Excerpt: During a second Sam Neua loop, I visited Suan Hintang with his mysterious standing stones and called again at a jars site near Phonsavan. This report depicts my stop-over at these two places.
Northeast Laos – Sam Nuea loop
Part 4 – Hintang and the Jars
First part – Luang Prabang and mountain roads:
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/35731-Northeast-Laos-1.-Luang-Prabang-and-Mountain-Roads
Second part - Sam Nuea and a winding drive back:
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/showthread.php/36105-Northeast-Laos-2-Sam-Nuea-and-a-Winding-Drive-Back?p=277117#post277117
Third part - Epilogue
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/showthread.php/36627-Northeast-Laos-3-Epilogue-(Sam-Nuea-Phonsavan
My other trip reports about Laos (see note 9)
1. The Hintang menhirs
While climbing the dusty road toward Suan Hintang, I remembered the French archaeologist Madeleine Colani and her book “ Mégalithes du Haut Laos, Hua Pan – Tran Ninh” (The Megalith of Upper Lao), published in 1935 [1]. Her attempt to pierce the standing stones and enigmatic jars' mysteries still remains unique. Wartimes and the resulting unexploded ordnance's spreading have kept the region off limits for serious scholars, concealing the secrets and adding thrill to a visit.
In “Huay Na Tok”, I had exchanged Route 6 pavement for this dirt road, practicable on my bike only under dry skies. It was my second attempt to reach this site, as slippery mud had hindered my visit last November.
The access to the archaeological compound is a relatively new road, as described by Christopher Kremmer in “Stalking the Elephant Kings” [2]:
"... Sousath turned off route Six and found traces of the Americans. The road itself, wider than Route Six, had been pushed through this remote district of Hua Muong, about 70 km from Sam Neua, only two years earlier by the US government. Poppies grew prolifically in the dark-brown earth of these hills, and the local Hmong people saw opium as an essential commodity, both as a medicine and as a trade staple. The principle of the American project was the same as at Palavek - open up the area nearby markets and provide alternative crops so the Hmongs' need to grow opium would diminish."
Several month after my visit, I am still puzzled about the disregard for this archaeological park. I wonder if I really called at the right place, as I had apparently reached an abandoned site. Other documents, however, also confirm Hintang's stone garden crumbling.
“A recent survey found that approximately one-third of the archaeological site is in a state of disrepair. Natural elements, including wind and water, have eroded the stones as well as the sites surrounding them. Further, man-made threats, including looting, uncontrolled tourism, and some road development, have placed the landscape at risk. Fighting, including the Vietnam War (known locally as the Second Indochina War) during the 1960s, left the area damaged. Unexploded ordnances remain in the area and not only threaten the safety of local inhabitants and visitors, but also hinder conservation efforts.” [3]
At the site, a decrepit “welcome panel” provides faded information, as an unfinished tourist center's ruin only accommodates local ghosts.
Overcoming my surprise, but saddened by these exceptional vestiges' deterioration, I sat down between the menhirs and tried to soak up the place's essence.
In addition to standing megaliths' rows, round disks cover underground chambers, probably used for burials. These artifacts predate Xieng Kouang province's jars and might date back a couple of centenaries before our era, to the bronze age.
The place I had reached might only be the departure of a trail leading to many more clusters of standing stones. Nevertheless, with the quantity of UXO still punctuating the Hua Phan province, I am reluctant to follow paths without the proper MAG [4] signalization, and I failed to spot such secured tracks in the neighborhood.
I left Suan Hintang with a mixed feeling: the joy of an enriching visit to a mysterious site, far away from tourist trails, and the somber memory of an human history's abandoned milestone.
Houa Phan province's remoteness, the access difficulty to this archaeological site, a lack of interest for old stones and other development priorities for Laos' tourism explain the situation.
It is anyway worth to visit this place when traveling in the region. Additional information and a local guide's help will be useful for a hike along the trail, and people spending enough time on the compound might be grated with the stones' fabulous glittering in the late afternoon light.
The next days I rambled around Sam Neua before driving down to Phonsavan in Xieng Khouang province (see my other report: https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/showthread.php/36627-Northeast-Laos-3-Epilogue-(Sam-Nuea-Phonsavan).
