Plain of Jars needs a map

XIENG KHUANG Xieng Khuang’s Department of Heritage faces a challenge; its maps lack detail.

That is essential for the Plain of Jars. Its close to becoming the next UNESCO World Heritage site in Laos and possibly the only site  in a location littered with unexploded ordinances, leftovers of a US-led secret war in the early 1970s.

Having a map to show the public tracks to the famous jar sites would be a life-saver literally for tourists.

Vientiane Times quoted the province’s Department of Heritage general director, Bounthieng Siripraphanh, saying the big task is to create a detailed map of the boundaries and tracks and to remove all unexploded ordnance from the area.

The government first considered submitting the Plain of Jars to UNESCO for consideration as a world heritage site back in 1998, believing it to have outstanding universal value. Several related documents were finalised in 2009.

Now officials are confident that by 2018 the proposal to designate the Plain of Jars a World Heritage site should gain UNESCO approval.

In the meantime a detailed map of the Plain of Jars would ensure visitors do not stray from the trails and stumble on mines left behind by the US Army.

The Department of Heritage hopes that the Plain of Jars will become the country’s third world heritage site following in the footsteps of Luang Prabang and the Vat Phou temple complex in Champasak province.

The centuries-old Plain of Jars is a megalithic archaeological landscape thought to date back 2,500 to 3,000 years.  The biggest of the jars are more than 3 metres tall with circumferences of around 8 metres.

The province borders Luang Prabang to the northwest, Houaphan to the northeast, Vietnam to the east, Bolikhamsai to the southeast, and Vientiane to the southwest.