Viengxay

The Viengxay Caves in Houaphanh Province of north-eastern Laos are an extensive network of caves in limestone mountains. Four-hundred eighty of these caves were used by the Pathet Lao during the Second Indochina War to shelter from American bombardment. Up to 23,000 people lived in the caves, which contained a hospital, a school, Pathet Lao offices, bakeries, shops, and even a theatre. The area was home to the communist forces, who were fighting the royalist forces, based in Vientiane. The caves...