Phonsavan: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Across the high plateau around Phonsavan lie more than two thousand great stone jars, scattered in groups on hills and in fields. They were cut from rock during the Iron Age, and most archaeologists now think they had to do with the dead; the local legend says a giant king brewed rice wine in them to celebrate a victory. Who carved them, and what exactly they held, is still not settled. The sites lie in land bombed heavily in the war, so keep to the paths marked as cleared, and give the three main sites a full day.
A short history of Phonsavan
Phonsavan is a young town, built as the new capital of Xieng Khouang Province after the old capital was destroyed in the war. Between 1964 and 1973 the United States dropped more bombs on Laos than were dropped on Germany and Japan combined in the Second World War, and this province was among the hardest hit; unexploded cluster bombs are still found in the fields. Scattered around the town are hundreds of huge stone jars, the "Plain of Jars", probably carved between 500 BC and AD 500 and used for burial. In 2019 they were declared a World Heritage Site.
The ten best sights in Phonsavan
1Plain of Jars Site 1The biggest and easiest site, ten minutes from town; stay on the cleared paths
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2Plain of Jars Visitor Center
Tickets and a short exhibition at the gate of Site 1
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3Plain of Jars Site 2
Jars on two wooded hilltops, 25 km south; a short steep walk up
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4Plain of Jars Site 3
Reached on foot across rice fields from the road; the prettiest walk
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5Plain of Jars Site 52
The site with the most jars, far east and only on foot; go with a local guide
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6MAG UXO Visitor Centre
The story of the bombing and the bomb clearance; the films are hard but essential
7QLA UXO Information CenterRun for the survivors of bomb accidents; buying their crafts helps them directly
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8Xiengkhouang Provincial Museum
Local history and the Phuan people, near the provincial offices
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9Tham Piew Cave
A cave where villagers sheltered from the bombing, 45 minutes east; a sad, quiet place
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10Muang Khoun
The old capital, flattened in the war, 30 km south-east
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Phonsavan →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Phonsavan:
Free walking tours in Phonsavan
The Plain of Jars
Across the high plateau around Phonsavan lie more than two thousand great stone jars, scattered in groups on hills and in fields. They were cut from rock during the Iron Age, and most archaeologists now think they had to do with the dead; the local legend says a giant king brewed rice wine in them to celebrate a victory. Who carved them, and what exactly they held, is still not settled. The sites lie in land bombed heavily in the war, so keep to the paths marked as cleared, and give the three main sites a full day.
- Plain of Jars Visitor Center · The paths through the sites were cleared of bombs by the charity MAG, and they are marked by small concrete posts painted half white and half red. The white side faces the cleared ground; the red side faces land nobody has checked.
- Plain of Jars Site 1 · In the 1930s the French archaeologist Madeleine Colani studied the jars and found burnt human bones and beads in a cave at the edge of this site, which led her to see the jars as part of a burial rite. The Plain of Jars was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019.
- Russian Tank · The plain was fought over on the ground for years, between the Pathet Lao with their North Vietnamese allies on one side and the Royal Lao army and the Hmong forces of General Vang Pao on the other. This Soviet-made tank was left where it stopped.
- Plain of Jars Site 2 · The jars here stand on two hilltops on either side of a path, under trees whose roots have grown into some of them and split them. A few stone discs lie near the jars; some researchers think they were lids, others that they marked burials.
- Plain of Jars Site 3 · To reach the jars you leave the car in the village and walk along the dykes of the rice fields, over a small stream. Many of the jars on this hill are broken, some by time and some by the bombing.
- Plain of Jars Site 52 · Site 52 holds more jars than any other known site, strung out along a ridge in the forest. No road reaches it, so it is walked from the village of Ban Phakeo, and few visitors ever see it.
The bombs that stayed
Between 1964 and 1973 the United States dropped over two million tonnes of bombs on Laos, in a war that was officially never fought there, and Xieng Khouang was one of the most heavily hit provinces. Among them were hundreds of millions of cluster bomblets, and a large share never went off; they still kill and maim farmers and children every year. This route goes from the clearance centres in town to the villages that lived through it and the old capital that was erased. It is a heavy day, and an important one.
- MAG UXO Visitor Centre · MAG, the Mines Advisory Group, is a British charity that has been clearing unexploded bombs in Laos since 1994. On average, a bombing mission flew over Laos every eight minutes, day and night, for nine years.
- QLA UXO Information Center · The Quality of Life Association is a Lao group that supports people injured by old bombs, many of them farmers hit while ploughing, or children who picked up a bomblet the size of a ball. Some survivors work at the centre and tell their own stories.
- Ban Napia · After the war villagers here began melting down the aluminium of the bombs and wrecked aircraft that littered their fields, and cast it into spoons in moulds of wood and ash. They still sell them, and bracelets, at their doors.
- Tham Piew Cave · Hundreds of villagers lived in this cave to hide from the air raids. In 1968 a rocket fired from an aircraft into the mouth of the cave killed more than 370 people inside, most of them women and children.
- Muang Khoun · Muang Khoun was the capital of the Phuan kingdom of Xieng Khouang, with dozens of temples. It was bombed almost flat in the war, and afterwards the provincial capital was moved to the new town of Phonsavan.
