The Plain of Jars
Two thousand stone jars on a high plateau that nobody has fully explained, in the most heavily bombed province of the most heavily bombed country per head in history.
At a glance
| Region | Xieng Khouang plateau, 1,000 to 1,200 m |
| Worth | 2 nights |
| Getting here | 7 hours by road from Luang Prabang, 9 from Vientiane, or a short flight |
| Best months | November to March |
| Worst months | July and August, when the plateau sits in cloud |
| Known for | The jars, the bombing, cold nights |
What the place actually is
The jars are large stone vessels, the biggest about three metres tall and weighing around ten tonnes, cut from sandstone, granite and conglomerate and placed in clusters across a high plateau. Around ninety sites are known. They date to roughly 500 BCE to 500 CE, which makes them Iron Age, and the best current reading is that they were part of a mortuary practice - human remains have been found around and beneath them.
That reading is incomplete. Nobody has satisfactorily explained the quarries, the distribution, or the small number of surviving lids. The sites were listed by UNESCO in 2019, and archaeological work is ongoing but slow, because most of the province still has to be cleared of ordnance before anyone can dig.
Which is the second half of the story. Between 1964 and 1973 this province sat under a sustained American air campaign against the Ho Chi Minh trail and the Pathet Lao. A very large quantity of ordnance was dropped on Laos, a substantial part of it cluster submunitions, and a substantial part of those failed to detonate. The craters between the jars are from that. So are the bomb casings used as fence posts and planters in Phonsavan, and the white markers that tell you which side of a path is cleared.
Which sites, and in what order
| Site | What it is | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Site 1, Thong Hai Hin | The largest, 300-plus jars on a hillside 15 km from Phonsavan, with craters among them and a cave the jars point towards | 90 minutes |
| Site 2, Hai Hin Phu Salato | Two wooded hills, 90 jars, a tree growing through one of them. Quieter and prettier | 60 minutes |
| Site 3, Hai Hin Lat Khai | Reached by an 800 m walk across paddy and a bamboo bridge. Around 150 jars under trees, usually empty | 75 minutes |
| MAG visitor centre, Phonsavan | The clearance story, told by the organisation doing it. Go before the sites, not after | 45 minutes |
| Muang Khoun | The old provincial capital, destroyed. A standing Buddha with no temple around it and a stupa bored through by treasure hunters | 90 minutes |
Sites 1, 2 and 3 in one day is comfortable and is what our three-day trip does. The other eighty sites are mostly uncleared and not open.
When to come
| Months | What it is like |
|---|---|
| November - February | Dry, clear, and cold - 5 to 10 degrees at night, occasionally lower, with pleasant 20 to 24 degree days. Bring a fleece |
| March - April | Burning season, and this plateau burns as much as anywhere. Hazy, and the wide views that make the sites are lost |
| May - June | Green and clear between showers. An underrated window |
| July - September | Cloud sits on the plateau for days, and the dirt tracks to Sites 2 and 3 turn to mud. We do not recommend it |
| October | Green, clear and empty. The best month after November |
Getting here
- From Luang Prabang, 260 km and about seven hours on Routes 13 and 7 over the Phou Khoun pass. A good drive, and a long one.
- From Vientiane, 400 km and nine hours. Most people fly this leg instead.
- By air to Xieng Khouang airport from Vientiane, around 40 minutes. Small aircraft, limited frequency, and schedules that change - always have a road fallback.
- Onward to Vietnam, the Nam Can border towards Vinh is about six hours east, which makes this a sensible last Lao stop for anyone continuing that way.
What things cost here
| Item | Typical |
|---|---|
| Guesthouse double in Phonsavan | USD 14 - 25 |
| Best hotel in town | USD 40 - 70 |
| Jar site entrance, each | USD 1 - 2.50 |
| Guide for a full day | USD 40 - 55 |
| Vehicle and driver for a day | USD 60 - 90 |
| Dinner | USD 4 - 10 |
| MAG visitor centre | Free, donation |
Pictures
Safety, plainly
Cleared ground at the jar sites is marked with white concrete posts, and the rule is that you stay on the side the path is on. The cleared areas are large and obvious. Away from them, this province still has live ordnance in it. Do not walk off the paths, do not pick up anything metal, and do not let children run ahead. This is not a formality.
When to skip the Plain of Jars
- If you have fewer than ten nights in Laos. The seven-hour drive each way is a large part of a short trip.
- If you want sights that impress immediately. The jars are quiet and low, and the landscape and the history do the work.
- In July and August, when the plateau is in cloud and two of the three sites are hard to reach.
- If you would rather not think about the war. There is no honest way to visit this province and avoid it.
Tours that go here
- Plain of Jars, 3 days - from Luang Prabang or Vientiane, from USD 340.
- North to south, 15 days - two nights on the plateau inside the full country route.
Questions travellers ask most
What were the jars for?
Most likely mortuary practice. Human remains, burial goods and secondary burials have been found around and under them, which supports the idea that bodies were placed in the jars during decomposition and the bones interred afterwards.
Local tradition says they were made to brew rice wine for a giant's victory feast, and your guide will tell you that version too, because it is part of the place.
Is it safe?
At the cleared sites, on the marked paths, yes. Clearance organisations have worked the visited sites for decades and the boundaries are well marked.
Off the paths and away from the sites, the province still has unexploded ordnance in it and people are still injured every year. Follow your guide exactly.
Are two nights enough?
Yes. One full day covers the three open sites and the MAG centre, and a half day covers Muang Khoun on the way out.
A third night only makes sense if you are continuing east into Vietnam and want to break the journey.
Do we need to fly?
No, but from Vientiane the drive is nine hours and the flight is forty minutes, so most people do one leg by air.
From Luang Prabang the road is seven hours and genuinely good, and we would drive it rather than fly.
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