Xieng Kuang Province

It might have taken 7 hours to get here but it was so worth it. In actual fact it didn't seem too long - we'd stop for coffee or walk around a village, the scenery beautiful. Our private bus was very comfy, even when at times the road surface was fairly atrocious after the monsoon rains last year had caused massive landslides.

For most the main reason one would come to this province as a tourist is to see the Plain of Jars. They are huge stone jars dated at around 2500 years old, just lying about on the hillsides. It's quite extraordinary. The largest of the three sites has over 300 jars and the largest jar is approx 2.5m. No one really knows why they are there but it's thought they were used for fermenting rice wine for big ceremonies but some human remains have been found under them so its thiught they could have served a burial significance as well.

We visited three sites (sites 1,2 & 3) 10-20km from the main town. There are in actual fact 64 sites but only three areas have been cleared of unexploded ordinance (UXO) dropped on Laos during the Vietnam war so only they can be visited. Even then you need to walk between the MAG (Mines Action Group) markers. The past is all to evident to see as huge craters litter the landscape, right where you walk around the jars. At one of the sites you can see the warfare trenches used. I shall write about the mines and the war separately as this is an entire story in itself and a very serious one. We also visited the old capital of Xieng Kuang. It was mostly destroyed during the war, including the Temple - miraculously the Buddha inside survived only slightly damaged.

We stayed in a charming Auberge - accommodation was in little wood and stone cabins with lovely views over the valley. It's colder at night up here so they'd light fires in the dining room and cosy lounge area and also in your own cabin if you wanted. The first night the lighting went well and we had a roaring little fire but the second night it didn't go so well and despite David's best efforts we had no fire.

We had a great curry in town and the best nan breads I'd ever tasted. We weren't far from the hotel but nevertheless we needed a tuk tuk to get back so David asked the owner if he could get us one as we'd not seen many passing by. He looked up and down the street and then road off on his bicycle down the street. Around 10 minutes later he arrived back followed by a tuk tuk. Now that's what I call service!