- Wat Phia Wat · The bombing left only the brick pillars and the base of the temple, with the great seated Buddha at the end of it still in place. It is now a place of worship again, open to the sky.
Silk, markets and the old kingdom
Phonsavan itself is a young town, built after the war along one long main road, but the plateau around it has a much older life. The Phuan people ruled a small kingdom here for centuries, and the Hmong came into the hills in the 19th century; both still live here, with Lao and Khmu neighbours. This route takes a slow day through the markets, a silk farm and the stupa of the old capital. It is the gentle counterweight to the war route.
- Phonsavan Wet Market · Sticky rice is the everyday staple of Laos, steamed in woven bamboo baskets and eaten by hand, rolled into a ball. In the market it is sold by the bag, next to river fish, forest mushrooms and greens.
- Dry Goods Market · The Hmong decorate their clothes with fine embroidery and appliqué, the story cloths and collars that are made for the Hmong New Year. Phonsavan holds one of the biggest Hmong New Year festivals in Laos, at the end of the year.
- Mulberries Organic Silk Farm · The farm belongs to Mulberries, a fair-trade project founded by the weaver Kommaly Chanthavong, who fled the bombing of Xieng Khouang as a girl. Visitors see the whole chain, from the mulberry leaves the silkworms eat to the dyeing and weaving.
- Xiengkhouang Provincial Museum · The Phuan are a Tai people whose kingdom of Xieng Khouang sat between Laos and Vietnam and paid tribute to both. Its last rulers lost power in the 19th century, after the region was raided and its people deported.
- That Foun · The stupa is said to hold relics of the Buddha. The hole in its side was dug by Chinese Haw raiders in the late 19th century, searching for the treasure they believed was hidden inside.
- Tad Lang Waterfall · The waterfall lies in the same valley as Jar Sites 2 and 3, so it fits the day as a cool stop on the way back. Local families come here to picnic on weekends.
Getting to Phonsavan and getting around
- Xieng Khouang Airport · Lao Airlines flies here from Vientiane; the airport sits right beside Jar Site 1
- Xiengkhouang Bus Station · Buses and minivans to Luang Prabang, Vientiane and Vang Vieng leave from here, west of town
Cheap eats in Phonsavan
The quick meal in Phonsavan is a bowl of noodle soup, fer, with a plate of fresh herbs and limes to add yourself, or grilled meat with sticky rice from the market. Because of the Vietnamese border close by, there is good pho and Vietnamese coffee, thick and sweet with condensed milk. The town also has a few backpacker cafés on the main road. Prices are low, and in kip.
- Noodle Shop · Noodle soup on the main road, about 30,000-45,000 kip
- Hùng Thành · Vietnamese pho and rice dishes, about 30,000-50,000 kip
- Phonsavan Wet Market · Grilled meat and sticky rice to take away, about 10,000-30,000 kip
- Bakery Tom & Jerry · Bread, cakes and coffee, about 15,000-40,000 kip
- Cafe Amazon · Thai chain café with air-con, coffee about 25,000-40,000 kip
- Simmary · Lao and Western plates on the main road, about 40,000-80,000 kip
Museums in Phonsavan
- MAG UXO Visitor Centre · Free; evening film screenings on the bombing and clearance
- QLA UXO Information Center · Survivors' stories and crafts for sale
- Xiengkhouang Provincial Museum · The province's history, from the jars to the war
- Plain of Jars Visitor Center · A short exhibition on the jars before Site 1
Holy places in Phonsavan
- Wat Phia Wat · The seated Buddha among the ruined pillars at Muang Khoun
- That Foun · The old stupa above Muang Khoun, with the treasure hunters' hole
- Wat Banthern · A working temple in town; come at dawn for the monks' alms round
- Wat Suntiphab · A quiet temple on the east side of town
Things to do in Phonsavan with kids
- Mulberries Organic Silk Farm · Watch silkworms munch leaves and spin cocoons
- Plain of Jars Site 1 · Find the biggest jar, and peek into the cave
- Ban Napia · Watch a spoon being cast, and buy one
- Russian Tank · A real tank by the road; look, but do not wander off the road
- Tad Lang Waterfall · Paddling and a picnic after the jar sites
Where to eat in Phonsavan
- Craters · Western and Lao dishes among old bomb casings
- Bamboozle · Lao and Western food, a traveller favourite on the main road
- Nisha · Indian curries and breads
- QueenQueen Restaurant · Lao dishes in the centre
- Phonxay Restaurant · Lao and Vietnamese food on the main road
- Lakeside cuisine · Dinner by the small lake in town
Frequently asked questions about Phonsavan
What is there to see in Phonsavan?
The top sights in Phonsavan are Plain of Jars Site 1, Plain of Jars Visitor Center and Plain of Jars Site 2. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Phonsavan?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Phonsavan without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Phonsavan?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Phonsavan, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The Plain of Jars.
How do you get to Phonsavan and get around?
The main ways are Xieng Khouang Airport and Xiengkhouang Bus Station. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Phonsavan, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Phonsavan that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Phonsavan for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.