The Plain of Jars is one of the great archaeological puzzles of Southeast Asia: hundreds of carved stone jars, some taller than a person and weighing several tonnes, scattered across hillsides and meadows of the Xieng Khouang plateau in northern Laos.
Archaeologists have connected the jars with Iron Age funerary practices dating back somewhere around two thousand years or more. Human remains, beads and tools have been found near them, and the leading theory is that bodies were placed in the jars to decompose before the bones were buried. Who carved them, and exactly why in this place, is still uncertain. UNESCO listed the jar sites in 2019, recognising both their mystery and their fragility.
The other history of this plateau is harder and more recent. Between 1964 and 1973, during the Vietnam War and the so-called Secret War in Laos, this region was bombed relentlessly by the United States, and Laos remains, per capita, one of the most heavily bombed countries in history. Unexploded cluster bombs still lie in the fields. The jar sites open to visitors have been cleared by organisations such as the Mines Advisory Group, and marked paths show where it is safe to walk. Stay on them without exception. Bomb craters are visible all around, and you may see shell casings used as house posts and planters in the villages.
The riding is rewarding and rough. From Phonsavan, roads fan out across the plateau, mostly paved on the main routes but quickly turning to red dirt and gravel on the way to outlying sites, which become slick and rutted in the rainy season from about May to October. The altitude, around a thousand metres, makes the air pleasant compared to the lowlands, and mornings in the dry season can be truly chilly.
Muang Phônsavan, some thirty-five kilometres away, is the only real base, with fuel stations, guesthouses, restaurants and the information centre of the Mines Advisory Group, which explains the bombing and the clearance work and is well worth an hour. Fill up there, carry water, and ask locally about the state of the tracks before setting out.