Caves on Saparua, Maluku, Indonesia

Saparua is a small island off the coast of Ambon, in Maluku (The Moluccas), Indonesia. Known as the Spice Islands, you can still see spices such as nutmeg and clove growing in Maluku. Saparua is one of the 3 Lease Islands, which lie northeast of Ambon.

Ouw is a village in the south easternmost corner of the island and is famous for pottery. Many of the rural houses are made from the sago plant. This house is at Ouw and is very near Ouw Cave.

Concrete steps lead down to Ouw cave.

Inside the dark chamber, locals wash their clothes in the sizeable river. The water is very clear.

The people use smoky kerosene lights. Unfortunately they just leave the empty plastic bags and containers from detergent and toothpaste in the cave.

This lady has certainly done a lot of washing

The cave apparently leads to the coast which is not far away.

On the northwest side of the island, before you reach Kalur, is Goa Puteri Tujuh or Seven Princess Cave. From the road, a track led through farmed land with coral karst rocks scattered in the fields.

Steps lead down to the entrance, which is a large chamber filled with pools of incredibly clear water.

There are supposedly 7 pools, one for each princess. Each pool is separated by rock walls which apparently are dry at times of low water. The water was so clear that at first I didn’t realise it was water, and wondered why the rocks below were green. I took several pictures but they don’t do any justice to the place. Again the locals use this cave for washing and for getting water.

More locals come in

Beyond the village of Kulur are 2 caves, Goa Mandi and Goa Minum (washing and drinking caves). The first cave is used for washing and a concrete platform acts as a bathing place.

Goa Mandi

Father and daughter

Surprisingly there are fish in the water, which is a bit murky presumably from all the soap and shampoo used.

The second cave, Goa Minum, is used as a water supply and concrete steps lead down to a pump.

The water is so clear.

There is a water tank outside the cave, set up by Mercy Corps 2002.

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

Plain of Jars, Laos

The Plain of Jars is one of the most enigmatic sites in Laos, it is a large area littered with huge stone jars.

The jars are surrounded by mystery as no one knows the real history of them, although researchers and archaeologists have offered several hypotheses over the years. The Plain of Jars covers a big area which extends around Phonsavan in northeast Laos, in Xieng Khuang province.

Some of the theories as to the purpose of the jars are that they were used as sarcophagi, or as wine fermenters or even for storing rice.

But there is no evidence confirming one theory over another as the jars have been found empty. A few of the jars have discs lying nearby, which are thought to be lids.

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, Grotte Crematoire.

Grotte Crematoire is a small cave 23m long, consisting of a single chamber with natural holes in the top.

Due to the evidence of smoke it was thought the cave may have been a crematorium and maybe the jars were used to deposit cremated human remains.
The cave was found to contain human remains and also burned bones and ash, as well as unburned bones.

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

Vieng Xai Hidden City in Laos

Vieng Xai’s claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of Lao PDR (People’s Democratic Republic). Laos gained independence in 1949, this was followed by a civil war, and then the communist Pathet Lao came to power in 1975. Around this time, Vieng Xai got caught up in a secret war and became the site of an unprecedented but little known episode in world history.

In the early 1960’s the Pathet Lao moved their headquarters from Vientiane to Houa Phanh province. As the USA tried to halt what it saw as the expansion of communism after World War 2, Laos became caught up in this secret war. The US set out to destroy the Lao revolutionary movement whilst denying any military involvement in the country.

In an attempt to destroy the Pathet Lao’s new command centre at Vieng Xai, the US embarked on a devastating aerial bombing campaign that would last for nine years (1964-1973). More than two million tonnes of ordnance were dropped on Laos over this period – more bombs than were dropped on Europe during the Second World War. This total is equivalent to one planeload of bombs every 8 minutes for 9 years. However this fact is little known in world history!

Kids playing on old bombs made safe

To escape from this onslaught, around 23,000 people took to Vieng Xai’s natural caves and they constructed the ‘Hidden City’ for the leaders.

In internal exile, the Pathet Lao continued to direct the resistance struggle from the city hidden in the limestone hills.

They lived in the caves from 1964-1973. Today this network of caves is open to tourists, and as you go around, you can learn more about the history of Laos.

Several caves were selected as the family homes and offices of the leaders.

kitchen

Natural caves were enlarged, tunnels developed and internal ceilings inserted. Airtight rooms with air filtering equipment were constructed, to use in the event of a gas attack.

Blast walls over 1.5 metres thick were built to shield cave entrances from rockets and guided missiles. Visitors to Vieng Xai today can visit the leaders’ caves, some of which still contain their personal possessions.

theatre

There are about 6 major caves to visit.

We stayed right by this lake.

UXO or unexploded ordance is still a huge problem.