Why this ride
The stops in between: Site 23, Site 2, Site 28 and back through Site 2. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,250 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Site 52 and Site 28
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 467 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 8 h 22
- 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 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.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Site 52 is where the day begins. Next is Site 23.
2. 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.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Site 23 comes up about 55 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 157 km into the recorded legs you reach Site 2. Next is Site 28.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is back through Site 2.
5. 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 sits at 233 km, about halfway. Next is back through Site 23.
6. back through Site 23
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Site 23 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Site 23 comes up about 406 km into the recorded legs. Next is Site 52.
7. Site 52
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Site 52 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Site 52 closes the day.
Leg by leg
Site 52 to Site 23
Site 52 → Site 23 is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Site 23 to Site 2
Site 23 → Site 2 is 102 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Site 2 to Site 28
Site 2 → Site 28 is 68 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Site 28 to back through Site 2
Site 28 → back through Site 2 is 85 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Site 2 to back through Site 23
back through Site 2 → back through Site 23 is 96 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Site 23 to Site 52
back through Site 23 → Site 52 is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
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- Site 3 - Group 2 and Site 23 · 248 km
- Site 3 - Group 4 and Site 23 · 248 km
- Site 3 - Groups 1 & 3 and Site 23 · 248 km