Giant Jars

Imagine yourself on a hill top overlooking a large rolling plain. It is covered in waving grass and the sporadic pine. The weather is cool which makes you wish you brought your jacket. “Am I really still in Laos,” you ask yourself?

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Phonsavan, the capital of Xieng Khouang province is located on a plain at the top of a 2000m (6500ft) plateau. It is 130kms north of Tha Thom and feels like a different world. Palms are replaced by pines and the people live differently. We came to Phonsavan to attend Vone’s wedding and also to learn and see what another INGO, CRWRC (Christian Reformed World Relief Committee) is doing in the area. After spending two days visiting various field locations we learned that CRWRC is doing many of the same actives that MCC is doing in Tha Thom. We hope to collaborate further in the future.

Today, we find ourselves playing tourist…and there is good reason since there is lots of history in the area! For the past few nights we have seen videos at MAG (Mines Advisory Group) about the war and the bombs that have left Laos and the plain around Phonsavan severely pock-marked. MAG is an international de-mining organization that has worked in Laos for many years to remove tons of UXO (unexploded ordinance). (Read more about the ‘secret war’ in Laos on our blog.)

Picnic Lunch by a Bomb Crater (Site #1)

Jar's in the Forest (Site #2)

Now we are at the historic Plain of Jars. Throughout this region of Laos giant (several ton) boulders were carved out and sculpted into jars. They are now found in clusters at more than 90 archeological sites in Laos. We visited three of these sites and were amazed at the strangeness of the spectacle!

Kaarina and the Biggest Jar (Site #1)

A Jarring Pose with Our Lao Friends (Site #2)

“Why jars,” you may ask? That is a very good question and one that isn’t really answerable. The most official answer, however, is that an ancient civilization carved these jars as giant urns in which they stored the cremated remains of their dead. Other local explanations include: the lost drinking mugs of giants, huge brewing vessels made for a large celebration, and basins to collect monsoon rains, supplying trade caravans with water in the dry season. While walking through the various sites we developed our own theories concerning the jars’ use ranging from giant flowerpots and fish tanks to defensive hideouts used to surprise an invading army. (No one would expect a bunch of soldiers to pop out of massive urns, would they?)

Plain of Jars (Site #1)

Soldier's View from Inside a Jar