Vieng Xai Caves

The remote province of Hua Phan close to the Vietnamese border offers visitors some beautiful mountain landscapes complete with lush forests, narrow valleys, and terraced paddy fields. The region, which only became part of Laos during the colonial era, is home to 22 different ethnic groups who are renowned for the quality of their hand-woven fabrics. 

The province is also famous for the Vieng Xai caves, which were home to the Pathet Lao during the Indochina War. A number of these caves are open for visitors, and you can see the stark living environments and the dark, damp conditions that they had to put up with to avoid being bombed. Chambers were used as schools, hospitals, living quarters and government departments.

A visit to this area combines well with an overland journey to northern Vietnam, as featured in our "Secrets of Indochina" tour.