Tham Piu (The Missile Cave)

[bsacbob]

If you base yourself in Phonsavan there are many cultural and historical sites with easy daily riding distance, one of these sites is Tham Piu Cave which is a memorial site of the 374 civilians who lost their lives after an American missile attacks killed all the the occupants of the cave who had been sheltering the from the bombing on the 24th of November 1968.

On my way back from Sam Neau i called to visit as they prepared for the anniversary ceremonies, here are some pictures from the site, as you notice from the narrative in the small museum there is little love for what the Americans did.

The cave is located at N19.67364 E103.56833 and can be accessed via route 1C from the newly graded south road or the east.


Untitled by bsacbob, on Flickr

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The cave entrance, it is said to go back almost one mile.

Untitled by bsacbob, on Flickr

2015-11-19 14.03.19 by bsacbob, on Flickr


View from the cave over the PDJ.


2015-11-19 13.56.18 by bsacbob, on Flickr


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Small Stupa's created by visitors.


2015-11-19 14.17.55 by bsacbob, on Flickr


Pictures from the small museum, some of which are pretty graphic ( sorry about the poor quality of the pictures the late afternoon sun was streaming in the room).

2015-11-19 14.14.49 by bsacbob, on Flickr

2015-11-19 14.14.55 by bsacbob, on Flickr

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2015-11-19 14.38.49 by bsacbob, on Flickr

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part3-img10-3 by bsacbob, on Flickr


2015-11-19 14.42.31 by bsacbob, on Flickr

 

[Lone Rider]

If you base yourself in Phonsavan there are many cultural and historical sites with easy daily riding distance, one of these sites is Tham Piu Cave which is a memorial site of the 374 civilians who lost their lives after an American missile attacks killed all the the occupants of the cave who had been sheltering the from the bombing on the 24th of November 1968.

On my way back from Sam Neau i called to visit as they prepared for the anniversary ceremonies, here are some pictures from the site, as you notice from the narrative in the small museum there is little love for what the Americans did.

The cave is located at N19.67364 E103.56833 and can be accessed via route 1C from the newly graded south road or the east.

Some more info on the number of people who died in the cave (Source: About-Xiengkhouang-things-see-and-do):

Tham Piew served as a safe place for villagers during the war but one day it was bombed and at least 1 of the 4 bombs entered the cave killing all (473 people) inside the cave. While generally the information indicates that the dead were all villagers, other sources indicate that the cave was also used as a school and hospital for both Lao and Vietnamese people. This source (http://www.laoworld.net/index.php?document_srl=19458&mid=where_to_go) indicates that 374 Lao people and 99 Vietnamese people lost their lives.