Hundreds of huge stone jars lie scattered across the grassy hills around Phonsavan, some tall enough to hide a person, some tipped on their sides, some with stone lids lying beside them. Nobody is entirely sure who made them. Archaeologists date them to the Iron Age, roughly two thousand years ago or more, and connect them with burial practices, since human remains and grave goods have been found around them. Local legend has a more cheerful version, saying they were made to brew rice wine for a victory celebration of giants. Since 2019 the Plain of Jars has been a World Heritage Site.
The hills tell a darker story too. During the war in Indochina, Xieng Khouang province was bombed relentlessly by the United States between the mid-1960s and early 1970s, and unexploded cluster munitions still lie in the fields. Clearance teams have made the main jar sites safe, and white and red marker stones show the cleared paths; staying between them is not optional. In Phonsavan, displays run by clearance organisations explain the scale of the problem and the work still being done, and they are worth an hour of anyone's time.
The plateau sits at over a thousand metres, which means cool nights, fresh mornings and a climate quite different from the steamy lowlands. Route 7 leads up here from the junction with Route 13, the main north-south artery, and the ride is a long, beautiful slog through mountains, with endless bends, steep climbs, Hmong villages along the ridges and trucks grinding slowly uphill. Surfaces range from fair tarmac to potholed stretches and occasional landslides in the rainy season, from May to October. The dry months, November to April, are the time to come, with clear skies and golden grass.
Phonsavan is the only real town on the plateau, with fuel, guesthouses, restaurants and small mechanics who can fix most things on a small bike. The jar sites themselves are a few kilometres out, connected by dusty roads. Try a bowl of noodle soup in the market, keep cash in kip for entry fees, and bring a warm layer for the evenings.