America’s secret war in Laos in the spotlight

VIENGXAY, LAOS – A new audio tour launched in a remote corner of Indochina brings alive the story of America’s ‘secret war’ in Laos.

Between 1964 and 1973 America, which was at war with North Vietnam, secretly dropped more bombs on neighbouring Laos than were dropped on Europe in the whole of World War II. 



Over 20,000 people in Viengxay in northeast Laos survived by living in an elaborate network of caves that are now open to the public.

Many of the caves had specialist functions such as hospital, bakery, school, shop, theatre or government office.

A new audio tour of the caves, produced by a Sydney-based company, is now available to tourists visiting Viengxay.

“The creation of the audio tour is of historical significance,” says Penny Street, director and founder of Narrowcasters, which produced the audio tour.

“Forty-nine survivors were interviewed including farmers, doctors, soldiers, nurses, and mothers who gave birth in the caves.

“It is the first time a large number of eye witnesses have been tracked down and their testament recorded for posterity and future use by historians.”



In the 90-minute audio tour survivors recall how for nine years under guidance from the Pathet Lao resistance, they built shelters in the mountain caves, worked the bomb-strewn fields and defended themselves in their grottoes and forest retreats as the earth shook around them. 



Translated interviews, music, sound effects and archival recordings recreate the cave experience for visitors walking round this peaceful site today. 



The audio tour, priced at US$6.50 per person, pays homage to the villagers of Viengxay 

and covers events from late 1950s to the end of the bombing raids in 1973 when peace accords were signed in Geneva.

The audio tour also explains the legacy of unexploded war bombs in the fields of Laos today.

The Laotian government says unexploded ordnance kills about one person a day in Laos. Many of the casualties are farmers, or their children playing in the fields. 



The extensive research, interviewing and translation of the interviews – which are also covered in a new Viengxay website – www.visit-Viengxay.com– required international sponsorship.

The United Nations World Tourism Organisation, the PATA Foundation, SNV (Netherlands Development Organisation), the Australian Embassy in Laos, and private companies in the country all contributed funds or support in kind. 



Flights to Viengxay are now available on 18-seater planes from the Laos capital, Vientiane, three times a week to Xam Nua, a 45-minute drive from Viengxay.

The nearest airport with daily flights from Vientiane is Xieng Khouang, a six-hour drive from Viengxay.



An increasing number of budget travellers have been finding their way to Viengxay from both Luang Prabang and Xieng Khouang on Laos’ public bus system. Some tourists prefer to be driven in from the Vietnamese border, 55 kms away.

Visas on arrival are now available at Nam Meo, the nearest Vietnam border point to Viengxay.

The caves are a 300-km, eight-hour drive from Hanoi.



With difficult access and accommodation choices limited to simple guest houses, Viengxay mostly attracts backpackers. The audio tour has been developed to broaden Viengxay’s appeal.