drb rss about
suggest
advertise
subscribe
rss rss
rss

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

The Plain of Jars: Bombs & Mystery in Laos


"QUANTUM SHOT" #365
link



Built by mysterious ancient people for mysterious purposes


(image credit: Chris Mitchell)

Ancient Laos legends tell of the giants who drunk water from these enormous mysterious "cups". Similar sites were also found in Thailand and in North India. Their locations are strung along a straight line, which suggests that they were built on some kind of a trade route.




Chris Mitchell from Travel Happy sent us his travelogue about this ancient site:

The Plain Of Jars is probably South East Asia’s most enigmatic tourist attraction. Situated in the remote north east of Laos, the mountainous communist country which has only been open to tourists for just over a decade, are hundreds of huge stone jars scattered across several square miles.






(images credit: Chris Mitchell)


Jars of a deeply spooky nature

While most ancient Asian sites, such as the Angkor temples in Cambodia, have revealed many of their secrets, historians are still completely baffled as to where the jars came from, how old they are and what they signify. They are, in short, jars of a deeply spooky nature.





There are three key sites to see the Jars, three places where they are clustered together en masse, but there are apparently over 400 locations where they are to be found scattered across the plain.






(images credit: Chris Mitchell)


Gathered together at the top of this hill, there were around 130 of them scattered about beneath the trees, mercifully undeveloped by any tourist organization. Undisturbed amongst the vast wheat yellow and sky blue horizon of the countryside, the jars did indeed seem mysterious, but there was also a sense of serenity too.





They were all at least a couple of metres long, and must have weighed several tonnes each, some upright, some leaning after being embedded in the ground, some completely toppled over:





All of them are virtually black, and their tall, narrow, hefty bodies make them look like crude cannons, pointing in every direction as if fearing attack from all sides. The darkness of the jars’ stone also makes them seem distinctly funereal and a little sinister:



(image credit: David Hartstone)


The largest jar weighs around 6 metric tons:


(image credit: Keith Kelly)


On top of its mystery, the place may be riddled with unexploded bombs

Whatever its ancient history, the Plain Of Jars has had a turbulent recent past. Thanks to its proximity to the North Vietnamese border, this area of Laos became of key significance during the Vietnam War and so was carpet bombed by the Americans. Laos holds the dubious record of being the most bombed country in the world, despite never officially being involved in the Vietnam war at all. The legacy of the war is still being felt, with farmers and their families regularly being killed or injured by the unexploded ordnance which still litters the Plain. The Jars have been fully cleared of all unexploded bombs, but not straying from the designated paths remains imperative.




(images credit: GothPhil)


The lids for these jars are also quite mysterious looking. They have as much texture and ancient feel to them as Stonehenge.





(images credit: Keith Kelly)



(image credit: Chris Mitchell)


Some of them are filled with miniature Buddhas: which somehow feels very appropriate:


(image credit: Keith Kelly)


Speaking of the Stonehenge:

Another Stonehenge Found Deep in Amazon Forest

That's right, mysterious huge stones set in a definite pattern - an astrological observatory possibly 2,000 years old - have been discovered in the Amazon basin near French Guiana... (more info)


(image credit: Gilmar Nascimento / AP)


The site consists of 127 blocks, some as high as 9 feet (2.75 meters) tall. The stones placed at "regular intervals around the hill, like a crown 100 feet (30 meters) in diameter."




Scientists believe the site near the village of Calcoene, just north of the equator in Amapa state in far northern Brazil, could have been built by the ancestors of the Palikur Indians, and could be as old as 2,000 years.


(image courtesy Academy For Future Science, Brazil)

The article is co-written by Chris Mitchell, Travel Happy and A. Abrams, Dark Roasted Blend
All images are by permission of respective owners


+StumbleUpon

Permanent Link...
Category: Travel,Weird

Dark Roasted Blend's Photography Gear Picks:


READ LATEST POSTS:

May 16, 2008 - Quantum Shot #421
Extraordinary Art from Metal

Made from "found" and military scrap objects

May 14, 2008 - Biscotti Bits
Mixed Links & Images

incl. "A Giant Snail"
(for other daily "Biscotti" issues - see our main page)

COMMENTS:

7 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I`m guessing... toilets?

