Dien Bien Phu tour, 2 days

Dien Bien Phu is one of the the most remote parts of Viet Nam. For the centuries, Dien Bien Phu was a transit stop on the caravan route from Myanmar and China to Northern Viet Nam. In early 1954, Dien Bien Phu was the site of that rarest of military events- a battle that can be called truly decisive. On 6 May 1954, the day before the Geneva Conference on Indochina was set to begin half a world away, Viet Nam forces overran the beleaguered French garrison French garrison at Dine Bien Phu after a 57 day siege. This shattered French morale and forced the French government to abandon its attempts to reestablish colonial control of Indochina. History is the main attraction here and the scenery.

- Length of the trip                     : 2 days

- Trip Starts from                        : Hanoi city

- Trip Ends in                               : Hanoi city

- Required booking time              : Before 15 hours  in advance for individuals and 5 days in advance for group.

- Rates are net per person  : 165$, for normal tour.

- Rates are valid from 1 september 2008

Details of Tour:

Day 1: Ha Noi - Dien Bien (Meals: L/D)

Pick up at hotel transfer to Noi Bai airport for flight to Dien Bien Phu at 12h00 by VN 492 (Vietnam airlines). 13h20: Arrive DienBienPhu city, tour guide and car pick up at Muong Thanh airport and transfer to hotel. Have lunch.

PM: Haft day tour around the battlefields. You see the museum of Dien Bien with exhibits collected during the fiercest war in Indochina during the 1950s, then we visit the vestiges of bunkers and fortified stations of over 16,000 French Expeditionary troops (including Elliane Hill and De Castries bunkers…). You will also be able to see the headquarter of Vietnamese army (Viet Minh) which lies some 30km away. And finally you will understand why the French lost here and ended their attempt to control Indochina. You will visit A1 hill, Muong Thanh bridge. Have dinner at restaurant, overnight at hotel in Dien Bien Phu city.

Day 2: Pakhoang Lake - Ha Noi (Meals: B/ L)

AM: Haft day of sightseeing or trekking into villages of the ethnic minority Thai people, boat trip in Pa Khoang lake (If it is permitted). Have lunch before transfer to airport for flight back to Hanoi by flight VN 493 at 14h00. Bus pickup and transfer to hotel. Finish tour

Tour price:

Included: Air ticket Hanoi// Dien Bien Phu //Hanoi, Full transportation by private car or bus as tour program indicated, Tour guides speaking English or French. (Other languages are available upon request, Twin-share accommodation (2-star) with daily breakfast, ( A/C room), Meals as quoted in the Program ( B for Breakfast; L for Lunch; D for Dinner), permit, Admission fees.

Excluded: Visa to Vietnam, Departure airport tax, Meals which are not included in the program, Personal travel & medical insurance, International flights to and from Vietnam, All personal & daily expenses, All gratuities and tips to drivers and guides. 

Notes:

What to Bring                       : Passport, towels, swimsuits, toiletries, rain coat, walking boots, sandals or light footwear, change of clothes, sun block, sun cream with a high factor 10-20, sunglasses & hat with a shade, flash lights, insect repellent, first aid kit.

Accommodation                       : MuongThanh Hotel 3 star or the same.

Best Time to Do                       : all year round, best from September to April of next year.

Please Travel Responsibly       : The small things you do will make a big difference!

Booking Terms & Conditions    : Surcharges for peak seasons, Christmas and New Year Holidays, lunar New Year Festival, extras for room, air tickets upgrades shall be applied.

General information about Dien Bien Phu:

A Letter of General Vo Nguyen Giap

President Ho Chi Minh wrote: “The Dien Bien Phu victory is a golden land - mark in the history”.

Dien Bien Phu is one of the most important historical relics nationwide and also of great international significance.

Preserving Dien Bien Phu so that this historical relics can live forever with the nation is a crucial task, which helps to educate heroic tradition and enhance the creativity of generations of Vietnamese people in the course of nation defence and construction. This will definitely intensify the reform process, and give our nation strong and steady progress forward to shoulder with developed nations in the new millennium.

“ On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu victory”.

General Vo Nguyen Giap

Dien Bien Phu

For many people, Dien Bien Phu is always in the mind of the Vietnamese as well as many other worldwide, a great marking point of Vietnam in 1954, broke the French efforts in sieging Vietnam and Indochina.

An attempt to halt Viet Minh (Vietnam Independence Association) incursions into Laos, the French commander, Navarre, decided to establish a "super garrison" at the top end of a valley called Dien Bien. This was to police the strategic cross-roads between Laos to the West, Son La to the South and Lai Chau to the North. He believed that with this base firmly established in the Far Northwest, he would be able to launch sorties against the Viet Minh, and greatly reduce their strength in the area. He was to be proved terribly wrong.

