Sam Neau, Viengxai, Phonsavan

Sam Neau, Venice of the North?

The Modern Town of Sam Neau

The Market in Sam Neau

The nine hour bus trip across N Laos was all it was advertised to be, with beautiful scenery as we skirted the largest National Park in Laos.  You could argue that the entire N of the country is of National Park status most anywhere else.  Met up with the German kid, Felix, on the bus, so it was nice to have someone to chat with during the long journey.  We arrived in Sam Neau around 9:30 PM and quickly found a nice guesthouse (Bounhome) for a reasonable $8.50/night.  We were lucky enough to find a place open for dinner at that hour (Laotians tend to get to bed early) where we found a rollickingly drunk group of doctors from the local hospital, all of whom were drinking Heineken.  I guess Heineken is doing its usual marketing job on these people, despite the beer being crap in comparison to Beer Lao.....to paraphrase Frank in Blue Velvet, "Fuck Heineken......Beer Lao!".  I decided to take an easy day the next day and just wander around the surprisingly modern and clean city.  Strong Vietnamese influences and since the HQ of the Pathet Lao was only 20 miles away and the Vietnam border not much further, this town was surely built with a lot of Vietnamese money.  It's not really well set up for tourism as few falangs make it to this remote area and most are simply journeying on to Vietnam.  My purpose (besides the scenery en route) was to visit the HQ of the Pathet Lao between 1963-75, which consisted of a series of amazing caves in the town of Viengxai.  Bit of a hassle getting out there since they stupidly placed the bus station 4 kms out of town and catching a tuk tuk at 6AM was impossible.  I finally went into a gas station and begged a guy in a pickup to give me a lift.  Upon arrival, I met a couple Brits (Ian and Dan) whom I'd seen, but not talked to, in Muang Ngoi and Nong Khiaw.  With the aid of a required guide, we cycled from cave to cave all afternoon.  Really fascinating how they converted limestone caves into living quarters, complete with concrete walls and floors and interior wood framing.  The caves included auditoriums, hospitals, living quarters, kitchens, bathrooms, safe rooms with cast iron doors and hand-cranked ventilation systems......really amazing.  For nine years the US bombed the area around the caves as well as the Plain of Jars villages near what is now Phongsavan; more tonnage was dropped by the US militaryt in Laos than by all the nations in WWII.  This was known as the Secret War and unknown to most US citizens as the military and CIA operatives were sworn to secrecy.  All in all one of the most shameful periods in US history and the responsible parties should have been tried for war crimes.  There is no sane justification for what was done to poor tribal villagers, some of whom didn't even know what the US was before the war started.  The Hmong were recruited to help fight on the US side and as the men were killed off, kids as young as 13 were forced into action, the penalty being that their villages would not receive food supplies if they didn't co-operate.  Ultimately, we allowed a few Hmong to immigrate to the US and left the rest to face a country that hated them.  Many wound up in dingy refugee camps in Thailand. The older I get, the angrier I get.  Here's a clip from a film everyone should see, called The Most Secret Place on Earth:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fLE6LqXNOg

Keeping the World Safe for Democracy and Making Friends

Beautiful Viengxay Valley

Quite Naxai II Guesthouse

Safe Room with Filtration System in Caves

Cave Barracks

We had all hoped to stay in Viengxai a few more days, but poor weather and a lack of decent bicycles led the English guys and I to the bus station in the early morning for the 12 hour journey to Phonsavan.  More about Phonsavan in the next blog entry.