___  
Anonymous pwl said...

The logical answer would be linked the earlier note about them possibly being on a trade route, they were probably used to collect rainwater so it would help travelers or some sort of message courier with water so they didn't have to run off path as much trying to find water.

___  
Anonymous Captain Haddock said...

Ye olde warp zone.

___  
Anonymous VMOS said...

the rainwater thing doesn't really fit, otherwise there wouldn't be any lids
also, they would probably be more evenly spaced rather than clustered about.
I addition, there used to be lots of smaller ones but the ones that were small enough to be moved have mostly been stolen.
There's a fantastic story about how they were used to make sake and covered with the skins of fallen enemies, but the guides keep telling you they really don't know, although their best guess is that they were tombs, either for actual bodies or for ashes

___  
Anonymous EclecticMunk said...

They're drums. Stretch a skin, tie it in place and bang it with a stick. Woomba-loomba! Woomba-loomba! Boombadoomba BOOM BOOM BOOM!

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

They where used by MACV-SOG to capture demons.

___  
Anonymous OasisNick said...

Apparently they were used to store alcohol left for weary travellers along specific trade routes. But some of the other tales are much more entertaining.

___  

Post a Comment

<< Home


SF ART & BOOK REVIEWS:
Fiction Reviews: William Gibson Stories
Novella Review: Charles Stross "Missile Gap"
Rare Pulp Fiction: Apocalyptic Blockbusters

MORE RECENT POSTS:


Anteater Coolness

Life with two anteaters in the house


Weird Inventions by Guys, Part 7

Special Summer Selection!


World's Smallest Cars, Part 2

Great things come in small packages


Soviet Futuristic Illustration:
Oodles of Optimism


Black-and-white rare series of images


Funny Animals, Part 11

Natural hilarity reaches a new high


Nightmare Playgrounds, Part 2

Manic-Depressive Creativity


Shipwrecks & Sea Disasters

The Beauty & the mystery of the wrecked ships


Unforgettable Faces, Part 3

Cast your vote for the most entertaining expression


The Tasty Art of Chocolate & Candy

Never eat an Easter Chocolate Bunny Again


The "Falling Towers" of New Chinese TV Center

Radical architecture for outdated propaganda machine


Out-of-This-World Fishing

Big Fish Extravaganza, Part 2


Senseless Signage, Part 10

Don't try to figure these signs out. Get a GPS instead.


Are You... You?

The Wonderful World of Parasites


Commercialized Clouds

Lucy in the Sky with Logotypes


You Know You Want This...
Steampunk Gear Masterpieces


plus interview with "Aaron Adding Machines"


Smile! You're in Politics
(Funny Pics)


Politicians in paroxysms of thought and deliberation


World's Strangest Vehicles, Part 4

Sheer Auto Adrenaline!


Extreme Exploration:
Russian Nuclear Research Facilities


Deep under the mountain, or in the world's deepest lake


Miniature Spy Guns, Part 2

Do not move while I destroy you, Mr Bond


Never Give Up! (Funny Pics)

Crazy Logistics, Issue 8


Most Beautiful Fractals

Infinite possibilities for art


Cool Ads, Issue 10

Visually arresting and deliciously weird


Japanese Creative Barcodes

Cut out your UPC label and... frame it!


The Geekiest LEGOs &
Rubik's Cubes


The world of twisted dimensions


Disturbing Wiring, Part 4

More Tangled Awesomeness


Russian Nuclear Icebreakers:
To the North Pole!


Odyssey in the Arctic with Russian Icebreaker Fleet


The Deadliest Creatures
(Most Easy to Miss)


The Real Terror Lurks in Quiet Darkness


Strangest Christian Products & Signs

Repent! the end of good taste is in sight!


