The Vieng Xai Caves

In Vieng Xai, a small, cosy village in Laos Stew and I visited the most eye-opening, remarkable and solemn historic sight of our trip.⁣

The Vieng Xai caves are a must visit for anyone passing this way. ⁣

In short we learned about the war in Laos, named “the secret war”. Some of you, like I was, might be surprised to know that this war isn’t totally off your radar – it’s the Vietnam war. Laos, being in the Vietnamese supply chain were unfortunately heavily bombed by the US.⁣

The main headquarters for Loas was set up in the caves where they could house 20,000 people. The Vieng Xai caves became hospitals, meeting rooms, hiding places, bomb shelters, kitchens, wedding venues, bedrooms, an events hall and more.⁣

These caves would be occupied by Laos people as they endured 9 years of bombing. ⁣

In the brilliant audio guide provided it said: “Our officials were of one heart and worked together in solidarity…our motto was better to be a dead ghost than a living slave.”⁣

Between 1964 – 1973 the US dropped 2 million tons of ordnance over Laos. The equivalent of one plane load every 8 minutes, 24 hours a day for 9 years. ⁣

The feeling in the caves is solemn, the audio guide is the best we’ve used and talks you through the history with personal accounts of the attacks.⁣

One bit that sticks in my mind is that Laos managed to capture an English speaking pilot who told them they were ordered to bomb areas with colour. This means all colour had to be erased – t-shirts were soaked in mud, white ducks and chickens were killed and cooking for the day was done during the early hours in the morning. Women worked hard – those with babies simply strapped them to the bodies as they worked. A young administrator had twins – she strapped one to her back and one to her front so she could type official letters.⁣

The prominence of the war is everywhere here – even after 45 years unexplored land mines are still injuring Laos people. @ Vieng Xai