The Past > Voices of Viengxay and Audio Tour

During 2008, the Voices of Viengxay oral history interview and archive project was undertaken by the Viengxay Caves Visitor Centre with the support of the LNTA, UNWTO, SNV and sponsors.

During the 1960s people came to Viengxay from all over Laos, and some from other countries, to join the revolution. They lived there for years under almost unimaginable conditions, and they never forget the kindness of the villagers in the province of Houaphanh and the solidarity formed between people from all over Laos who sheltered together in the limestone peaks.

A team including guides from the Viengxay Caves Visitor Centre interviewed more than 40 people who lived in the area during the conflict.

They remembered how they found and built shelters in the mountain peaks, how they worked and fed their families and how they defended themselves in their mountain and forest strongholds. They also remembered friends, colleagues and family members who did not live to tell their own stories.

The interviews have been archived and these wartime experiences, recounted in homes and villages in and near Viengxay and in Vientiane, form the base for the information on this website and the new audio tour at the Viengxay Caves.