Laos Opens Wartime Caves.
Under intensive US aerial bombardment, the caves sheltered many
The caves in the Viengzay district of Laos were home to up to 23,000 people during the Vietnam War when the USA subjected the people to intense bombing raids.
Many visitors to Laos today are unaware of how much the country suffered during nine years of US aerial bombardment during The Vietnam war, a bombardment that was continually denied by the USA during that time and for long afterwards.
But that will soon change, as Laos is about to open the caves that sheltered up to 23,000 people during that time. The Viengzay caves, just 55Kl. from the Vietnamese border with Laos, hid leaders and troops of the communist Pathet Lao, a wartime hideout that included a hospital, a school, a bakery, shops, theatre and government offices.
The caves, like the Cu-Chi tunnels of Vietnam, were a triumph of ingenuity in the face of what many historians regard as the longest and most intensive aerial bombardment in world history. They comprise 480 caves located in the North Eastern Viengzay district of Houaphanh province, one of the poorest in the country, where nearly half the population survive on less than $1 per day. It is a scenically beautiful, rugged mountain region populated by ethnic minority groups.
The Laotian government is trying to promote the caves as a tourist attraction, similar to the Cu-Chi Tunnels near Ho Chi Minh city in Vietnam and the Killing Fields Memorial near Phnom Penh in Cambodia.
Assistance in this development is being requested from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the Netherlands Development Bank and Asian Development Bank.
Travel to the caves is not easy and accommodation is limited, so visiting the site is not easy and requires a deal of advance preparation. The nearest airport with regular flights to the capital Vientiane is Xieng Khouang, a six hour drive away!
See also Linking Laos and Thailand
