Explore The Country of Elephants and The Mysterious Plain of Jars

Like Cambodia, Laos also belongs to Southeast Asia. Theravada Buddhism has been the official religion for hundreds of years. Buddhism traditions have been maintained constant and for a long term, so the spiritual values influence the material life of local people very strongly and deeply in this country.

Furthermore, the sacredness is expressed in thousands of ancient temple architecture where the Theravada Buddhism tradition is a mixed ethnic architecture from a hundreds of years ago. Those ancient architectures played an important role in human history as well as in the mystery of people. It’s the reason why the country has attracted a lot of tourists visiting each year to discover and enjoy the stunning temples.

If you are preparing a trip to Southeast Asia to Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand and begin in Vietnam, you can catch the flight to Laos from Noi Bai airport in the north of Vietnam and Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City. If you want, you can book a Ho Chi Minh City tour to travel in Vietnam and catch the bus to Luang Prabang of Laos to save money and get more travel experience. You will spend 4 hours to transfer from Vietnam to Luang Prabang.

Located 30km from the Phone Sa Van village which is the administrative center of Xing province, the Plain of Jars is located on a wide plateau. However, due to the effect of landmines after the Indochina war, there is only a part of the plain revealed to visit and to research as well.

Although the Plain of Jars was discovered over 1 century ago, how they come to be and what their use is, still remains a mystery to us. From the number of concentric circles which these jars are decorated with, scientists have suggested that they were stone jars with lids once, but most of those lips have mysteriously disappeared. Therefore, there are various theories about the origin of the giant jar rocks.

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The first hypothesis comes from the legend of the tribe H’mong and Dao people who live at the end of the Truong Son Range. The hypothesis told that the origin of those stone jars lies in the 6th century, and that they were created for the purpose of aging. However, archaeologists said that the actual origin of the stone jars is completely unlike the legend. According to them, the creation of stone jars, and moving them to another place, should have taken a long time, it may have taken decades.

The second theory told that those stone jars are the burial place for the dead. This hypothesis was discovered by a France archaeologist, Henri Parmentier, when he found locals selling necklaces made of glass and carnelian during fieldwork. He said that they had stolen the necklace along with some other articles from the stone urns. However, these theories have yet to be proven scientifically. It’s the reason why the field still exists and attract hundreds of thousands of curious tourists every year.

Luang Prabang by Legendary Mekong River

Located near legendary Mekong River, Luang Prabang was the capital of Lang Xa country which means the country of elephants centuries ago. Therefore, Luang Prabang has ancient temples as well as old architecture. Because of the purity of ancient Buddhists here, Luang Prabang was always the first choice for foreign visitors when arriving in Laos. Therefore, it would be a major shortcoming if you do not enter on the top of Phousi hill which means Colored Mountain in Laotian language when visiting Luang Prabang.

From the top, you can enjoy a panoramic view of the ancient city. The top of Phousi 80m high. In 1804, Annourot people built a space tower which is a common symbol of the Buddhism of Laos. The tower is 20 meters high. In order to increase the sacredness and mysteriousness of the place, the monks built a small temple and a shrine at the foot of the tower.

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Besides Luang Prabang and Plain of Jars, Laos has a lot of beautiful and awesome places to visit and enjoy such as Vientiane, Xiengkhoang, Thakhek, Savannakhet, Pakse, and Champasak. Furthermore, Laos is quite cheap and easy to travel to, therefore you can travel by your own but if you do not have much travel experience, you should book a Southeast Asia tour.

Featured photo credit: NipponNewfie via pixabay.com

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