We've decided to get off the road for a couple of nights in Phonsavanh, a small town in Northeastern Lao. Besides breaking up our 28-hour bus ride from Vientiane to Hanoi, Phonsavanh serves at the stopping off point for the Plain of Jars, an archeological site comprising several fields of giant jar-shaped boulders, the origin of which remains a mystery. The jars were worth a visit, but we really must thank the United States Armed Forces for the most remarkable and pervasive aspect of our stopover.
In the lobby of our guest house stands a glass display case holding hundreds of rounds of spent ammunition, army helmets, and three foot long bomb casings. In the surrounding villages one sees houses raised on stilts of bomb shells, fences of discovered casings, and everywhere people - adults and children alike - wearing U.S. Army jackets and fatigues.
The farmland encompassing the Plain of Jars is pock-marked by bomb craters; one can't walk 10 meters without encountering one. There is a toppled Russian tank and scorched earth and memorial sites and destruction.
I've read that Lao is the most bombed country per square inch of land, and my experience today made that statistic seem probable. Unbelievably the potential devastation is not over. MAG (Mine Advisory Group) has posted signs and markers alerting inhabitants of the areas that have and have not been cleared of active land mines and still live bombs.
We've entered the war zone, and encountered a new form of cultural discomfort. I expect it will only get worse.
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3 comments:
After thinking about this post a little, one word came to mind: smug.
I've been extremely fortunate to have been born and raised (1) without a government that demands compulsory military service and (2) within socio-economic conditions which permit me choice to an extent not offered to many around the world.
I'll take any amount of "cultural discomfort" if it means not having to go through what anyone - American G.I.s included - did 35 years ago.
I'll change "U.S. Armed Forces" to "U.S. government" and stand by the content of my post, while apologizing for its rather self-righteous tone.
I found this posting to be an eloquent description of the surroundings. The comment about the discomfort these details may evoke is expected from anyway who grew up "within socio-economic conditions which permit (one) choice to an extent not offered to many around the world." This is not to say, however, that such a person is smug. I would expect these feelings to be natural when one experiences unknown circumstances, but the fact that these youths are willing to explore these areas and be vulnerable to possible discomforts is a testament to their acceptance of humanity's differences.
But that's just my opinion.
Catalano. Write those soup ideas down for our restaurant that we should open. Im reading keep it commin. Leave me a comment jerky! Dont catch a heart attack though!
www.nonschtick.blogspot.com
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