|
The 15km-wide stretch of grassy meadows and low rolling hills around Phonsavan takes its name from the clusters of chest-high funerary urns found there. Scattered across the Plain of Jars and on the hills beyond, the ancient jars, which are thought to be around two thousand years old, testify to the fact that Xiang Khouang province, with its access to key regional trade routes, its wide, flat spaces and temperate climate, has been considered prime real estate in Southeast Asia for centuries. The largest jars measure 2m in height and weigh as much as ten tonnes. Little is known about the iron-age megalithic civilization that created them, but in the 1930s bronze and iron tools as well as coloured glass beads, bronze bracelets and cowrie shells were found at the sites, leading to the theory that the jars were funerary urns, originally holding cremated remains. More recent discoveries have also revealed underground burial chambers. During the Second Indochina War , the region was bombed extensively between 1964 and 1973. American planes levelled towns and forced villagers to take to the forest, as the two sides waged a bitter battle for control of the Plain of Jars, which represented a back door to northern Vietnam. The Plain was transformed into a moonscape, the treeless flatlands and low rolling brown hills pockmarked with craters leaving a lasting impression on those who fly over it into Phonsavan.
Your Tip for Plain of Jars
Help other backpackers! Write your own guides and backpacking tips to Plain of Jars - they will appear instantly on this page - Please only write a tip/guide to Plain of Jars - visit the main Plain of Jars forum to ask a question!
Please do not post links to your site here (they won't work) - please use the Plain of Jars webguide section below! Thanks.
|
