LAO - Phonsavan (writtine from Vang Vieng, Tuesday 27th February 5.35pm)

It is quite staggering how the legacy of the forotious bombardement that the Americans raged on Lao for a decade is apparent everywhere here, although we know so little about it.
Between 1964 and 1973 over a million tons of bombs fell on Lao, despite the Americans signing the Geneva Treaty that forbade such action against the country.
Their reasoning was 'preventing the spread of Communism through South East Asia' and also to assist the royalists who were battling with revolutionaries in a civil war.
Whatever there reason, the effect was devastating. The cease-fire on Vietnam only went to heighten the onslaught on Lao. They dropped cluster bombs or 'Bombies' one bomb dropped split into 1000s of tennis ball sized bombs filled with ball-barings. Unlike mines that were designed to maim, Bombies were designed to kill. Farms and villages were destroyed, rockets were fired into caves where whole villages were sheltering. Life had to go on hold for a decade while villagers went into hiding, not safe to work their farms.
I could go on. Unexploded Bombies still litter the landscape making farming potentially lethal. The area around Phonasvan is poc-marked with bomb craters and Bombies are still killing children who pick them up thinking they are balls.
Considering they were subject to such violence and suffered such losses, the Lao people seem so kind and gentle. With remarkable resourcefulness, in the circumstances, they have made use of the war debris which remain. Bomb casings have become BBQs, flower pots and hold up bird houses. The villages are full of remnants of the Secret War which, although full of herbs and flowers, are a grim reminder of horrors which we, in the West, know next to nothing about.
The Americans still take no responsibility and any aid they provide Lao is seen as charity.
The Plain of Jars, also scarred by bomb craters, is also worth a look. 2000 years old and with no explanation as to why they are there. It is thought that they are burial urns but no remains have been found. Rather mysterious.

I'm glad I took a couple of days out from the beautiful mountains, caves and rivers, the french cafes and 'special milkshakes' to see a very different side of Lao and one that does better to expose the nature of the country. It makes the place more 3 dimensional somehow.

Having said that I now find myself in Vang Vieng. Backpacker paradise with episodes of 'Friends' on loop and as much tubing, caving and 'mind expansion' as anyone might want. I was going to skip it and go straight to Vietiane but I was hijacked by some Scandinavians. "Actually you are coming with us, you just don't know it yet..." Well the idea of a 13 hour bus ride, when every single one of the hostels I called in the Lonely Planet were full, did not appeal so much so I am here for a couple of nights. Tubing, it would seem, has found me.
With a bit of luck we can also kyak down to Vientiane rather than bus it which would be a plus. The bus journeys here are unlike anything else I have seen. Sick bags are handed out at the beginning of the journey, which my fellow Lao passengers made use of with great gusto throughout as the bus wound its way painfully up and down the mountains. Beautiful, if you don't have your head in a bag. The scenery here is much more craggy, the mountains look like great moss-covered rocks, very much like the mountains seen in those Chinese prints. The heat has increased 10 fold down here so a day pootling down the river tomorrow will be rather nice...