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You can visit the leaders’ caves every day Buy your ticket from the Cave Office in Viengxay. A short walk from the central market/bus stop A local guide will accompany you to the sites; which are spread around the town and nearby countryside, and introduce you to the history of the area, You could spend two days or more in Viengxay exploring the cave sites , of which the largest is the Hospital Cave at Xieng luang on the road to the Viet Nam border.
Xam Neua is famous for beautiful silk and cotton weaving. Traditional patterns have legends woven within their designs, and modern stories are now being told through weaving, developing a new tradition, traveling in the province you will see women weaving on looms under their stilted houses, and you can visit villages which have special reputations for high quality fabrics.
In Hintang Archaelogical Park, nominated as a World Heritage Site, you can visit standing stones which are around 2,000 years old, The origins of the stones, associated
With better know Phain of jars in Xieng Khouang, are still being studied.
A key stopping point along Route 1. the small town of Viengthong has simple guesthouses and restaurants. Close to the town you can visit a complex of hot springs which are particularly well used in the cooler winter months.
From Viengthong you can visit the Nam Et/Phou Loei National Protected Area. The NPA office displays information about the area images of its resident tigers and other predators The Nam Xam NPA is not currently accessible.
Houaphanh is a mountainous province with stunning scenery and a unique mixture of cultural traditions. In the past it was difficult to dramatic terrain. Isolation has contributed to being Lao’s least developed province. Roads are now being upgraded, and you can be amongst the first travelers to visit this magnificent area, mostly unknown to tourists. From Houaphanh you can travel throughout Laos and on to Viet Nam.
The fascinating history of the area over the past 2,000 years up to the present day can be glimpsed in archaeological sites and in Viengxay, the “Hidden City” of the 1960s and 70s and the birthplace of the present day Lao PDR.
Viengxay is the location of the “Hidden City” - a network of caves used by the Pathet Lao (the Lao revolutionary movement) - the site of an unprecedented but little known episode in world history.
As the United States tried to halt what it saw as the expansion of communism after World War II, Laos became caught up in a secret war. The US set out to destroy the Lao revolutionary movement whilst denying any military involvement in the country. In the early 1960s, the Pathet Lao moved its headquarters from Vientiane to Houaphanh. In an effort to destroy the Pathet Lao’s new command centre, the US embarked on an aerial bombing campaign that would last for 9 years (1964—1973). To escape from the onslaught, around 23,000 people took to Viengxay’s caves and constructed the “Hidden City”.
Caves throughout the area became part of the city and were set up for use as Government ministries, markets, factories. A hospital complex cared for the injured and dying, whilst an underground theatre cave helped maintain morale, hosting visiting performers from abroad.
The Lao Government is now opening up the caves to international visitors, to explain what occurred over this astonishing period of world history and ensure future generations of Lao citizens understand their past.
Visitors to Viengxay today can visit the leaders’ caves, some of which still contain their personal possessions. After exploring the caves, you can sit in the leafy, tranquil gardens and admire the stunning scenery around Viengxay. In this peaceful setting, it is hard to comprehend the traumatic history of the “Hidden City”.
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