The Plain of Jars is a mystery. Thousands of years ago, someone created huge stone jars that sit on an open plain near the town of Phonsavan, not far from the Vietnamese border. Amazingly, some of these jars survived the American carpet bombing. Who made them? Why? No one knows.

The other fascinating story in Phonsavan is how people survived through 10 years of brutal American carpet bombing. Phonsavan is close to the Vietnamese border, and American leaders were convinced that if they dropped enough bombs (one every 8 minutes for 10 years, on average) they could shut down supply lines between the Viet Cong, the North Vietnamese Army and the Pathet Lao. They were wrong, but the death toll was enormous. Locals now make silverware out of American bomb fragments.

The town itself was completely rebuilt from the rubble after the war, and is not attractive. For lodging, I have heard good things about Bed and Breakfast Pukyo Phonsavan Laos, run by David and his wife Sakhone who is also a qualified guide for the Plain of Jars sites and the entire province. Or if they are booked up, there are many other options — you’ll have no problem finding something on arrival.

A detour from Luang Prabang or Vang Vieng to Phonsavan and the Plain of Jars is bumpy and time-consuming: 8 hours by bus each way from Vang Vieng, more like 10 from Luang Prabang. (Add another 2 hours to get between Vang Vieng and Vientiane, if you take a fast express bus.) Much of the road is bad, and the ride is uncomfortable, but the views are stunning. Or alternatively, Xieng Khouang Airport is apparently open again as of January 2025 (several months ahead of schedule) following runway repairs. But double-check that!

If you are doing the 27-hour bus between Luang Prabang and Hanoi (crossing the border at Nam Khan / Nam Can), then you’ll go near here. In that case it’s definitely worth a one-day stop. When buying your ticket on the Hanoi bus, make sure it will go through Phonsavan — it should do that, but in Laos you should always double-check these things.

Another option is to bus, motorbike, or cycle the back roads from southern Laos to Phonsavan. You can start either from Paksan on highway 13 (the main Thakhek-Vientiane highway — 230 km trip), or further south from Lak Sao on the Thakhek Loop (350 km). The roads are paved the entire way. For most of the time you’ll be on Highway 1D. I understand that the daily bus from Lak Sao takes about 15 hours, and you can overnight en route in Vieng Thong or Thathom.

Recently Yves Azemar travelled Paksane - Phonsavan - Phou Khoun which he describes as follows. You could of course also do this in the opposite direction:

Step 1: Paksan to Phonsavan:

The minivan leaves Paksan daily at 08:30 AM, from the intersection of roads 13 and 4 opposite Paksan Park. Buy your ticket the day before or up to one hour in advance in a small shop located on the right of the street, 200 meters from the intersection. The drive to Phonsavan takes 7-8 hours, bumpy but totally bearable.

Step 2: Phonsavan to Phou Koun, and from there to Vang Vieng or Luang Prabang

You’ve probably never heard of Phou Koun, but it’s where highway 7 from Phonsavan meets up with highway 13, Laos’ main north-south highway running from Cambodia almost to China and connecting most of Laos’ major cities.

The ride from Phonsavan to Phou Koun is about 130 km and takes 4-5 hours (it’s a very bad road). Some buses terminate in Phou Koun; others continue on to either Vang Vieng or Luang Prabang. If you need to change buses here, there are 2 daily buses to Luang Prabang at 8am and 8pm — the ride takes about 4 hours. And there are 3 buses or vans daily to Vang Vieng (4 hours) and Vientiane (6 hours) at 08:00, 18:30 and 20:00. In addition to these scheduled buses, there might be additional minivans not running on a fixed schedule. Book your ticket one day in advance or arrive at the bus stop early to get a seat.

If you need to stay in Phou Koun overnight, Yves recommends Thongsavan Guest House, 2 km walk from the city center — 150,000 kip per night with panoramic views of an entire mountain range.

An overview of the Plain of Jars Sites

Site 1 is the closest to town, and the Information Centre is here. It has a large number of massive jars, over 26 tonnes. You will see numerous bomb craters left by the US Air Force. You should absolutely visit this site.

Site 2 (which includes two separate areas) is further from town. Unlike site 1, it is nestled in trees. Most peoples’ favourite site is either Site 1, or this one.

Site 3 (which includes 4 separate areas) is some distance from both town and the quarry. It’s worth seeing, but if time is tight then this is probably the one that you should skip.

For a list of some tours on offer as of January 2025, see here.