It took us three (3) hours to reach Phonsavan where the Plain of Jars is located.
While traveling towards the place, I realized the sad state of education and living in the provinces. I am surprised to learn that the mortality rate is high and many of the impoverished children just die out of hunger.
We arrived at nightfall and checked in at the hotel. At the hotel I was given a special drink with a mixture of marijuana.
During the following morning, we visited the big jars where Site One among the three sites has the biggest jars. The jars are said to be 2000 years old. While we were visiting the jars, we came to know also about the voluminous mines unearthed destroying many lives and limbs in the vicinity.
Local legend says that on the sixth (6th) century a cruel chieftain named Chao Angka ruled the area as part of Muang Pakan. Sensitive to the plight of Pakan villagers, the Lao-Thai hero Khun Jeuam supposedly came down from Southern China and deposed Angka.
To celebrate his victory, Khun Jeuam had the jars constructed for the fermentation of rice wine. According to this version, the jars were cast from a type of cement that was made from buffalo skin, sand, water and sugar cane, and fired in a nearby cave kiln. A limestone cave on the Plain of Jars that has smoke holes in the top is said to have been this kiln (the Pathet Lao used this same cave as a shelter during the war.)
Thank you Lord for this journey.