Why this ride
The stops in between: Site 25, Site 21, Site 2 and Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang - Plai. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,250 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Site 28 and Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang - Plai
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 248 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 17
- 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 28
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.
Read the complete Site 28 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Site 28 is where the day begins. Next is Site 25.
2. 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 comes up about 34 km into the recorded legs. Next is Site 21.
3. 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
about 67 km into the recorded legs you reach Site 21. Next is Site 2.
4. 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
Site 2, about halfway. Next is Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang - Plai.
5. 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 sits at 96 km, about halfway. Next is back through Site 2.
6. 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
back through Site 2 comes up about 143 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Site 21.
7. 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
about 181 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Site 21. Next is back through Site 25.
8. back through 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
back through Site 25, late in the day. Next is Site 28.
9. Site 28
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Site 28 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 248 km.
Leg by leg
Site 28 to Site 25
Site 28 → Site 25 is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
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 back through Site 2
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 back through Site 25
back through Site 21 → back through Site 25 is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Site 25 to Site 28
back through Site 25 → Site 28 is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Site 25 and Site 2 · 142 km
- Site 25 and Site 42 (237 km) · 280 km
- Site 2 and Site 28 · 182 km