One Site of Making Jars and the North Vietnamese HQ

Not far from Phonsavan my brother Chris and I hired Yang on a Sunday to do some site seeing.  The first place we went to was one site where the Lao people made the Jars. They hewed them out of solid rock and then the elephants dragged them to one of the sites in the Plain of Jars. Yang says that despite what is said by some, the Jars were for the storage of food – particularly when it got really hot. This would mean that each Plain of Jars site (and there are many) would have been a thriving little village thousands of years ago.

There are 1200 steps to the top of the Mountain and at the top are the tunnels which were the North Vietnamese HQ. What a spot – it was impenetrable! We walked through the tunnels (take a torch) and then walked on the top of the Mountain along the ridge line. One can see the original trenches and the occasional Bomb Craters plus there is quite a bit of personal Vietnamese equipment around.

A good visit – you need about 4 hours. Remember to have a look at the photos.