Lovely Ladies of Yesteryear, Part 2

Vintage eye-candy, guaranteed
(very mildly nsfw)


Fear & Loathing inside
Abandoned Stalin's Mines


Fire & Ice Underground


Armenia: The Epic Land

This kind of nature needs an IMAX


Time Machine:
World's Biggest Collider


Have a loophole in time, will travel


Airplane Oops! Situations
Part 2


Aviation Safety for Dummies

MORE OF THE RECENT POSTS:








Surreal Art Update
Funny Animals, Part 10
Worst Intersections & Traffic Jams
Radical Mannequins
Police can be Intense
Airship Dreams
Weird Inventions by Guys, 6
Russian Imperial Faberge Eggs
Most Elegant Skyscrapers
Gas Mask Fashion, Part 2
Discovering Iran, Part 2
Coolest Retro Devices
Moments in Sports, Part 6
Nightmare Playgrounds
Steam-Powered Messiah
Weirdest Accidents, Part 3
Huge Road Trains
Ladies in Space
Weird Signs, Part 9
Fallen Cranes Galore
World's Most Curious Ephemera
Mystery Plain of Jars in Laos
Overwhelmed at Work
Robots in Arts
Miniature Spy Guns
Love, Romance & Parenting
Tank Accidents, Part 2
Ice & Snow Carving Art
Train Graveyard in Bolivia
Retro-Future: Transportation
Painting with Light
Animals Having Fun, Part 9
- many more in the Archives and in the Contents Index (left bar)

FULL ARCHIVES (with previews, fast loading):

April 2008 -- March 2008
February 2008 -- January 2008 -- December 2007 -- November 2007
October 2007 -- September, 2007 -- August 2007 -- July 2007
June 2007 -- May 2007 -- April 2007 -- March 2007 -- February 2007
January 2007 -- December 2006 -- November 2006 -- October 2006
Link Latte archives


CATEGORIES:
airplanes | animals | architecture | art | auto | boats | books | cool ads | funny pics |
futurism | food | gadgets | health | history | humour | internet | link latte | military |
music | nature | photo | science | science fiction & fantasy | signs | space | sports |
technology | trains | travel | vintage | weird



Airplanes
Animals
Architecture
Art
Auto
Biscotti
Boats
Computers
Cool Ads
Food
Funny Pics
Futurism
Gadgets
Health
History
Humour
Link Latte
Military
Music
Nature
Photography
Science
Science Fiction

Space
Sports
Technology
Trains
Travel
Vintage
Weird






DRB feed on Twitter

Avi Abrams
Rachel Abrams
Erlend Aaseth
M. Christian
Michael Colwill
The Free Geek
James Golbey
Andrew N. Grimes
Jason Heath
Joshua S. Hill
Paul Schilperoord
Scott Seegert
Constantine vonHoffman

- Join Our Team -
Guidelines




  • About the STS-75 "Tether Incident" video, what we're seeing are objects close to the camera, which is obvious for a couple of reasons:

    Their fuzzy outline, when supposedly moving behind the tether is more in keeping with small particles near the camera going out of focus.

    If some of the "ufos" were a mile in size, they would have been visible from the ground. Hundreds of amateur astronomers were watching it, and none of them saw any "ufos" flying around the tether.

    There is having an open mind and leaving your mind so open that your brain falls out.
    Read more

  • I do not know anything about this dog on the gun, but there seems to be a tradition:
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=503870&in_page_id=1811
    Read more

  • Kedamono:
    yes, this is how legends about ufos originate; good illustration.
    Read more

  • I do not doubt that the objects in the "Tether Incident" are indeed smaller debris closer to the camera, but why do they appear to go behind the tether? Is the tether image burned into the camera chip (like tube style cameras of old)? You would think that NASA would have better cameras than that.
    Read more

  • If you check out the full videos of the tether incident, you can see that the tether breaks and coils up - but in the footage allegedly showing the ufos, the tether is poker straight, and there is no perception of distance or scale. The suggestion is that this is very zoomed in footage of something else. It also appears that the ufo footage is tacked on to the end of the NASA footage, it doesn't look very official
    Read more

  • Well, in the documentary "ufo's, the greatest story ever denied" on Google Video, you can hear that they were filming with an infrared camera instead of a normal camera, that may be an explanation why we can't see them with our eyes, I find it a very interesting video, and imo it's not your regular debris... why would debris become translucent and then solid, have a spoken shape which changes sometimes! and they all look the same, It's like you drop food in an aquarium, and all the fish come to see what's new (that's how the former nasa guys says it in the documentary :)

    The tether stretched out and is way further than in the beginning, why it is so wide, i don't know :)
    Read more

  • After studying the footage more I must admit I'm even more confused. When the tether snapped, it bunched up at one end. There's no evidence of that in the "UFO" footage. All of the UFOs seem to be traveling on linear paths which would be consistant with debris in space, but it's coming from all directions. Weird.
    Read more

  • Regarding the picture of the dog on the gun.

