Xiangkhouang Province

Xiangkhouang bears the scars of history's most intensive bombing campaign—the American air war over the Ho Chi Minh Trail that dropped more explosives on Laos than all bombs used in World War II combined. The Plain of Jars, a prehistoric megalithic site of mysterious stone vessels, now sits among unexploded ordnance that continues killing farmers half a century later.

The province became collateral damage in the Vietnam War, lying along supply routes that North Vietnam used and America targeted. Xiangkhouang's bombing density exceeded that of any conflict in history, leaving a landscape contaminated with cluster munitions that clearance programs have addressed for decades without completing.

Despite this legacy, or perhaps because of it, the Plain of Jars achieved UNESCO World Heritage status in 2019—recognition that ancient mysteries survived modern devastation. Tourism to the site combines archaeological interest with war education, as visitors see both 2,000-year-old stone jars and bomb craters from the 1960s.

Phonsavan, the provincial capital, was rebuilt after wartime destruction. Today it serves as base for Plain of Jars visitors and as commercial center for a province whose agriculture still faces UXO contamination on farmland. By 2026, expect UNESCO heritage status increasing tourism modestly, UXO clearance continuing incrementally, and development constrained by the war's long shadow.