Thank you so much for your videos, I greatly appreciate your time and knowledge of the people, their culture history. Everything was so hush hush during the Vietnam war and other areas surrounding it. I have neighbors across the the street, they are first generation from Laos. The mother is in her 80s, she and her husband with 4 little sons crossed some river. Thsons have told of some of the hardship they have endured. Wonderful family, hardworking, very respectful. My oldest son would go over and eat with them. He just loved their . Mrs Vang, the mother, the first time I met her,I was working in the yard, she couldn't speak English yet, she brought her granddaughter to interpret, she wanted some bamboo shoots out of my front yard. I told her it was ok. A few days later, she shows up with 2 baskets of strawberries from her garden. Such sweet people. We have become good friends over the years. Thank you very much for all that you do. DM
Great video mate! As a retired US military member, even though it was way before my military time, I have a sense of remorse for the amount of UXOs that still exist and the insane tonnage of bombs dropped on Laos.
Thank you for showing us this. I’m Hmong. This brings back memory about my Grandpa. My Mother once told me that my Grandpa will make spoons out of those old parts from crashed military plans. Sadly my Grandpa pass away before I was even born, back in 1960 something.
I really enjoy the still photos and music at the end of your videos. Especially the ones of the people you meet and the black and whites. You have a wonderful knack for picking just the right tunes. I watch these at the end of my long long double shift Tuesdays and it just chills me out and helps me unwind. Thank you🥰
A real bonus video this time........definitely one to watch more than once. The setting of site two is amazingly cool with the jars scattered between and within the trees. The music you choose here was just perfect as were the stills at the end which I always look forwaed to seeing. This is a good un. 👍👍😊😊
Hey Peter, thanks mate, really appreciate your kind feedback. These two sites are places you wouldn't mind going back to again and again. Such and incredible atmosphere there, and both very unique. So worth travelling here. Cheers mate 👍
Thank you Todd for posting this video. i admire you two for walking in the Plains of Jars (part of Ho Chi Ming trails) among old bomb craters and possible unexploded ordonance. it is also interesting to see how Lao lady turn war relics from bombs and airplanes into souvenirs
Very, very cool. The Jars were one amazing site to see but I loved the bomb girls. From bombs to spoons just another way to make it through life in Laos. Great video my friends. Cheers!!!
Hi Nipper can you put the names of the tracks you play during your videos as I love the music you play over your vids. Always looking out for new music. Keep up the good work from a whinging Pom.
Greetings from Boston, MA in the US, I've been watching your vids for a while and they take me back! I was last in Lao in 2005 with an ex when we took a slow boat (See Disney's Steam Boat Willy) down the Mekong stopping occasionally to visit the Hmong tribes and then to the Cave of a Thousand Buddhas at Pak Ou. We debarked and ended up in Louangphrabang where we marveled at the street market and temples. My ex (a spoiled Farang) just wanted to fight the whole trip. I had other ideas for the future. 16 years later, I'm married to a wonderful Thai woman and will be on our 4th trip back to Thailand early next year. Retiring in 3 years and hope to get up and meet you and Nay Nay. Great job on the Middle Lao Tour! I was old enough to be drafted but went in at the end of VN. Will continue to watch. I tell my wife that Lao was somewhat reminiscent of what parts of Thailand were like in the not to distant past. Love the lands, the people and the culture! Sawadee!!
I used to hear stories about how the jars are made for the giants, as cool as that is it's sad such a place got bombed. Thank you for going there and learning about our history, our culture.
Thank you Todd for the tour of Plain of Jars site 2. By the way, Ross River is Yukon, Canada. Harriet and I are fascinated by the War spoon village and how the make the molds and create the spoons and other items in the oven. It's amazing how hot the oven gets to melt the scrap. Great stuff Todd, looking forward to the next vlog. All the best👍👍👍. Harriet and Jim. Richmond, Va.
Just came across your channel, bloody interesting. I went to Laos after reading The Ravens about the pilots recruited under the “Steve Canyon “ project for the CIA. Loved Laos and went back often until a Filipino put a ring on my Finger. Thoroughly enjoyed the countryside and the people, probably won’t go back soon but happy to see your vids for the memories.
Hi Todd,,I was thinking,,as we watched the trinket makers,,,we needed Soundgarden's Spoonman! Lol or the old Willie Dixan blues song,,,Spoonful. I think you nailed it,,,not so much about the source material anhymore,,its a reminder,,,to not forget,,that they are survivors,,,even second and third generation. I too am all in on site 2. The feel you got at you walked up and around the site,,the cobwebs,,moss and those beautiful trees. I think my fave thing was the delicate lip on the jars to sit the lids on..those were mostly eroded away at 3,,there were many still intact at 2. Just amazing,,these centuries old rock carvings..no wonder at all that they are a World Heritage site. Thanks buddy,,,very interesting. Loved Neenee's overview video of Pakse from yesterday. You guy take care of yourselves,,Ttyl,,,Marlon
So freaking interesting! Really got me wondering what the heck all those pots and things were actually made for! Would love to buy some of those items made from the bomb material!
The Ross River is a river located in northern Queensland, Australia. The 49-kilometre (30 mi) long river flows through the city of Townsville and empties into the Coral Sea...
