MUANG KHOUN, XIENG KHOUANG PROVINCE, LAOS
Muang Khoun used to be the capital of Xieng Khouang, but between 1968 and 1969 it was completely destroyed. Completely. Shells rained down from the hills for months on end, blew every last building to pieces and killed everybody who didn’t skip town.

Muang Khoun has since been rebuilt (well, as rebuilt as you see in the photo above), save three buildings: A destroyed hospital, a moss-covered stupa and a Buddhist temple. The temple, Wat Phiawat, is incredibly poignant – though the building itself was totally demolished, its Buddha still stands.

This temple, I’m quite sure, is misinterpreted by the vast majority of visitors (six per month in the high season, apparently). American planes caused so much death and suffering in this area that it’s natural to assume Wat Phiawat was a victim of our idiotic foreign policy, and it would be so intensely satisfying to be able to point to that awkwardly smiling Buddha as a symbol of Lao defiance.

But no, alas, I’m pretty sure the Lao did this one to themselves. American bombs destroyed their fair share of Xieng Khouang, but from what I was able to gather ground fighting between the Pathet Lao and Royal Lao Army was to blame for most of what happened in Muang Khoun. No one really seems to remember, though.

(Muang Khoun before the war, stolen off a billboard in the town)