Indochina 2009
Photos by Adam Jones
These photos were taken during two months in Indochina
(Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam) from May to July 2009.
Photo Gallery 42: Laos - Vieng Xai
Our last stop in Laos, some 50km from the Vietnamese border, and one of the most exquisite.
Vieng Xai was the former stronghold of the Pathet Lao forces during the Second Indochinese War. Its limestone cliffs
and hundreds of caves provided the guerrillas and their supporters with an almost impregnable fortress, set amidst
some of the most spectacular scenery in all Indochina. Today the caves are sites of pilgrimage and remembrance --
our guide's father had grown up in them, under constant US bombardment -- and most of the present-day leadership of the
country (now communist in name only) spent at least some time in the vicinity. We also learned that our guesthouse, the
Thavisay Hotel, in a previous incarnation had been a "re-education camp" for those on the wrong side of the power balance
after the Pathet Lao victory in 1975.
I.
The site of our guesthouse, the Thavisay Hotel -- its restaurant visible at the edge of the artificial
lake, which we were told was a series of filled-in bomb craters.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
Photo by Griselda Ramírez
VII.
VIII.
Photo by Griselda Ramírez
This photo and following: inside the caves where some 23,000 guerrillas and civilian supporters
held out through the years of US saturation bombing, 1964-73.
IX.
X.
Our guide, Phivon, serenades us from the proscenium of the "Theatre Cave," where performances
were held for the faithful during the years of guerrilla resistance.
XI.
A tribute-cum-shrine to the former Lao President, Kaysone Phomvihane.
XII.
This photo was taken from the "Anti-Aircraft Cave," where Pathet Lao fighters armed with 88mm guns
waited for the flights of US bombers from their bases in eastern Thailand. I hope they shot down a good number,
but we didn't see much war-scrap in the area, compared with Xhieng Kuang province (see previous galleries).
All photos copyright 2009 by Adam Jones, unless otherwise indicated. These images may be freely used for educational and other non-commercial purposes, if the author is credited and notified. For commercial use, please contact the author. All photos are available in high-resolution versions suitable for print publication.
adamj_jones@hotmail.com