The red-gold stupa you see when first approaching the small and historic That Phum Phuk is a 2003 replica. Right beside it lies the brick and stucco rubble of an earlier version, blown over by the force of a US bombing raid during the Second Indochina War. Judging by the ferro-concrete protrusions, that wasn't the 1628 original either. The site is a hillock 3km northwest of the oddly isolated Phouvan Guesthouse, on a stony laterite road that initially parallels the airfield. An obvious set of naga stairs lead up to the stupa from a road junction in front.
