Today we travel by road to Xieng Khouang about 240 kilometers at speeds ranging from 20 to 35 mph although the road the 13N is a main road it has many challenges. It goes over mountains and through small villages. The pavement is fine in some locations, rough stone and dirt in others. We share the road with large trucks, busses, motorcycles, bicycles, animals and kids. it takes us from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm with about 6 stops for local sites, bathroom breaks and lunch.
Our lunch break is in Phou Khounat the intersection of the 13N and the 7 road. After adjustment to the small town we have a simple lunch of noodles and vegetables. A cute dog wanders in and gets everyone's attention. We stretch our legs walking through the town and going to an organic vegetable market.
Everyone is happy when we reach our hotel the Vansana. Our room is like a small suite with living room balcony as well as bedroom. The hotel has character if not maintenance, like something in a David Lynch movie.
Then into the town of Phonsava and a drink at Craters Bar, a hole in the wall decorated with exploded ordinance from U.S. planes that seems appropriate for where we are.
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| Craters bar |
We visit The Mines Advisory Group office and see a short film on the unexploded ordinance situation in Laos called "Bombies". From 1964 to 1973, the U.S. dropped more than two million tons of ordnance on Laos during 580,000 bombing missions which is equal to equal to a planeload of bombs every 8 minutes, 24-hours a day, for 9 years. It made Laos the most heavily bombed country per capita in history. Over 20,000 people have been killed or injured by UXO in Laos since the bombing ceased. MAG Lao has located and destroyed 6,460 items of UXO, 3,257,638 square meters of land was cleared for agriculture, drainage canals, electricity pylons, water wells, school gardens, roads (to provide access to markets) in 2007and for a project to promote tourism at the historic Plain of Jars from January to June 2008, destroyed 3,537 items of UXO. Their work continues today.
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| Earlier in the day we visited a MAG site |
After dinner our group leader, Pam, gets us the Loa version of a tuck tuck for the trip back to the hotel.
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| Tuck Tuck |
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