I drove from Western Laos over to the eastern town of Vieng Xai, on the Vietnam border. The road was a pleasure to ride, single lane though jungle, across ridges and winding over mountains. Many small road side villages have been built as the local move out of isolated jungle villages.
Vieng Xai was used as the base for the Pathet Lao, who was the communist group that fought the Royalist Government from the 1950s. The Pathet Lao were supported by the North Vietnamese, Chinese and Russians, which caught them in a proxy war between the Cold War superpowers. In 1964 the US started dropping bombs on Lao with 2 million tonnes dropped on Lao over nine years – 10 tonnes per km2. To protect them from the US bombardment the Pathet Lao lived in limestone caves. Up to 23,000 people lived in the caves, which contained a hospital, a school, Pathet Lao offices, bakeries, shops and even a theatre.
I drove from Western Laos over to the eastern town of Vieng Xai, on the Vietnam border. The road was a pleasure to ride, single lane though jungle, across ridges and winding over mountains. Many small road side villages have been built as the local move out of isolated jungle villages.
Vieng Xai was used as the base for the Pathet Lao, who was the communist group that fought the Royalist Government from the 1950s. The Pathet Lao were supported by the North Vietnamese, Chinese and Russians, which caught them in a proxy war between the Cold War superpowers. In 1964 the US started dropping bombs on Lao with 2 million tonnes dropped on Lao over nine years – 10 tonnes per km2. To protect them from the US bombardment the Pathet Lao lived in limestone caves. Up to 23,000 people lived in the caves, which contained a hospital, a school, Pathet Lao offices, bakeries, shops and even a theatre.
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