Jars, Jars, Jars

After I left Luang Prabang (sadly), I took the "VIP" bus to Phonsavan. The "VIP" bus was supposed to be express, with air conditioning. They turned off the AC right after we started moving...probably because the bus wouldn't be able to get up the hills with it on. And lots of hills there were. And lots of curves of course. I thought I was going to get sick : ( But I survived, unlike some of the other passengers, who were throwing up left and right! Oh, and there's no toilet on these buses either. So they stop on the road every couple of hours - the guys go to one side of the bus, and the girls to the other, to do our things. I learned later that we have to stay on the road since there may be sleeping bombies in the bushes. Aside from the uncomfortableness though, the bus ride turned out to be great as I was able to make a few travel buddies!!!

Phonsavan is quite a dead city...not much to it. Tourists come here only for the famous (or at least I thought they were) Plain of Jars. As the name suggests, they are wide open fields with large stone jars lying around. No one knows exactly what purpose they served. One theory suggests they were used in burial rights. Although I got totally "jarred-out" towards the end, the sights were interesting and I had a good time. The fields were so beautifully green!

Before leaving the city on a night bus, I visited the MAG (mine advisory group) office. It's a British organization that helps clear a lot of the leftover bombies throughout northern Laos that were dropped by the ever-so-friendly Americans, who still refuse to claim any responsibility. I spent an hour watching a documentary film that was very touching - a lot of villagers are still victims of these sleeping bombies, especially kids and farmers. And the medical facilities available to them are horrific!!! (I think that's why Lonely Planet suggests that you get an immediate evacuation to Thailand if you need any medical treatment in Laos)

My new travel buddy and I took the night bus out of Phonsavan to our next stop - Vang Vieng. Quite an adventure...We arrived at like 2am during a major thunderstorm. All the hostels we wanted to stay at were closed for the night, so we ended up having the tuk tuk driver take us a place he knew. Which was FULL OF BUGS. I even saw a large cockroach in the bathroom (the ones here are huge and look like the fly too). Needless to say, I was stressed out like crazy, and could not sleep that night. I moved to another place across the street the next morning : )

The one thing that everyone does while in Vang Vieng is tubing. Basically, you ride down the river, stopping at the many bars en route. You drink, socialize, get high on something, and jump into the river while there, before moving on to the next bar. Given that I am a good girl, I wasn't really into it at first....but had to give it a go since I was there anyways. Lets just say that I had a lot of fun : ) The scenery was absolutely beautiful.