Laos - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 376

5

UXO IN XIENG KHUANG PROVINCE
The countless mines , bombies (round bomblets) and bombs littering Xieng Khuang
province remain a huge danger to the local people; when travelling in the province (as
elsewhere in Laos), be sure to stick to well-trodden paths. The three main jar sites have been
cleared of unexploded ordnance (UXO), but even so it's advisable to stick to the paths. For
more information about UXO, visit the Mines Advisory Group in Phonsavan (see opposite), or
the COPE Visitor Centre in Vientiane (see p.356).

Nisha Just east of Bamboozle! on route 7 T 020 9826
6023. Bare-bones Indian place serving great dosa, along-
side the usual assortment of curries. In the mornings it's
popular with backpackers, who come for the good banana
roti (12,000K). Daily 6am-9.30pm.
Simmaly Opposite the Mines Advisory Group on route 7
T 030 5727430. This Chinese-run restaurant is always full
of a good mix of locals and tourists. Portions are large and
prices cheap, with great spicy soups and fried rice dishes
going for 10,000K. Daily 7am-10pm.

flatlands and low rolling brown hills
dramatically pockmarked with craters.

WHAT TO SEE AND DO
Of the dozens of jar sites that give the
Plain of Jars its name, three groups have
become tourist attractions, largely
because they are accessible and have a
greater concentration of jars. All three of
these sites can be seen in a day, with
hotels and tour companies pitching them
as a package (see opposite). If you're on
a tour, check in advance if the entry fee
for each site is included in the price. It's
also possible to visit independently;
you can charter a tuk-tuk (around
150,000K for a half day), or rent a bike
or motorcycle (around 20,000K and
80,000K respectively).

THE PLAIN OF JARS
he 15km-wide stretch of grassy
meadows and low rolling hills around
Phonsavan takes its name from the
clusters of chest-high urns found here.
Scattered across the Plain of Jars and on
the hills beyond, the ancient jars, which
are thought to be around two thousand
years old, testify to the fact that Xieng
Khuang province, with its access to key
regional trade routes, its wide, flat spaces
and temperate climate, has been
considered prime real estate in Southeast
Asia for centuries. he largest jars
measure 2m in height and weigh as much
as ten tonnes. Little is known about the
Iron Age megalithic civilization that
created them, but in the 1930s, bronze
and iron tools as well as coloured glass
beads, bronze bracelets and cowrie shells
were found at the sites, leading to the
theory that the jars were funerary urns,
originally holding cremated remains.
More recent discoveries have also revealed
underground burial chambers. During
the Second Indochina War , the region was
bombed extensively. American planes
levelled towns and forced villagers to take
to the forest, as the two sides waged a
bitter battle for control of the Plain of
Jars, which represented a back door to
northern Vietnam. he plain was
transformed into a wasteland, the treeless

Site 1
Of the three main groups, the closest
one, Thong Hai Hin (“Stone Jar Plain”)
- known as Site 1 (15,000K) - just 2km
southwest of Phonsavan, has over two
hundred jars and is the most visited.
From here, a path leads up to Hai Cheaum
(“Cheaum Jar”), a massive 2m-high jar
named after a Tai Lau hero. Nearby is
another group of jars, one of which has a
crude human shape carved onto it. In the
hill off to the left is a large cave that the
Pathet Lao used during the war - and
which, according to local legend, was
used as a kiln to cast the jars. Erosion has
carved two holes in the roof of the cave
- natural chimneys that add weight to
the kiln theory. It may also have been
used as a crematorium.

Site 2
Site 2 (10,000K) is located about 10km
southwest of the village of Lat Houang,
which is on the road to Muang Khoun.
he site is based on two adjacent hills