2. The broken jars
“The Plaines de Jarres, as the French named it, is a beautiful plateau forty miles wide, lying at an altitude of more than three thousand feet … The great stone jars which gave the plain its name are thought to be the funeral urns of another culture, although archaeologist cannot agree which one. … And extraordinarily, despite the hail of bombs unleashed upon the plain, no jar was ever damaged throughout the war.”[5]
I had accepted this statement from the book: “The Ravens”, Lao's secret war's bible, without second thoughts; even referring to it in my former trip report covering the Plain of Jars (see: https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/showthread.php/33573-An-Easy-Road-to-Laos-3-Plain-of-Jars).
Later on, I stumbled upon other writings, less incline to confirm the miraculous preservation the the jars' historic sites.
In “One Foot in Laos”, Dervla Murphy writes:
“ From neolithic times to the beginning of the twentieth century Xieng Khouang's jars remained untouched; a powerful taboo, as mysterious as the jars themselves, protected them from the curious and the greedy. … with the main concentration at Ban Ang, where almost all were bombed to bits.”[6]
Christopher Kremmer raises a similar point In “Bamboo Palace” [6]:
"I'd read that all the jars had miraculously survived wartime carpet bombing, despite the fact that Phatet Lao guerillas had sometimes taken shelter inside them. Yet as we approached, several larg bomb craters came into view with shattered jar fragments dug into their rims like broken teeth"[7]
Back again to Xieng Khouang province, I decided to find out by myself and to pay another visit to a jars site. My first stop was at MAG [4], the organization responsible for cleaning the unexploded ordnances in the region. They confirmed that many jars have been destroyed during the war, but precise statistics were unavailable. At Phonsavan's tourist center the answer was similar, giving me the chilling evidence that no miracle had preserved the historic places.
My itinerary to the jars site took me through Mouang Khoune, the totally flattened Phuan's kingdom old capital; a destruction often called a “cultural vandalism”. On the road back, I spotted numerous large bomb craters used as ponds, and it became more and more obvious that the carpet bombing must also have damaged the megaliths.
At the “Number one Jars Site” entrance, a signboard provides information for tourists and highlights the destructions due to the wars. I had probably overseen this text during my first trip.
After a short hike up the hill, the panorama opens toward an amazing field with hundreds of majestic stone amphoras. Even for a second visit, it is breathtaking, particularly when a dark sky and heavy clouds add drama to the scene.
This is also the place with the first scars, a crater lined with two fragmented jars and the indubitable confirmation of the secret war's damages.
Bombings and artillery rounds are not the only degradations' culprits. After two thousand years, time's erosion has taken his toll, helped by meteorology and human activities like farming, building, looting by Haw bandits and, recently, tourism.
However, Plain of Jars' recognition as a major cultural heritage, should, in the future, have positive conservation and management effects (see UNESCO manual conservation manual [8]).
From the hill's top, a panoramic view shows a landscape punctuated by bomb craters. The site itself is cut by several trench lines, testimonial of fierce battles. As for the large natural limestone cave, described by Madeleine Colani as a probable crematorium, it was converted to a Pathet Lao shelter during the war, and also heavily targeted.
Despite the damages, particularly the avoidable ones, it is worth to visit these unique ancient cultures' testimonials. The jars keep some of their mysteries but they are also unique manifestation of otherwise long time forgotten civilization.
Back to Phonsavan, I called it a day and patronized my usual hangout: The „Craters Bar“!
It will take many years before the „explosive province“ loses its image as a battlefield and before the „secret war“ becomes a „forgotten war“ for everybody. The original jars, nevertheless, are impossible to rebuild. Lets hope that the remaining ones are preserved, as testimonials, for some other thousand years.
--------------------------------------------------------
[1] Madeleine Colani, was a French female archaeologist, known for her research in Vietnam and North Laos. In 1935 she published (in French) “ Mégalithes du Haut Laos, Hua Pan – Tran Ninh” (The Megalith of Upper Lao).
