The Plain of Jars is located on the Xieng Khouang Plateau in north-central Laos, and is comprised of thousands of stone jars in about 300 clusters from 1-3 meters in height.
Local legend claims the jars were constructed to distill an alcoholic brew to celebrate a victorious military campaign over an ancient king. However, archaeological evidence suggests that the jars are funerary urns, carved by Bronze Age people around 2,000 years ago.
Due to its strategic location, the Plain of Jars played a pivotal role in the Second Indochina War and was the site of many ground battles and intense aerial bombardment. Now, XiengKhouang is a peaceful area with cool weather, vast grasslands, several ethnic minorities, hot springs and caves.
Based on the Plain of Jars' extraordinary heritage, the Lao Government is preparing a nomination dossier for a submission to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre to inscribe the area as a World Heritage Site. The Plain of Jars is accessible by air from Vientiane and Luang Prabang. Overland travel is possible from northern and central Laos and north-central Vietnam.
