Xieng Khouang sits on the highland plateau of northeastern Laos — cool air, pine forest, rolling grassland, and the strangest archaeological landscape in Southeast Asia. !ousands of stone jars, some weighing several tonnes, scattered across hilltops and valleys, carved more than 2,000 years ago and still without a settled explanation. UNESCO listed the Plain of Jars in 2019. Most travellers visit for the jars. !ey leave with much more.
This is the province where the old kingdom of Phuan once stood, where French colonial buildings still mark the road, and where the
Secret War left scars that local communities have rebuilt into daily life. Below is how to get to Xieng Khouang, what to see when you
arrive, and why the province deserves more than the day-trip most itineraries give it.
How to Get to Xieng Khouang
BY AIR · BY ROAD · FIVE ROUTES IN
Air — Vientiane to Phonsavan
By Air — Vientiane to Phonsavan By Air — Vientiane to Phonsavan Lao Airlines and Lao Skyway both fly direct between Vientiane
(VTE) and Xieng Khouang Airport (XKH) in Phonsavan, the provincial capital. Roughly two flights per day, with a flight time of
about 35 minutes. This is the fastest way in. Book ahead during peak season — capacity is small and the route fills up.
By Road — Four Overland Routes
By Road — Four Overland Routes By Road — Four Overland Routes If you have the time, the drive in is part of the journey. Xieng
Khouang is reached by four main road routes, each with a different character
ROUTE 1 · THE DIRECT SOUTHERN ROUTE
Vientiane → Bolikhamxai → !a !om → Xieng Khouang
The most direct overland route from the capital, climbing east through Bolikhamxai province and then north into the highlands
via Tha Thom. Long day on the road, but the most efficient option if you are coming straight from Vientiane and want to
avoid the Vang Vieng tourist corridor.
ROUTE 2 · THE VANG VIENG LOOP
Vientiane → Vang Vieng → Phoukhoun → Xieng Khouang
The most popular overland route, and the one we use most often. North on Route 13 through Vang Vieng, then east at
Phoukhoun junction. You climb steadily through karst limestone country into pine forest. Best stretched into a two-day journey
with a night in Vang Vieng.
ROUTE 3 · FROM LUANG PRABANG
Luang Prabang → Phoukhoun → Xieng Khouang
The mountain route from the north. South from Luang Prabang on Route 13 to Phoukhoun, then east on Route 7. A full day of
mountain driving with significant elevation gain. The road is paved but the bends are constant — not the route for travellers
prone to motion sickness, but visually one of the best.
ROUTE 4 · THE BACKCOUNTRY ROUTE
Vientiane → Bolikhamxai → Xaysomboun → Long Tieng → Xieng Khouang
The route through Xaysomboun province and Long Tieng — the former secret CIA airbase. This one needs preparation. Roads
are rougher, parts of Xaysomboun have restricted access, and a private driver who knows the area is essential. We arrange this
route only on request, and only for travellers with the time and interest to do it properly.
What to See in Xieng Khouang
JAR SITES · OLD CAPITAL · WAR MEMORY · LOCAL LIFE
The Plain of Jars
The three main archaeological sites are clustered within an hour of Phonsavan and can be visited in a single full day. Site 1 is the largest and closest to town — more than 300 jars spread across a 25-hectare field, alongside foxholes and bomb craters from the Secret War. Site 2 sits on two shaded hilltops with 93 jars between them, including one of the rare carved stone discs. Site 3 is reached by a 700-metre walking path through rice paddies and is
the most scenic of the three — fewer jars, but the views over the plain are worth the climb.
Worth knowing: the sites have only been cleared of unexploded ordnance along marked paths. Stay between the white MAG markers.
Muang Khoun — The Old Capital
Thirty kilometres southeast of Phonsavan lies Muang Khoun, the original capital of the Phuan Kingdom and the provincial capital
under the French. It was almost entirely destroyed by US bombing during the Secret War. What survives is haunting.
Wat Phia Wat dates from the 14th century, founded under the Phuan kings to house a Buddha statue brought from Burma. Today
the temple is a ruin — brick columns reaching upward around a large seated Buddha that somehow survived the bombing. That
Foun was built in 1576, contemporary to That Luang in Vientiane, said to enshrine relics of the Buddha brought from India. That
Chomphet stands nearby. Together, these monuments mark a religious history that flowed from Hindu influence into Lao
Buddhism between the 14th and 16th centuries — the spiritual centre of an entire kingdom, now reduced to silhouettes on the
hilltops.
MAG Visitor Centre & Talat Nam Ngum Market
In Phonsavan itself, the MAG (Mines Advisory Group) Visitor Centre is essential. It explains the scale of the bombing — more
than two million tonnes of ordnance dropped on Laos between 1964 and 1973, much of it on Xieng Khouang — and the ongoing
clearance work that makes places like the jar sites safe to walk on. An hour here changes the way you read the rest of the province.
For a different kind of insight, walk through Talat Nam Ngum, the local morning market. Hmong, Tai Phuan and Khmu vendors sell
what the highlands actually eat — bamboo shoots, river fish, forest greens, sometimes wild game. This is daily life, not a tourist
market.
Ban Naphia — Spoon Village e Spoon
A Tai Phuan village where families have been melting down aluminium from downed US aircraft and unexploded ordnance to
forge spoons, since the war ended. Scrap is heated in a woodfired rock oven, poured molten into a wooden mould, and lifted out
as a finished spoon. You watch the whole process. The economy of the village was built on this craft. Many travellers buy a set on
the way out — a piece of the war reworked by the people who lived through it.
Muang Kham & Tham Piu Cave
Further east, in Muang Kham district, sits Tham Piu Cave — one of the most sobering places in Laos. During the Secret War, villagers
from four nearby communities sheltered in this cave to escape the bombing. On 24 November 1968, a US fighter jet fired a single
rocket into the cave entrance. 374 people died — mostly elders, women, and children. Today a memorial statue stands at the foot
of the hill, showing a man carrying a dead child. A staircase climbs past mass graves to the cave itself. There is a small visitor centre
with photographs and survivor accounts. Visit it once, and you will never look at a bomb crater the same way again.
Xieng Khouang is not a destination you see. It is a province you understand only by walking through itwith someone who knows the ground.
How Long to Spend
TWO DAYS MINIMUM · THREE TO FOUR RECOMMENDED
A two-day stop covers the three main jar sites, Muang Khoun, MAG, and one of the local villages. Three days lets you add Tham
Piu and Ban Naphia properly. Four days opens the door to trekking — the Ban Phakeo Hmong homestay trek to a forgotten fourth jar
site in the forest, or the Southern Jar Trek across all three sites on foot.
Most travellers give Xieng Khouang a day. We think that is exactly the mistake worth avoiding.
When to Visit
NOVEMBER TO MARCH IS IDEAL
Xieng Khouang sits at 1,100 metres. The cool season (November to February) brings clear skies and cool nights — pack a jumper.
March and April are warmer and drier but the agricultural burning haze can limit visibility.
The green season (May to October) brings dramatic skies and brilliant green rice paddies, with occasional heavy rain. We run tours year-round and adjust the route to the conditions.
PLAN YOUR XIENG KHOUANG JOURNEY
Ready to see the province properly?
Tell us your dates and interests. We’ll build a private Xieng Khouang itinerary around the way you want to travel — from a 2-day jar sites
visit to a full multi-day journey with trekking, homestays, and the routes most travellers never take.