[2] Stalking the Elephant Kings
In Search of Laos
Christopher Kremmer
Allen & Unwin, 1997
p.175
[3] http://www.wmf.org/project/hintang-archaeological-landscape
[4] http://www.maginternational.org/laopdr
[5] The Ravens – Pilots of the Secret War of Laos
Christopher Robbins
Asia Books, 2000 – Batam Press 1988
ISBN 978-974-8303-41-3
p. 170
[6] One foot in Laos
Dervla Murphy
Flamingo, London 2000
[7]Bamboo Palace
Christopher Kremmer
Silkworm Books, 2003
[8] Pdf document: Cultural Heritage Specialist Guides Training and Certification Programme
UNESCO World Heritage Sites, UNESCO Bangkok
Draft version ‐ May 2009 Copyright © 2009
Comprehensive pictures location:
https://picasaweb.google.com/111845057494533452431/LaosNortheastEpilogue#
[9] References to my other Laos trip reports. All suitable for road bikes and “solo” driving:
North-Central Laos:
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/33280-An-Easy-Road-to-Laos-1-Crosing-the-border
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/33379-An-Easy-Road-to-Laos-2-The-Road-to-Luang-Prabang
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/33573-An-Easy-Road-to-Laos-3-Plain-of-Jars
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/33925-An-Easy-Road-to-Laos-4.-Back-to-Nong-Khai
South Laos:
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/34187-South-Laos-1-Ferry-Tales?p=264916#poststop
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/35164-South-Laos-2-Around-the-Bolevan
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/35381-South-Laos-3-Central-Laos
North-West Laos:
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/35288-A-Short-Loop-to-Norwest-Laos
If you appreciate GT-Rider website, “like” the page on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/the.gtrider
The complete trip report: Northeast Laos – Sam Nuea loop
Part 1 – Luang Prabang and mountain roads
11 From Nan to Oudomxai…
12 Royal Luang Prabang
13 Mountain roads to Sam Nuea
Part 2 – Sam Nuea and a winding drive back
21 Sam Nuea and Vieng Xai
22 Winding roads to Nong Kiew
23 Luang Namtha and back home
Part 3 – Epilogue
31 Introduction – On the loop again!
32 The northern renovated links
33 Nong Khiew to Sam Nuea, a silvester ballade
34 East of Sam Nuea
35 Strategic Route 6 and Phonsavan
36 Ruins of an old Kingdom
37 Back to Luang Prabang
Part 4 – Archaeological sites
41 The Hin Tang menhirs
42 The broken jars
Northeast Laos – Sam Nuea loop
Part 4 – Hintang and the Jars
First part – Luang Prabang and mountain roads:
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/35731-Northeast-Laos-1.-Luang-Prabang-and-Mountain-Roads
Second part - Sam Nuea and a winding drive back:
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/showthread.php/36105-Northeast-Laos-2-Sam-Nuea-and-a-Winding-Drive-Back?p=277117#post277117
Third part - Epilogue
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/showthread.php/36627-Northeast-Laos-3-Epilogue-(Sam-Nuea-Phonsavan
My other trip reports about Laos (see note 9)
1. The Hintang menhirs
While climbing the dusty road toward Suan Hintang, I remembered the French archaeologist Madeleine Colani and her book “ Mégalithes du Haut Laos, Hua Pan – Tran Ninh” (The Megalith of Upper Lao), published in 1935 [1]. Her attempt to pierce the standing stones and enigmatic jars' mysteries still remains unique. Wartimes and the resulting unexploded ordnance's spreading have kept the region off limits for serious scholars, concealing the secrets and adding thrill to a visit.
In “Huay Na Tok”, I had exchanged Route 6 pavement for this dirt road, practicable on my bike only under dry skies. It was my second attempt to reach this site, as slippery mud had hindered my visit last November.
The access to the archaeological compound is a relatively new road, as described by Christopher Kremmer in “Stalking the Elephant Kings” [2]:
"... Sousath turned off route Six and found traces of the Americans. The road itself, wider than Route Six, had been pushed through this remote district of Hua Muong, about 70 km from Sam Neua, only two years earlier by the US government. Poppies grew prolifically in the dark-brown earth of these hills, and the local Hmong people saw opium as an essential commodity, both as a medicine and as a trade staple. The principle of the American project was the same as at Palavek - open up the area nearby markets and provide alternative crops so the Hmongs' need to grow opium would diminish."
Several month after my visit, I am still puzzled about the disregard for this archaeological park. I wonder if I really called at the right place, as I had apparently reached an abandoned site. Other documents, however, also confirm Hintang's stone garden crumbling.
