Ancient jars, full of mystery

Compared with other notable places in the region, Phonsavan is unusual in that many backpackers and tourists have heard of it, but few visit here. It’s on the map because hidden among its hills are thousands of 1,500-to-2,000-year-old stone jars made by an unknown people for an unknown purpose — Southeast Asia’s equivalent of Stonehenge or Easter Island.

But Phonsavan is difficult to reach over land, and its location is removed from the primary backpacking routes. None of the archeological sites was cleared of unexploded ordnance, or UXO, until 2004. Today, only seven of the roughly 60 sites in the area are safe to visit.

Like anyone who arrives in Phonsavan by air or bus, I was greeted by a cadre of tour and guesthouse representatives vying for my attention. This meant a free ride into town as long as I was willing to listen to the driver pitch his services as a tour guide. Once I was checked into a guesthouse, I opted for two days of exploration: On the first I would see archeological sites on a standard group tour, the next day I would rent a motorbike and head out on my own.

The group tour started the next morning at 9 when a small van showed up at my guesthouse. The driver and tour guide introduced themselves, as did the other tourists. Before visiting the first jar site, we stopped by a visitors center, decorated like most buildings in the area with disarmed bombs, land mines, and other rusted-out munitions dug up from the countryside. The front courtyard was lined with chest-high bomb casings.

As we walked single file into the first site, we saw red and white stone markers on the ground with “MAG’’ etched onto them. They had been placed by the Mines Advisory Group to show where the path was free of UXO. The short walk from the parking lot took us partway up a grassy hill. When we turned a corner, scores of large stone jars came into view. A few muffled gasps came from the group, and I felt my jaw go slack.