The mysterious Phonsavan – a land strewn with gigantic jars and bomb craters

Have you ever heard of the Plain of Jars near Phonsavan in Laos with over 2,000 stone jars scattered all over a huge area (some of them being 3m high)? And any idea about bomb craters in this terrain left by the Americans during the Vietnam War? The mysterious surroundings of Phonsavan arouse curiosity of many travelers. Life in the villages situated close to the craters goes on as if the bombs have never fallen in that area and the real purpose of the mysterious jars is not 100% confirmed …

In the photo above you can see one big bomb crater. The picture below illustrates 3 craters photographed against a mountanious background.

Phonsavan, the capital of Xieng Khouang province, at first sight seems to be a little dull town in the northern part of Laos. Meanwhile, it’s surrounded by surprising archaeological sites with stone jars increasingly called urns. Why? Most probably they were used to store human remains, although before there was a supposition that it was food, water and wine that was stored there.. The storage of human ashes, however, seemed the most likely, as similar urns were found in Thailand and India, and it had already been confirmed that these were urns used for burial purposes.

How to get to these magical plains? Have a ride on a motorbike (the rental is more expensive than in other cities in Laos: 100.000Kip / 12,50USD  an automatic motorbike for the whole day, but ypu can use 1 motorbike for 2 people) and go to the 3 archaeological sites to see the jars. Remember that you need to sign a ‘contract’ written in both English and Lao language before rental and leave your passport… We started from the site 3 situated 24km away from the city, then we got tempted to see a nearby waterfall, which during the dry season was actually gone (!), then following the signs to the site 2 and then further back to Phonsavan to see the most beautiful site – no. 1 (which is 7km away from the city). The entrance fee to the sites 2 and 3 is 10.000Kip / 1,25USD per site per person, and to the site 1: 15.000Kip / around 2USD per person.

A way to the archaeological site no. 3, first you will cross a wooden decrepit bridge and then you should follow a path through rice fields 🙂

The site no. 3.

Above – the landscape around the site no. 3, and below –  the place where we should have encountered a waterfall…

Below – the site no. 2.

Above – the view from the site no. 2, and below – the site no. 1 (the most beautiful one).

The Plain of Jars is also the most dangerous archaeological site in the world as until today in this area there have been a lot of accidents due to thousands of unexploded bombs, cluster bombs left by Americans during the 2nd Indochina War. Therefore, tourists are not allowed to enter all the archaeologcial sites, they can visit only those that are marked 1-3. Since 1994, MAG (Mines Advisory Group) has been engaged in demining the area, but it is estimated that, unfortunately, it may take around 100 years … It’s important for Laos that the Plain of Jars was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, but this will not happen until the whole Plain of Jars is cleared of bombs thoroughly…

Above you can find one of travel agencies in Phonsavan decorated with guns, shell-cases,mortars, bullets, grenades and a bazooka;)

And now a few ” bomb” facts:

1. During the Vietnam War over two million tons of bombs were dropped on Laos.
2. At those times you could hear bombs falling every 8 minutes, 24 hours a day and incessantly for a period of 9 years !
3. Unfortunately, in this area there are still about 80 million unexploded bombs (30% of them were not detonated during the war).
4. Cluster bombs containing over 600 smaller bombs left after the war still pose a threat to humans.

These figures are frightening and show the scale of the bombardments taking place on those lands. It’s unbelievable that the number of bombs dropped by the Americans in Laos was higher than the number of bombs used during the Second World War!

To see the bomb craters you can easily get to Muang Pek village, which you can reach by motorbike (it’s about  37km away from Phonsavan, and in the opposite direction to the Plain of Jars). After passing the 37km you will have to turn from the main road leading to the village into a path on the left hand side which will take you to bomb-crater field with a beautiful landscape in the background. Just type ‘’bomb-crater field’’ in maps.me application and you will get there without any problems.

If you prefer, however, to go on a ‘package tour‘ with  a travel agency here you can find some details: you will pay 350.000Kip / 32USD for 2 people + you will have to pay for the entrance to all the sites on your own, so the total price would be around 40USD/ for 2 people. In the tour program you will not have bomb craters (you will have to pay more for these because they’re a bit far away) but you will have most probably the Spoon Village (village known for making spoons) and a rusty Russian tank (not especially worth seeing but if you want to see them, you can do it for free on your own). Doing it our way (seeing the 3 sites and the bomb crater field) we paid altogether: 25USD including the entrance fees, motorbike rental and petrol having a lot of fun, we spent as much time as we wanted at each attraction, and we were not dependent on anyone – just instal maps.me on your mobile and you will see how easy your trip will be 🙂 So let’s go! 🙂