“A recent survey found that approximately one-third of the archaeological site is in a state of disrepair. Natural elements, including wind and water, have eroded the stones as well as the sites surrounding them. Further, man-made threats, including looting, uncontrolled tourism, and some road development, have placed the landscape at risk. Fighting, including the Vietnam War (known locally as the Second Indochina War) during the 1960s, left the area damaged. Unexploded ordnances remain in the area and not only threaten the safety of local inhabitants and visitors, but also hinder conservation efforts.” [3]
At the site, a decrepit “welcome panel” provides faded information, as an unfinished tourist center's ruin only accommodates local ghosts.
Overcoming my surprise, but saddened by these exceptional vestiges' deterioration, I sat down between the menhirs and tried to soak up the place's essence.
In addition to standing megaliths' rows, round disks cover underground chambers, probably used for burials. These artifacts predate Xieng Kouang province's jars and might date back a couple of centenaries before our era, to the bronze age.
The place I had reached might only be the departure of a trail leading to many more clusters of standing stones. Nevertheless, with the quantity of UXO still punctuating the Hua Phan province, I am reluctant to follow paths without the proper MAG [4] signalization, and I failed to spot such secured tracks in the neighborhood.
I left Suan Hintang with a mixed feeling: the joy of an enriching visit to a mysterious site, far away from tourist trails, and the somber memory of an human history's abandoned milestone.
Houa Phan province's remoteness, the access difficulty to this archaeological site, a lack of interest for old stones and other development priorities for Laos' tourism explain the situation.
It is anyway worth to visit this place when traveling in the region. Additional information and a local guide's help will be useful for a hike along the trail, and people spending enough time on the compound might be grated with the stones' fabulous glittering in the late afternoon light.
The next days I rambled around Sam Neua before driving down to Phonsavan in Xieng Khouang province (see my other report: https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/showthread.php/36627-Northeast-Laos-3-Epilogue-(Sam-Nuea-Phonsavan).
2. The broken jars
“The Plaines de Jarres, as the French named it, is a beautiful plateau forty miles wide, lying at an altitude of more than three thousand feet … The great stone jars which gave the plain its name are thought to be the funeral urns of another culture, although archaeologist cannot agree which one. … And extraordinarily, despite the hail of bombs unleashed upon the plain, no jar was ever damaged throughout the war.”[5]
I had accepted this statement from the book: “The Ravens”, Lao's secret war's bible, without second thoughts; even referring to it in my former trip report covering the Plain of Jars (see: https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/showthread.php/33573-An-Easy-Road-to-Laos-3-Plain-of-Jars).
Later on, I stumbled upon other writings, less incline to confirm the miraculous preservation the the jars' historic sites.
In “One Foot in Laos”, Dervla Murphy writes:
“ From neolithic times to the beginning of the twentieth century Xieng Khouang's jars remained untouched; a powerful taboo, as mysterious as the jars themselves, protected them from the curious and the greedy. … with the main concentration at Ban Ang, where almost all were bombed to bits.”[6]
Christopher Kremmer raises a similar point In “Bamboo Palace” [6]:
"I'd read that all the jars had miraculously survived wartime carpet bombing, despite the fact that Phatet Lao guerillas had sometimes taken shelter inside them. Yet as we approached, several larg bomb craters came into view with shattered jar fragments dug into their rims like broken teeth"[7]
Back again to Xieng Khouang province, I decided to find out by myself and to pay another visit to a jars site. My first stop was at MAG [4], the organization responsible for cleaning the unexploded ordnances in the region. They confirmed that many jars have been destroyed during the war, but precise statistics were unavailable. At Phonsavan's tourist center the answer was similar, giving me the chilling evidence that no miracle had preserved the historic places.
My itinerary to the jars site took me through Mouang Khoune, the totally flattened Phuan's kingdom old capital; a destruction often called a “cultural vandalism”. On the road back, I spotted numerous large bomb craters used as ponds, and it became more and more obvious that the carpet bombing must also have damaged the megaliths.
At the “Number one Jars Site” entrance, a signboard provides information for tourists and highlights the destructions due to the wars. I had probably overseen this text during my first trip.
