DAY 1 : VIENTIANE - PHONESAVANH (-/-/D)
Pick-up at your hotel and transfer to Vientiane Wattay
airport for Lao Airlines flight to
Xieng Khouang. Meet upon arrival at the airport,
transfer to
Phonesavanh,
the new capital city of the Xieng Khouang province, and
check-in at the hotel.
The northern province of Xieng Khouang was heavily bombed
during the Vietnam War and, as soon as the plane begins to
descend, one can notice how much of the province is still
pockmarked with impressive bomb craters. The original
capital, Xieng Khouang, was almost totally destroyed, so the
capital was moved to Phonesavanh. Near Phonesavanh is the
mysterious
Plain of Jars, which is soon to be listed by UNESCO as a World
Heritage site. The jars weigh mostly from 600 kg to one ton
but the biggest one weighs as much as six tons. The jars
have been fashioned from solid stone, most from a tertiary
conglomerate known as molasses, akin to sandstone, and a few
from granite. Dinner and accommodation at the hotel.
DAY 2 : PHONESAVANH - VIENTIANE (B/L/-)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Visit the local market where the ethnic
minorities (Thai Dam, Hmong and Phuan) from the surrounding
villages gather every morning.
Drive to the
Plain of Jars, a large area extending around Phonesavanh where
several hundred huge jars of unknown origin are scattered
about in over a dozen groupings. Several theories have been
advanced as to the functions of the jars (burial urns, wine
fermenters, rice storage), but there is no evidence
confirming one theory over the other. However, in the 1930s,
French archeologists found ashes, stone axes, bronze
ornaments and ceramics, which may have been offerings to the
dead. When the Plain of Jars is listed by UNESCO and cleared
from remaining UXOs, further archeological investigation may
bring a clue to all the unanswered questions regarding the
most enigmatic site in Laos.
Picnic lunch en route.
Return to
Phonesavanh
and transfer to the airport for Lao Airlines flight to
Vientiane.
Meet upon arrival at Vientiane Wattay airport and transfer
to the hotel.
End of
Service |
