With sections of Route 7 deemed unsafe because of bandits, travellers journeying overland from Vientiane and Louang Phabang through Xiang Khouang province to its provincial capital PHONSAVAN are obliged to do a lengthy detour via Route 1 and Route 6. Faced with this prospect, many visitors opt for a flight into Phonsavan, which also gives an unforgettable view of the treeless flatlands and crater-ridden moonscape of the Plain of Jars.

It's readily apparent that Phonsavan, located on the vast expanse of the Plain of Jars and hastily rebuilt in the aftermath of decades of fighting, fared little better than anywhere else on the Plain during the war. Since 1975, Phonsavan has, however, emerged as the centre of life in Xiang Khouang province, a magnet for people displaced by years of bombing, scrap-metal merchants from Vientiane and tourists curious to see the nearby Plain of Jars. The downside though, is that Phonsavan has begun to feel a bit of a tourist trap.

Bomb casings and other hunks of rusted steel stacked against shacks that pass for houses on the main street are grim galleries reflecting the area's tragic past. So many bombs were dropped on the area that the Lao are still recycling the ordnance into cash and everyday goods three decades later. In the town's dry goods market , across from the GPO, a few stalls sell hoes, shovels and other hardware crafted out of sturdy US steel. Although selling scrap is officially illegal, many people in this poorest of nations continue to plunder the wreckage of war. Nearby, several shops on the eastern flank of the market sell Hmong textiles.