Getting Here and Around

A long day's drive along Highway 7 from either Vang Vieng or Luang Prabang (about seven or eight hours), the vast plain is difficult to reach. Travel agencies in Vientiane and Luang Prabang, among them Diethelm Travel , offer tours. You'll fly into Xieng Khuang Airport in Phonsavan, which is 3 km (2 miles) outside town. Lao Airlines flies daily from Vientiane for about $100. There is also a paved road between Phonsavan and Pakxan, on the highway south of Vientiane. A trip on this road takes eight hours by bus. Most hotels and guesthouses in Phonsavan can arrange trips to the jar sites for 120,000 kip per person in a shared minivan; you can also take a taxi to the sites for about 250,000 kip.

The bus to Phonsavan from Luang Prabang costs 105,000 kip, and takes seven hours. From Vientiane the cost is 150,000 kip; the trip takes 10 hours or more.