Laos has the tragic distinction of being the most heavily bombed country in the world. During the Indochina war, a country of approximately three million people had more tonnage of bombs dropped on it than were dropped on Germany and Japan during the Second World War. Xieng Khouang was one of the heaviest bombed provinces in Laos during the war and evidence of the destructive power of the bombs is around you at all times. Our few days in Xieng Khouang provided a sobering and poignant lesson on the destructive power of war and the legacy war leaves behind long after the fighting stops.
The small garden surrounding the tourism office in town is completely covered with ordinance from the war.
Bomb materials are so ubiquitous that villagers have incorporated them into their daily lives. The valuable metal is fashioned into almost anything you can imagine:
The UXO also hinders the provinces attempt to raise the standard of living. Numerous potential tourist sites are still not cleared of UXO. Even the trail at the most popular Plain of Jars sight meanders around bomb craters.
One village has become known as the "Crater Village" because it was so heavily bombed. The presence of UXO prevents farmers from harvesting the land that they own, which limits their ability to feed their families and sell their produce.
Wat Phia Wat was a temple from the 16th century that was almost completely destroyed during the war. Amazingly the statue of Buddha survived the collapse of the temple and witnessed the destruction of the old town of Xieng Khouang, which was literally erased from the map. Prior to the war, the town was said to have the colonial charm of Luang Prabang. By 1970 not a single building was left standing and the new town of Muang Khoune would not replace it until after 1975.
Laos' landscape is dotted with caves descending into the limestone hills and mountains. These caves were crucial during the war because they allowed the Pathet Lao and villagers to escape the bombing. Tragically, sometimes the caves were not even enough. Over forty years ago, this cave housed a village and served as a hospital. For over a year, villagers called this cave home. At night they would work in their rice fields and then seek refuge in the cave at dawn. According to witnesses, on November 1968, three planes attempted to fire missiles into the cave which they suspected housed Pathet Lao leaders. The first two planes missed but the third succeeded in firing a missile directly into the mouth of the cave. Four hundred and thirty seven villagers died and local rescuers claim they were unable to enter the cave for three days due to the heat. At the base of the mountain is a small museum and memorial for those who died during the attack.
Thankfully there are efforts being undertaken to remove the terror and hardship that UXO continues to cause the local people. The Mine Advisory Group (MAG) works to educate villagers about the danger UXO poses and to remove UXO from arable land, school yards, medical clinics and tourist sites. To learn more about their work in Laos and around the world you can click
here.
Markers on the path through the Plain of Jar sites that let you know that you are in area that has been cleared of mines.
During our travels through Xieng Khouang province we happened upon a team that was clearing a field only a few miles away from one of the bigger towns in the region.
