In the Valley of the Pitchers there are thousands of large stone pots scattered at the foot of the Annam Range that separates Laos and Vietnam.
On the top of the hill, at an altitude of about 1000 m above sea level, are scattered huge jugs of unknown origin with a height of 1 to 3.5 m and a diameter of about 1 m, their weight reaches 6,000 kilograms, and the age is presumably from 1,500 to 2,000 years.
Most of all, they look like the stone stupas of Baba Yaga. The jugs are made of rocks not found in the area. Of course, jugs are a special kind of megaliths. However, the places of accumulation of megaliths (dolmens, menhirs, cromlechs) are usually confined to the shores of the seas, and here it is very far from the sea. So, the stone jars of Phonsavan are perhaps the strangest megaliths in the world.
Little is known about the pitchers. Nobody knows where and how they got here, who made them and why. Some believe that in jugs, like in giant crucibles, the ancients burned the bodies of the dead. There is also a hypothesis that they stored rice or wine.
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In the 70s, Xieng Khouang Province was subjected to massive bombing by the US Air Force during the so-called Secret War. For this reason, a significant part of the valley remains inaccessible to tourists.
The most accessible place is Thong Hai Hin. The largest pitcher in the valley is located here. In total, access is open to three groups of jugs.
Section 1 - 10 km south-west of Phonsavan. It is located in the area of three hills, not far from the military airfield. It has the largest group of jugs - about 250 pieces weighing 600-3500 kg. The weight of the largest object is 3.7 tons.
Section 2 - 10 km south of Phonsavan. There are 150 pitchers on the hills near the village of Siengdi.
Section 3 - 25 km south of Phonsavan. On this site, located between two hills, there are 90 pitchers.
