CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 232 km round trip from Muang Phônsavan - roughly 3 h in the saddle. The stops in between: Site 52, Site 23 and back through Site 52. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,250 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
The Plain of Jars is one of Southeast Asia's great riddles: across the Xieng Khouang plateau in northern Laos, thousands of huge stone jars lie scattered over hillsides, in groups of a few or a few hundred, some taller than a person. They were carved from sandstone and other rock during the Iron Age, roughly between 500 BC and AD 500, and the most widely accepted theory is that they were linked to funerary practices, perhaps used to let bodies decompose before final burial. Local legend has a happier explanation: the jars were made to brew rice wine for a victory celebration of a mythical king. The sites were added to the World Heritage list in 2019, and Site 21 is one of the many numbered groups in the countryside around Phonsavan.
Read the complete Site 21 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Site 21 is where the day begins. Next is Site 52.
On a grassy ridge in the highlands of Xieng Khouang Province in northern Laos, hundreds of huge stone jars sit scattered among the grass, some as tall as a person, some tipped on their sides and some leaning against each other. This is the Plain of Jars, and Site 52, also called Ban Phakeo, is the most dramatic of the places where the jars can be seen. It has several hundred jars spread over hillsides with wide views across the valley, and it is the one that most tour groups choose. UNESCO listed the Plain of Jars in 2019.
Read the complete Site 52 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Site 52 comes up about 57 km into the recorded legs. Next is Site 23.
Nobody agrees on who made the stone jars of Xieng Khouang, or exactly why. They are scattered over a high plateau in northern Laos, thousands of stone vessels, some of them taller than a person, carved from rock and set in groups on grassy hillsides, dating from perhaps two thousand years ago. The usual explanation is that they were used in funerary rites by an Iron Age culture, and archaeologists have found human remains and burial goods near them, which supports that, but folklore says they were brewing vessels for a giant king's victory feast. The UNESCO listing of 2019 covers a number of different sites, and Site 23 is one of the smaller, less visited ones, so I can tell you about the region better than I can describe the exact spot.
Read the complete Site 23 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 112 km into the recorded legs you reach Site 23. Next is back through Site 52.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Site 52 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Site 52, late in the day. Next is Site 21.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Site 21 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Site 21. That is the ride.
Site 21 → Site 52 is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Site 52 → Site 23 is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Site 23 → back through Site 52 is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Site 52 → Site 21 is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.