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Like Vang Viang in central Laos and Mahaxai in the south, the limestone karst formations in the valleys east of Xam Nua are pockmarked with caves and crevices - a perfect hideout for the Pathet Lao's parallel government. Viet Minh army units began using the caves in the early 1950s and were soon joined by Lao leftists so that by the mid-1960s the Viang Xai area had become a troglodyte city of thousands living in the more than one hundred caves. The inhabitants of the caves would sleep by day and work at night in the fields or in the caves themselves: caverns held weaving mills, printing presses and workshops where American bombs and worn-out trucks were upgraded into farming tools and appliances. On Saturdays, adults would take a break and attend classes of professional, cultural and political courses. After the Paris peace accords were signed in 1973, a few of the cave-dwelling Pathet Lao leaders built houses outside their caves, where they lived until moving to Vientiane in 1975 to take up government office. After 1975, the caves became a "re-education camp" for the soldiers of the Royal Lao government. Viang Xai has long been regarded as a national treasure and a symbol of revolutionary resolve along the lines of Mao's Long March, and recently five caves have been opened up to foreigners. Each of these caves, named after the Pathet Lao leaders who lived there, had multiple exits, an office and sleeping quarters, as well as an emergency chamber for use in case of chemical weapons attacks, kitted out with a Soviet oxygen machine and a metal door. The two-hour tours of the caves usually begin with Tham Than Kaysone , the cave of Kaysone Phomvihane, who led the Lao communist movement from its formation in 1955, and remained head of the Lao People's Democratic Republic from 1975 until his death in 1992. It's around the corner from the tourist office and now has a large brown house and a meeting hall in front of it. Northwest of the tourist office, Tham Than Souphanouvong was Prince Souphanouvong's cave, with a garage grotto for his car and an outdoor kitchen on a natural patio. Considered for years by the West to be the Pathet Lao's most important leader, the Red Prince lived here with his wife and ten children from 1963 to 1973; in 1975 he became president of the new government. Beyond the decrepit grandstand on the north side of town, you'll come to Tham Than Khamtay , the cave of Khamtay Siphandone, now Prime Minister of Laos. It features a kilometre-long secret tunnel - now shoulder-deep in water - that leads to a cavernous chamber, formerly used as a meeting hall and bizarrely, for the odd circus performance.
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