A fence made from US cluster-bomb casings.Credit:Alamy
This was done with the ‘Ravens’,US Airmen who crammed themselves into single-prop spotter planes to direct bombers. Both planes and pilots were stripped of identification,posing as private contractors to maintain the fiction of Laos’ neutrality.
Long Tieng grew into a wild frontier town,characterised by cowboy shenanigans made famous in Hollywood renditions likeAir America. The local bar called the Hooch had a caged bear named Floyd. Floyd drank beer and after a heavy night would retreat hungover into his cave.
Getting to Long Tieng is not simple nor easy. I hire a motorbike in Luang Prabang and spend a day riding to the city of Phonsavan. I visit the Mines Advisory Group Visitor Information Centre. The small exhibition includes an array of bombs dropped on Laos ranging from anti-tank mines to cluster bombs. A timelapse of a map of Laos shows a single dot for each of the 600,000 bombing runs. The pockmarking becomes so dense the map is soon shaded. Laos is per-capita the most bombed country in the world.
Bombs dropped on Laos range from anti-tank mines to cluster bombs.Credit:Kurt Johnson
This exhibition instantly wipes off the Hollywood sheen. It clearly states the evils of an illegal war in which civilians were often on the receiving end of the bombs directed from Long Tieng. That 30 per cent of the bombs never exploded means Laos still lives with the legacy of so much ordnance that it hampers its development as a nation.
Back on the road the bitumen becomes a tricky mix of sharp rock and a cottony layer of dust that cloaks the deep crevices. In the wet season this must be impassible slush. After some near spills the trail evens out,dirt but well graded. Instead of gripping the handlebars for dear life I can now admire the landscape,which is utterly stunning:sierras of jungle-covered limestone karst peaks layered over the horizon to infinity.
It is late afternoon when I arrive and the sun is setting on the runway,nestled along the floor of the valley. Where once Long Tieng lived beside the runway,now much of the town lives on it. A volleyball game is going,couples take walks,cows amble,goats gambol,the former military structure is a place of casual recreation.