Thanks for an incredibly interesting video,a very wonderful and unique view of this beautiful country and people. It’s sad and touching to see the bomb craters …I remember when it was happening and protesting against it…
Love your info mate and your background music, wonderful touch,👍. I cannot help but think of peace and prosperity for all of the Laos people after all that they have suffered. Ive studied it, its its too sad too talk. Looking forward to visiting Laos in Jan 2023 for the first time. Thanks again for your excellent show, all the best to you both, 😊.
And believe me it's not something you want to catch. Now spreads down into northern NSW have a B.I.L. who got it really bad. Great vlog Todd. Bushyboy Oz.
They use the aluminum nose cone off the bombs . There was a big scrap metal market for the steel bombs ,sadly there were numerous explosions . Cheers .
same in Korea when I was stationed there 1975/76, very resilient people makin the best out of materials left from the war an the use of spent ammunitions an casings from training areas to help them get by day to day
amazing site, eerie feel to them how old they are. i wonder if they have any connection to the temples of champasak but almost looks older. who knows. waht phu. but sheesh seeing all those mosquitos makes me want to plant some venus fly traps there.
Well have to say that was a top video, Just like all over Asia people turn anything Scrap into Something useful. The girl doing the spoons no problems with Health and safety (England not a cat in Hell chance ) the field of jars great to,but for me the spoons and bottle opener and bracelets, ect,ect.stole the show,Also the people you are meeting VERY OPEN,FRIENDLY, and a Smile☺☺☺☺☺.
Another great vid guys. Not all aluminum is the same. It start with the basic bauxite, but different materials are added depending on how hard you want the final aluminum to be. As an example, the material used to make a beer can would not be the same as some bomb components.
Another fantastic episode... like stepping back in time in a way. It brings up a lot of emotions for me. First are the good emotions seeing how friendly and caring the Lao people are. But then a half dozen bad emotions like anger thinking about the bombs and agent orange and the not even pennies on the dollar reparations the US has made to literally generations of Lao people. Another thing just strikes me is how incredibly advanced Vietnam and Thailand are compared to Cambodia and Laos because of the stability of their respective governments since 1975. You are documenting a lifestyle that will probably be gone in 20 to 30 years.
Not sure if you have got the answer yet mate but Ross River is in Townsville...Lived there for a couple of years and you could ride some of the mozzies in that area!!
The sound and editing 👌🏻 You guys keep sharing such beautiful locations! So many gems! Ross River is from up North Qld, I think 😂 We get cases here in SA, a lot in the region I live in. Nasty thing to catch…..hurts your joints for a long time!
Also Todd in a very Broadd sense of things any time some one says they are Tai "something" such Tai puan its pretty much synonymous with Lao. Saying "Tai" is like another way of saying Lao (hard to explain). when we use to greet each other we ask which tai are you from and they would say Tai "insert Location" so you would hear Tai Vientiane, or Tie "puan" or even tai "dang" in vietnam which means red. I used Vientiane as an example but it really drills down to village or district like the one you and nee nee live. We all can essentially understand each other but off course with different accents and words here and there but you can even get by in southern china in tai areas.
Fascinaing !!! Fk me, the 35 minutes flies by. Im watching each vid at least twice - the wide angle is great for picking up all sorts of detail easy to miss first time around.
Todd, the Hmoob people also make top quality Hmoob knives out of bomb material. If you can find those rare Hmoob knives...buy it because they hold their shape, stay sharp and ultra durable.
When we hit that same first house in Ban Napia the guy was going full tilt on spoons. Figured he must had had an order. Fire must have been blazing, too, as I don’t remember seeing a single reject. Great atmosphere on Site 2. Cool to see; we should have asked the locals. We hit 3 then 1 before staying in Phonsavan.
I like site 2 best. On the placard at the site 5:59 what were the other numbered markers,like the 12,52,42,23,etc.? "The Bomb Girl",she's beautiful Those "round balls" were the bomblets of the cluster bombs.
My wife (68 yrs old, from Luang Prabang) said, when she was 13/14? 1965-6? Her aunt sent her out to the local airport, to drag a large bomb casing, back to town! They were selling them back then as well. My wife says she doesn't know the reason for the sale. Maybe making spoons then too?? (Loving aunt???)
Nah we really don't want our aluminum back.. We can't even get all the cargo ships unloaded LoL..! Shipping containers parked all over Long Beach California.. We will just cut them up if we need extra metal..! Thanks again.. Appreciate you guy's ..!
What looks like a disused airstrip (two strips 90 degrees apart) near Xiang Di (SW of Site 2 and NW of Site 3) looks like it copped a shit load of bombs. Check out videos by TheBigfella111 (Ian also from Oz) Todd, he filmed in Laos 6 or 7 years ago when it was closed off. Ross River is in Northern Queensland.
Water table in Laos is very high so most have a well. We put one in recently and although they the drilled down 16 meters the water level in the pipe was just down 2 meters.
Haha…I know this sound…the dogs are usually free range…but when visitors come they may tie them up which they hate and scream to be let go …crazy but no harm….they’ll also scream when a bigger dog runs up on them….
Have been to 1, 2 and 3. I like site 2 the best, and 3 not far behind. These two sites are very close to each other, so may as well see them both while in that area. I think site 1 is more popular only because it is the closest to Phonsavan.
Back in 2003 when I visited Laos, my wife and I were invited to a barbie at the Australian ambassador's residence. The BBQ was a cluster bomb casing. At the time, many people thought it inappropriate. Kind of black Australian humour, I guess.
