Travel Guide Suan Hin

The visit of Huaphan's menhirs, or Suan Hin, is necessary if you have time before you. The site is 6 km from the main road. The best way to get there is to take the bus for Luang Prabang or Phonsavanh, and get down to Ban Phao, where a huge sign shows the site. Then you still have to walk 6 km, unless you find a moped, which certainly will accept you to drive there. The ideal solution would be to rent a vehicle in Phonsavanh. Over 1 500 years ago, people, whose origin and destiny we do not know, erected hundreds of menhirs over 10 km, at the top of a forest in the mountains, in the region now called Huaphan. These menhirs have the shape of narrow blades formed by cut shale plates. Scattered among the groups of menhirs, mortuary chambers have been dug. It was accessible by narrow chimneys equipped with stairs. Each was covered with a huge stone disc of several metres in diameter. In 1931, the sites around San Khong Pan were partially updated and studied by a team of archaeologists, led by the French archaeologist Madeleine Colani. In most of the rooms, we found only alluvial land that gradually filled the cavities. These cavities were originally linked by burial chambers separated by shale walls. Few objects were discovered by the colonial expedition, apart from some rough funeral ballot boxes: some objects of ceremonial stone, as well as several simple bronze bracelets. So far, the menhirs and graves have not delivered all their secrets; they may be discovered by the next generations… Coming from Sam Neua, it is possible to stop at the hot source of Nam Oung located 22 km on the right and, 14 km farther on the left, the waterfall in Phonexai.