered with bombs ready to explode. They are regularly found in schools, on farmland, and under people's homes. It's hard to imagine just how f*cked up the situation is without seeing firsthand who they were bombing. If you get a chance, try to watch the documentary Bombies.

And history always repeats itself. If Afghanistan is our generations' Vietnam, is rural Pakistan our Laos? Who knows how many bombs are being dropped by pilot-less aircraft. In fifty years when someone's kid blows up while tilling a farm, they'll know who to blame.