19641964–1973 · Xieng Khouang province

The Secret War and the bombing of Laos

A bomb crater in a cleared Lao hillside field beside a stilt hut, a legacy of the 1964–73 bombing — Photo: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (AusAID). CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

While officially neutral, Laos became a battleground of the Vietnam War. The CIA armed a Hmong army against the Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese, and US aircraft flew some 580,000 bombing missions, making Laos per person the most heavily bombed country in history. Villagers lived in caves for years, and unexploded cluster bombs still kill and maim people today.

Sites

Site 1: MAG UXO Survivors and Information Centre, PhonsavanDisplays on the bombing and on clearing the bombs that remain.Map ↗
Site 2: Plain of Jars Site 1Bomb craters and trenches among the prehistoric jars, on a fought-over plain.Map ↗
Site 3: COPE Visitor Centre, VientianeProsthetic limbs and survivors' stories from the rehabilitation centre for bomb victims.Map ↗

Guides who take you there

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Also in Luang Prabang & the Plain of Jars

More from the Cold War

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