The biggest attraction of the town are the caves. The former Pathet Lao headquarters of Vieng Xai sit in a striking valley of fertile hills and limestone cliffs riddled with caves, several of which were used to shelterthr Pathet Lao officers during the second indo-china war.
During the 1960s, political developments in Laos were influential in the future of this whole region. The United States believed that Laos was crucial in the prevention of communist expansion, so this small country became caught up in the conflict between the US and the north Vietnamese.
In 1964, the US began what became nine years of extremely intensive bombing of the country, many bombs were haphazardly dropped simply to get rid of them following cancelled missions over Vietnam.