Today we are off to see the reason for our long, bumpy ride yesterday, we are visiting the Plain of Jars. The is a megalithic archaeological site that stretches across a large part of the central plain of the Xiangkhoang Plateau. Most of the jars are carved from stone but a few pottery jars have been found. There are about 90 jar sites with some having a large cluster and the smallest having only a single jar.
We started the
visit to Site 1 with a tour of their small exhibition. There was some very interesting information
about the impact of the Vietnam War on Laos and its impact on this site. Laos was a neutral country in the war but
suffered terrible collateral damage as part of the “Secret War”.
During the
Vietnam War, the Ho Chi Min trail, carrying supplies from North to South
Vietnam, ran through northeastern Laos.
And many US bombers were stationed in Thailand. Consequently, due to having the Ho Chi Min
trail bombed routinely and bombers dropping their un-released bombs on their
return flight to Thailand, Laos was massively bombed. Xiangkhoang province was the second most
bombed province in Laos.
This map from the exhibit showed the extent of the bombing in Laos. It looks tragic.
Cluster bombs contained hundreds of individual bomblets or bombies. They are about the size of tennis balls. Over 270 million bombies were dropped on Laos. About 30% of those didn’t detonate, meaning there are about 80 million live undetonated bombies still scattered around Laos. As much as 25% of the villages in Laos are still contaminated with the unexploded ordnances (UXOs), contributing to the cycle of poverty in these areas as they are dangerous to farm. Some areas have finally been decontaminated but in other areas there are still occasional detonations with injuries and deaths.
The first jar site we visited had a lot of bomb craters.
Site 1, our first stop, has over 300 jars. The jars are carved from stone and range from 1 to 3 meters tall. Many were broken as the site was bombed during the Vietnam War. Scientists don’t know their use but it is believed they were related to funerary practices.
Only one has any decorations…a man with hands raised.
There was also
a cave that served as a large kiln where it is believed that jars of other
material, such as clay, dung and such were baked.
A bee hive near the kiln cave.
Other jars…a topiary
and trash receptacles made out of recycled rubber tires.
We then drove to Site 2. It was a very different site. While Site 1 was a nearly treeless flat area Site 2 was a short climb up a hill into a forested area. Very different feel (and much cooler).
There were several discs as the site. Some might have been caps to the jars and/or the might have covered burials.
Great views from the top of the hill.
*************************************
More Plain of Jars
*************************************
After some
lunch we headed out to the Village of War Spoons. In recent years locals have started
scavenging for aluminum from bombs, bombies, and downed planes and using them
to make spoons for sale. The industry
has taken off and has helped transform the lives of people in few of these
villages. We stopped at two aluminum
smiths to see the operations.
The first
didn’t have his operation up and going but he did explain (through our guide)
the process. He melted the scrap pieces
in the furnace using a long-handled ladle.
The liquid aluminum would then be poured into the molds and the pieces
formed.
His sign, made of the shells of bombs.
And a barbeque made of the shell of a bomb.
He had a display of some of the original materials used (war materials).
And he had a big box full of various touristy type pieces. We all had a good time digging the box for some goodies.
He also had made a replica of a bombie.
We then headed to a second home where they had their fires going. The ovens are built of bricks and then covered with soil. A fire is kept burning through a hole in one side. In this oven the scrap pieces were melting in a clay bowl inside of the oven.
The smith had six molds going and he was making large quantities of spoons.
*****************************************
Video of the smith making spoons
*****************************************
He had a large order for 4,000 spoons per month. He could make about 900 spoons a day but could only work 10 days a month as the other days were spent gathering wood, finishing the spoons (honing off any rough edges and such), getting the scrap materials and doing other things that needed to be done to make his products. He only got about 20¢ per spoon so his 4,000 spoon order for the month would yield $800. Which is pretty good for that area.
The molds have to be remade each day. The molds are made by pressing ash into a box, placing the item to be made on top of the ash, adding a second, open box and filling this box with compressed ash. A lid is then added, the two pieces pressed together and then a string or wire run between the two molds to split the halves apart.
He also had a big tray of other items so we did some more digging and bought some more items. Maybe Christmas gifts. We all felt that it was sort of bittersweet that they had taken the trash of a devastating war and were making works of art and a decent living.
One of the homes.
Mary got
dropped off at the hotel and the rest continued on for a visit at a nearby Mulberry Organic Silk Farm, part of a program to support women. The farm uses three types of silk worms to produce their silk. The traditional Lao worms produce about 300 meters of yellow or dull white silk filament. The Thai hybrid (genetically enhanced) produces 700 meters of silk filament. And the Chinese/Japanese hybrid is the most susceptible to diseases and the hardest to care for. However, it produces the strongest and highest quality, producing 1,000 meters of silk filament. They use natural dyes in their processing.
The mulberries.
The worms and cocoons.
Harvesting the silk from the cocoons.
Spinning the yarn.
Video of the machine spinning yarn
********************************************
Weaving.
A finished product.
Dinner was at
the hotel again (the hotel is well separated from anything else so there was
nothing within walking distance). It was
a pretty basic meal.
Previous
Next
No comments:
Post a Comment