    Sinbad was the mascot of the US Coast Guard Cutter Campbell. As for the insignia on the gun, it is not political confusion but a indicator of the number of engagements by the cutter.

    Mor information is availabe here:
    http://www.uscg.mil/history/faqs/Sinbad.html
    Read more

  • I believe in UFO's. But I believe this is dust.
    Read more

  • The debris "translucent and then solid" because it's coming in and out of focus. Try it yourself if you don't believe it - stick a small spot on the window and take pictures of the world beyond. If you focus on the spot it'll be sharp and solid, if you focus in front or behind it'll appear translucent.

    The tether clearly coiled up as it relaxed - so what we're seeing isn't twelve miles long but a much shorter coil which appears straight because the turns of the coil are closer together than can reasonably be resolved at that distance.
    Read more

  • Does anyone know about some analysis of the tether video? I googled the incident but all I found was a lot of people blindly screaming at UFOs without any kind of analysis.
    Read more

  • @ Skipweasel

    Look again, and look closely, i don't mean translucent when zooming in or out, they are actually changing from transparent to semitransparent and solid, like you see in some under water creatures too, there's this "glow" going through them. Not all of them show this behavior but some do, and you can also see this happening as in some "dots" (the smaller ones) just appear out of nowhere and disappear into nowhere, inside the camera-angle...

    I know things become sort-of transparent of blur if you zoom in next to a near-by object. Just look closely again, and you'll see what I mean with translucency
    Read more

  • Start looking at 5:40 on the left side of the video, you'll see what i mean, there are also close-ups during the rest of the video
    Read more

  • The Nazi DOG is obviously an AMERICAN dog on top of a captured nazi weapon.
    The letters on the helmet USCC? USCG?
    are United States ?Coast Guard?
    Read more

  • Thanks for the info about the dog - it's updated now.
    Read more

  • Yes, the debris is probably floating in and out of shadows, causing the appearing disappearing act, and as for going 'behind' the tether, it's simply the sensitivity of the camera being very high. The tether is really bright, but the sensitivity isn't really uniform, and the over-saturation of the tether blots out the less bright debris. The same noise was made over the black crosses on the camera lens on the moon, they disappeared over white astronaut suits because of the over-saturation, and people claimed they were on the set background.
    Read more

  • I think the pulsating, blinking effect in the video is just those pieces of debris rotating in the sunlight. They reflect different amounts of sunlight as they rotate.
    Read more

  • I think the ultimate solution, which is to quit and look for another job, was left out intentionally.
    Read more

  • OldSailor from www.marinebuzz.com:
    If possible delegate your job. Train persons under you or your team mates also. Many times we try to do all jobs ourselves as we feel the other person may not do it correctly. By training your team mates and by instilling confidence in them jobs can be completed successfully in time.
    Read more

  • This is what I translated it to.

    1) Don't do much
    2) Take cigarette breaks
    3) Do small things not big ones
    4) Spend more time at the water cooler
    5) Solve problems instead of finding them
    6) Sleep in

    OK, OK, I messed with the details a little.

    Good advice
    Read more

  • Yay Danielson (the dude in the tree)!!! He definitely is one way to get less stressful (but not everyone's cup of tea).
    Read more

  • @oldsailor: great point about delegation. Some people finds it hard to delegate because they feel that no one else can do it as well as they do - which is probably right.

    But if you don't give others a chance to try, then they'll never have a chance to improve and you'll continue to be stressed out with too much to do.

    So make a choice...
    Read more

  • Do something really Dumm and Stupid at least once a month. Its good for
    the Soul, tempers our pride and can be a lot of fun.
    Read more

  • More accurately, "the only mammal known to be insensitive to burning sensations"
    Read more

  • yes, Marc - also it's so extremely sensitive to touch...
    Read more

  • Thats realy amazing.
    Read more

  • Now i have a firm believe that nothing goes wasted.