During the Vietnam War, America extensively bombed the neighbouring country of Laos, as the Communist forces were using it to supply their forces in South Vietnam, the route becoming known as the Ho Chi Min trail. The innocent population could only shelter as they could, usually in limestone caves, as Laos became the most bombed country on earth.

The war ended long ago but the legacy of the ordnance that didn’t explode is left in the ground, rendering large areas too dangerous to farm or even walk on. Although the Americans dropped large bombs, aiming for the caves, more insidious were their use of cluster bombs. These break open in the air, scattering hundreds of small bombs about the size of a tennis ball, these ‘bombies’ then explode at once killing anything in a wide area. The problem is that many of the bombies didn’t explode and are left lying on the ground.
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Bombies are a particular risk for children, as the bombies need to spin a certain number of times before they explode. Children pick them up and start throwing them about, giving them the final spins they need to detonate, killing and maiming. 
This group of bomb disposal people who were clearing the land had been trained by the British ‘Mines Advisory Group’. Firstly the land is divided into lanes marked off with tape, the worker moves up the lane with a metal detector, stopping when they find something. This then has be teased out of the ground by hand or bayonet. Usually it is a piece of shrapnel left by the bombing, but sometimes it is a bombie. These are then destroyed using a controlled charge
​Nearby, a tractor was working on a field; almost as soon as the land has been cleared it is put to use growing food. 
The young woman in the picture was 20 years old and earned $200 a month, a lot of money then; but for doing extraordinarily dangerous work. I wanted to start with this picture as it is one of my favourites; I have a copy on my phone, as it helps keep life in perspective. When people say to me they’re stressed out or their job is stressful, I show them the picture and ask them; ‘is your job as stressful as this?’ OK, a sales target may not be met but you are not going to be killed or maimed today, are you? When travelling you seldom know how things work out for people you meet. I hope this woman had a happy ending, and that she is now in her forties with children of her own.