Why this ride
On the way it passes Site 21, Site 2, Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang - Plai and Site 3 - Group 5. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,250 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Site 25 and Site 3 - Group 5
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 228 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 32
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Site 25
Local legend has a cheerful explanation for the stone jars of Xieng Khouang. It tells of Khun Cheung, a legendary king who won a great victory and ordered the jars carved so that his people could brew lao-lao, the rice spirit, in huge quantities for the celebration. Archaeology prefers a funerary purpose, but the story says a lot about how people here like to see their past, and it is a good one to share over a glass of the real thing in the evening.
Read the complete Site 25 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Site 25 is where the day begins. Next is Site 21.
2. Site 21
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.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Site 21 comes up about 33 km into the recorded legs. Next is Site 2.
3. Site 2
The Plain of Jars is not one site but many, and Site 2 sits on a hillside about fifteen kilometres from Phonsavan, the market town that serves as the base for visiting them. Phonsavan, with some thirty-seven thousand people, is a plain, post-war place of tin roofs and wide streets, rebuilt after the original town was destroyed in the bombing of the 1960s, and the jar sites lie scattered around it, along dirt tracks, in grassland and light forest.
Read the complete Site 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 71 km into the recorded legs you reach Site 2. Next is Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang - Plai.
4. Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang - Plai
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.
Read the complete Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang - Plai write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang - Plai, about halfway. Next is Site 3 - Group 5.
5. Site 3 - Group 5
Site 3 is the third of the Plain of Jars locations near Phonsavan, in Xieng Khouang province in northern Laos, and it is probably the most attractive to visit. The jars, giant stone vessels carved from sandstone, lie scattered across low grassy hills, and at Site 3 there are over a hundred of them spread across several groups. Group 5 sits on a gentle hillside among rice paddies and is a small cluster, reached by a short walk through farmland. The jars are not uniform, some tall and wide with lips, others broken or toppled, and many tilt as if the ground has been shifting under them for centuries.
Read the complete Site 3 - Group 5 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Site 3 - Group 5 sits at 86 km, about halfway. Next is back through Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang - Plai.
6. back through Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang - Plai
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang - Plai write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang - Plai comes up about 138 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Site 2.
7. back through Site 2
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Site 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 157 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Site 2. Next is back through Site 21.
8. back through Site 21
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Site 21 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Site 21, late in the day. Next is Site 25.
9. Site 25
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Site 25 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 228 km.
Leg by leg
Site 25 to Site 21
Site 25 → Site 21 is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Site 21 to Site 2
Site 21 → Site 2 is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Site 2 to Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang - Plai
Site 2 → Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang - Plai is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang - Plai to Site 3 - Group 5
Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang - Plai → Site 3 - Group 5 is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Site 3 - Group 5 to back through Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang - Plai
Site 3 - Group 5 → back through Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang - Plai is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang - Plai to back through Site 2
back through Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang - Plai → back through Site 2 is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Site 2 to back through Site 21
back through Site 2 → back through Site 21 is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Site 21 to Site 25
back through Site 21 → Site 25 is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Site 3 - Group 5 and Site 28 · 192 km
- Site 3 - Group 4 and Site 28 · 190 km
- Site 3 - Groups 1 & 3 and Site 28 · 190 km
- Site 3 - Group 2 and Site 28 · 190 km