After a short hike up the hill, the panorama opens toward an amazing field with hundreds of majestic stone amphoras. Even for a second visit, it is breathtaking, particularly when a dark sky and heavy clouds add drama to the scene.
This is also the place with the first scars, a crater lined with two fragmented jars and the indubitable confirmation of the secret war's damages.
Bombings and artillery rounds are not the only degradations' culprits. After two thousand years, time's erosion has taken his toll, helped by meteorology and human activities like farming, building, looting by Haw bandits and, recently, tourism.
However, Plain of Jars' recognition as a major cultural heritage, should, in the future, have positive conservation and management effects (see UNESCO manual conservation manual [8]).
From the hill's top, a panoramic view shows a landscape punctuated by bomb craters. The site itself is cut by several trench lines, testimonial of fierce battles. As for the large natural limestone cave, described by Madeleine Colani as a probable crematorium, it was converted to a Pathet Lao shelter during the war, and also heavily targeted.
Despite the damages, particularly the avoidable ones, it is worth to visit these unique ancient cultures' testimonials. The jars keep some of their mysteries but they are also unique manifestation of otherwise long time forgotten civilization.
Back to Phonsavan, I called it a day and patronized my usual hangout: The „Craters Bar“!
It will take many years before the „explosive province“ loses its image as a battlefield and before the „secret war“ becomes a „forgotten war“ for everybody. The original jars, nevertheless, are impossible to rebuild. Lets hope that the remaining ones are preserved, as testimonials, for some other thousand years.
--------------------------------------------------------
[1] Madeleine Colani, was a French female archaeologist, known for her research in Vietnam and North Laos. In 1935 she published (in French) “ Mégalithes du Haut Laos, Hua Pan – Tran Ninh” (The Megalith of Upper Lao).
[2] Stalking the Elephant Kings
In Search of Laos
Christopher Kremmer
Allen & Unwin, 1997
p.175
[3] http://www.wmf.org/project/hintang-archaeological-landscape
[4] http://www.maginternational.org/laopdr
[5] The Ravens – Pilots of the Secret War of Laos
Christopher Robbins
Asia Books, 2000 – Batam Press 1988
ISBN 978-974-8303-41-3
p. 170
[6] One foot in Laos
Dervla Murphy
Flamingo, London 2000
[7]Bamboo Palace
Christopher Kremmer
Silkworm Books, 2003
[8] Pdf document: Cultural Heritage Specialist Guides Training and Certification Programme
UNESCO World Heritage Sites, UNESCO Bangkok
Draft version ‐ May 2009 Copyright © 2009
Comprehensive pictures location:
https://picasaweb.google.com/111845057494533452431/LaosNortheastEpilogue#
[9] References to my other Laos trip reports. All suitable for road bikes and “solo” driving:
North-Central Laos:
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/33280-An-Easy-Road-to-Laos-1-Crosing-the-border
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/33379-An-Easy-Road-to-Laos-2-The-Road-to-Luang-Prabang
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/33573-An-Easy-Road-to-Laos-3-Plain-of-Jars
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/33925-An-Easy-Road-to-Laos-4.-Back-to-Nong-Khai
South Laos:
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/34187-South-Laos-1-Ferry-Tales?p=264916#poststop
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/35164-South-Laos-2-Around-the-Bolevan
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/35381-South-Laos-3-Central-Laos
North-West Laos:
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/35288-A-Short-Loop-to-Norwest-Laos
If you appreciate GT-Rider website, “like” the page on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/the.gtrider
The complete trip report: Northeast Laos – Sam Nuea loop
Part 1 – Luang Prabang and mountain roads
11 From Nan to Oudomxai…
12 Royal Luang Prabang
13 Mountain roads to Sam Nuea
Part 2 – Sam Nuea and a winding drive back
21 Sam Nuea and Vieng Xai
22 Winding roads to Nong Kiew
23 Luang Namtha and back home
Part 3 – Epilogue
31 Introduction – On the loop again!
32 The northern renovated links
33 Nong Khiew to Sam Nuea, a silvester ballade
34 East of Sam Nuea
35 Strategic Route 6 and Phonsavan
36 Ruins of an old Kingdom
37 Back to Luang Prabang
Part 4 – Archaeological sites
41 The Hin Tang menhirs
42 The broken jars
