We got started a little late, but eventually we were on the minibus to the Plain of Jars, site 1. To get an idea of how small Ponsovanh is, my group consisted of the three people who were on the bus with me from Luang Prabang, the three who checked out the guesthouses with me, and then two who I hadn’t met before.
No one is quite sure what the jars are for, but they’re scattered around various sites near Ponsovanh. Site 1 is the biggest, with over 300 jars. Up to several metres wide, it’s thought that they may have been used as tombs, or possibly to store whiskey. Spring, the Korean on the tour with us, said they’ve got similar jars in Korea that are used as tombs/coffins. There was a man made cave at Site 1, so we stopped there, for a few minutes too. Nothing too spectacular.
We visited the Whiskey Village next, where they distill whiskey using rice, and water, and some big buckets. We all got to have a sip of the whiskey, which wasn’t as good as the stuff I had in Luang Prabang.
Site 2 was more jars, and not any more interesting. We seemed to linger for a while, probably so we wouldn’t be finished the tour too soon. Certainly not because staying longer would enhance the experience.
Before Site 3, we stopped for lunch (noodle soup), then walked through a rice paddy to the jars. Site 3 is higher up, so the view was nice. There was some thunder and lightning, but thankfully no rain. I spent most of my time trying to take a picture of the lightning, but didn’t have any luck catching it on the camera. Our last stop was an old rusty Russian tank that had been blown up some years ago. My original plan was going to be heading to Van Vieng after the tour, but I decided I’d head their in the morning, rather than face getting into Van Vieng too late. This would turn out to be a bad decision.
At 7 I headed out to buy a ticket to Van Vieng for early the next morning, and decided to grab some dinner as well. My plan was to head back to the guesthouse and watch a movie on my computer, so less than an hour later, I headed back. Sadly, my plans were thwarted, as someone had stolen my computer. And my bag. And my hard drive. And some clothes, and a bunch of other things that are mostly replaceable, I hope. Everything was locked up in the bag, and I can’t imagine how they’d know I had the computer, so I think some thief just broke into the right room and got a little closer to retirement. Thankfully he didn’t take the other bag, which contained my camera, photos, and a few other things that I’m quite happy to still have.
I headed to reception to see if they could call the police, but they closed at 8pm. The owner of the guesthouse didn’t speak much english, but eventually we agreed that we’d head to the police station in the morning.