Friday, February 15, 2013
Day 7: Phonsavan - Vientiane
Meals included: 1 breakfast
Activities:
In the morning we transfer out to visit the Plain of Jars, an archaeological site where hundreds of large stone jars are littered all over the plateau. It is said that these jars are over 2000 years old, but there is no reliable way of dating them and archaeologists are still mystified as to their original purpose (opinions vary from burial urns to rice whisky vats). We are then transferred to the airport to catch our flight to Vientiane - the capital of Laos.
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We arrived about 5:00 pm in the provincial capitol of Phonsavan, As we were checking in some other travelers were coming through the doors. Oh my gosh, our sailing friend Maggie Loaney from Sydney, Australia and her American sailing friend, Robert Van Pelt from San Juan Capistrano in California walked through the door. I knew Maggie was in Southeast Asia traveling around and thought it would be fun to meet up, but we had not made any formal arrangements to do so. So this was an unexpected surprise. We were able to get together later in the evening for dinner. Really fun to see them!
One of the reasons we are in Phonsavan is to learn about American involvement here during the Viet Nam war. Before we met up with Maggie and Robert for dinner, we went to the MAG (mines Advisory Group) center, a non-profit organization that is still cleaning up the unexploded ordinance UXO's dropped by Americans during the Vietnam war to disrupt movement of communists and supplies through Lao on the Ho Chi Min trail to Vietnam. Unfortunately for the people of Laos, the Ho Chi Min Trail runs the length of their country and took the brunt of collateral damage.
The American military under the command of Presidents Johnson and Nixon, 1964-1973 secretly and breaking the terms of the Geneva Convention, conducted airstrikes in a neutral country. For 9 years the USA dropped 2 MILLION TONS of cluster bombs on the Ho Chi Min Trail and in the countryside of Laos around the trail, destroying villages, people, and vegetation. The American people and even our Congress were not aware of or to the extent of the devastation we were unleashing in Laos. This is often why this was referred to as the secret war.
Just driving through the jungly mountains of this area should have been a clue that this would have been a futile endeavor, and that this scatter bomb approach was a hit - miss destruction and the bombs and bombies would be an inhumane atrocity.
The 2 MILLION Tons of cluster bombs look like a very large traditional bullet shaped bomb as it is dropped out of plane. As it approaches the ground it is supposed to detonate and violently open spinning the contents of thousands of smaller bombies. The spinning action on the wings of these bombies is supposed to set the fuse to detonate when they strike the ground and explode like grenades sending shrapnel in all directions.
Only 70 percent of the large bombs and smaller bombies actually detonated leaving 30 percent of all that fell not yet detonated. The little bombies look like a grapefruit sized yellow balls. Children are particularly attracted to these objects that have been laying around, caught up in tree branches, buried in muddy fields, lakes, rivers, and rice paddies for some movement to activate them. Peasants (almost everyone) who works. the land are in daily jeopardy.
As an analogy, imagine the Pacific Crest Trail and surrounding cities running the length of California being bombed once every eight minutes for 9 years with 2 million tons of bombs with no defense and we are not at war with the enemy marching through or the country that is fighting them. Fifty years later Californians are still being blown up by unexploded ordinance. This is a very ugly scenario.
Since 1974 over 20,000 Lao men, women, and children have accidentally found these bombs and bombies and have been killed, many more have suffered terrible burn injuries and loss of limbs, eyes, and ears. Farms lands were so damaged and dangerous, sustenance farms have failed and the people often hungry and in poverty. The United States apparently has never fully apologized or helped to clear all of the UXOs from Laos. Worse, knowing both the short and long term damage these cluster bombs cause, we continue to use them whenever we are engaged in air warfare.
Given the injury and continued devastation the bombs and UXO's caused and continue to cause, one would think the Laotians would harbor ill will towards the Americans. Outwardly they are friendly to everyone. Our guide Tui told us that living the Buddhist way is to forgive and forget. The Laotians use and recycle all of the metal they find to make machetes, shovels, hoes, eating utensils and hardware. Craters left by the bombs are used as fishing ponds. They are a kind sweet people that we took terrible advantage of. I am ashamed and saddened here.
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| Carefully digging avoiding bombies |
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| Foreground of Stupa Blown To Bits as Demolition Team Finds Bombies |
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| Family collecting berries outside the safe area |
We visited some temples, one contained a Buddha built in 1442. Since the time it was built, it had been pillaged by the Chinese, damaged when the French were fighting Laos and bombed by the Americans. It still stands.
Russ and I explored a local market, not for tourists. Merchandise here is primarily from China.
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| Juicing Sugar Cane |
Our group went to the Plain of Jars. These are large hollowed out carved jars presumed to be over 2000 years old, although the rock is much older of course. There are some theories about these jars, but none have been conclusively proven. Some of the jars had bone fragments, but before the bones could be carbon dated, they disappeared. How did he jars get here and what did they hold. This area is still dangerous to walk outside the MAG markers.
Excavation might unearth some other evidence, but it is dangerous. The UNESCO World Heritage Site is considering the Plain of Jars as a site, but the UXO have to be cleared. My personal theory is that these stones were here naturally and carved out and used for cremated remains of the indigenous people. Perhaps this will always be mystery.
We boarded a plane and left Phonsavan for Vientiane, the Capitol of Laos late in the afternoon. We will be here for two days before heading to Cambodia.
All is Well with The Worrall Travel R's
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