Day 138 Plain of Jars

We have now left Luang Prabang and reached Phonsavan yesterday after a 6-hour bus ride. After our hostel, which we booked through Booking.com, was closed, we had to look for a new hostel. Our Tuktuk driver, who was supposed to take us from the bus station to our hostel, was very helpful and we quickly found something.

After our last adventure with the bicycle, we decided to try something else. Namely, what everyone here is using. A motorcycle. But since both Bia and I have never ridden a motorcycle before, we had some doubts.

But we were able to easily rent a motorcycle and then went on a slightly remote road to do some exploring. Our motorcycle was an automatic scooter and it was very easy to ride.

So we felt ready to ride a longer distance today and brave the traffic. Fortunately, the traffic here in Phonsavan was not really bad. Today we wanted to take a trip to an archaeological site. That was also the reason why we decided to stop here. The excavation site showed huge ancient stone jars that were scattered around the area.

The trip to the first excavation site went absolutely smoothly and we safely reached our destination. The excavation site was not big, but definitely worth seeing. The large stone jars were impressive. In addition to the stone jars, there were also huge craters in the ground, bomb holes from the "Secret War".

We learned that we should never leave the road or paths in this area, as there are still hundreds of unexploded bombs from the war between the United States and Vietnam somewhere, and people die each year, mostly children who accidentally step on one.

After the first excavation site, we headed to a second, smaller one. The second excavation site was much smaller and not touristy at all. So we were all alone here.

After this excavation site, we wanted to visit a waterfall nearby. But then it happened. On the muddy road, the rear wheel slipped in a mud hole and we fell directly into the mud hole. Since we were not driving fast, nothing happened to us or the motorcycle. We were just quite dirty on one side. At that moment, a villager passed by us. She tried not to laugh, but it was difficult for her. And I can't blame her for that. Two tourists lying in a mud hole, I think anyone would laugh. I won't say at this point who of us two was driving. =)

We could continue riding. But when we arrived at the waterfall, we had to realize that it was dry and no water was cascading down. So our trip here and the fall were pretty much in vain. But we didn't let that spoil our good mood. After all, we had fun. So we rode back on the muddy road to the main road where we headed to the third excavation site. Upon arrival, we had to realize that an entrance fee had to be paid here again. Since we had already seen 2 excavation sites and didn't expect anything different here, we rode back to Phonsavan to our hostel. Along the way, we stopped at a roadside stand to buy a pineapple. However, they only sold them in packs of 4. So we ended up buying 4, for less than $1.

When we returned the motorcycle, the rental company didn't ask any questions, which relieved us.

We also discovered a large fruit and vegetable market that we wanted to take a closer look at. It was very exciting to see what was available to buy. We also found something to eat, so we had our dinner once again at a market.