Plain of Jars first site

An American bomb damaged the cave during the Vietnam War, when the Pathet Lao used it as a stronghold — the surrounding area still has trench systems and bomb craters. The land is littered with metal shrapnel. The town of Xieng Khouang was utterly destroyed during the fighting between the Pathet Lao and American backed anti-communist troops. A new town was built in the mid 1970s, known to foreigners as Phonsavan.