The Viet Minh commander, Vo Nguyen Giap, finally saw an opportunity for an open confrontation with the French and started working towards it. By mid 1953, the base was completed and regarded in French circles as virtually impregnable. With twelve battalions of French, Morrocan and Algerian soldiers, two airstrips, a heavily mined perimeter and surrounded by a number of smaller defensive positions, named Dominique, Elaine, Claudine and Huguette. These were named, supposably, after the four mistresses of the base commander Colonel Marie Ferdinand de la Croix de Castries. The troops within the compound slept fairly soundly at night! The French even went to the extent of flying in an entire brothel of French women to keep the soldiers happy!

For Giap and his comrades, however, the struggle had hardly begun. They embarked on an incredible logistical feat of dragging up, in pieces, various heavy field guns that were then hidden in caves and dense forest cover in the hills surrounding the Dien Bien Phu base. By early 1954, Giap had over 40,000 men in the hills, completely surrounding the base. It was estimated that just to keep Giap’s men fed, over 250,000 porters were used to ferry food.

For the French it was their ignorance amongst other things that led to their downfall. Though they knew the Viet Minh had some troops in the surrounding hills, nothing was done about it, until it was too late. On 10 March 1954, to the horror of the French, Viet Minh shells started landing on the airstrip. Giap possessed a comprehensive plan, first if which was the neutralisation of the airstrips, thus completing the siege. The French were taken completely by supprise, and after the first day of shelling, an assault was made on Gabrielle. By midnight 13 March, Beatrice had fallen. The fighting was fierce, with the Viet Minh often following up hours of shelling with human wave tactics, incurring shocking casualties. At times the fighting was hand to hand and always chaotic, with the French utterly frustrated by their inability to hit Giap’s well-concealed guns.

Within five days, both the airfields had been completely destroyed and the garrison could only be re-supplied by airdrops, an increasingly perilous pastime, proven by the wrecked planes on the ground. As the Viet Minh edged closer and closer in trenches, the airdrops increasingly fell into Vietnamese hands. The position was becoming truly desperate.

At the start of April there was a lull in the fighting during which Navarre parachuted in some of his crack troops adding to his garrison now totalling about 16,000. Giap also brought in his reserves, edging his forces up towards the 50,000 mark. The French were desperate and they appealed to the US for assistance, preferring bomber strikes from their bases in the Philippines. By this stage the US was funding 78% of the French war effort, so they hardly had unstained hands. They came back with a proposal for limited tactical nuclear strikes on the Vietnamese positions along with a series of strikes on China, fearing ‘another Korea’, all of which would be performed on French behalf. Thankfully this insanity was avoided by the British giving the idea a big no and congress getting cold feet. In the end there was nothing forthcoming from the US.

For the French, the end was near. On 4 May following a series of attacks, the Viet Minh attacked with a force previously unwitnessed and by 8 May the garrison finally surrended. By this stage the conditions within were unimaginable, with maggots in the wounds of the injured and an incredibly demoralised fighting force. It was estimated that during the battle 7,000 French and close to 20,000 Vietnamese had lost their lives. This loss finally caused the French to withdraw from Vietnam.

Dien Bien Phu now bears few scars except for the occasional scattered tank to bear witness to its horrendous past, though it is still one of the remotest areas you could visit. The hilltribes living around the area of Dien Bien Phu make up 70% of the regions population, and the ethnic minority groups include the Black Thai, Nung, Meo, Loa and others.

Complex of the Dien Bien Phu Victory Relics

In the afternoon of May 7, 1954, the Flag "Quyet chien quyet thang" was fluttered on the top of the French General de Castries.

The complex of the Dien Bien Phu victory relics includes the names of lands, mountains, rivers going with the 56 day and night campaign of our nation, which makes up Dien Bien Phu victory.

The campaign development in summary:

At 5 p.m, March 13, 1954, we opened fire for starting the Dien Bien Phu campaign. The fight took place fiercely right at the beginning and it was divided into three stages.

The first stage (from March 13 to March 17, 1954): We held the  Him Lam, Doc Lap, Ban Keo strongholds. They are strong defence works obstructing the access from Tuan Giao and Lai Chau into Dien Bien Phu.

The second stage (from March 30 to April 30, 1054): We attacked the strongholds in the Eastern of the central quarter at the same time. The fight took place vigoriously. We had to fight for a single piece of land.

The third stage (from May 1 to May 7, 1954): We won the rest positions in the East and wiped out the whole Dien Bien Phu stronghold. At 5 p.m, May 7, 1954, the French General de Castries and his staff officers at this stronghold were captured alive, and it was the time when the flag "Quyet chien quyet thang" (determined to fight and win) was fluttered on the top of the commanding bunker of the enemy.

  At the end of the compaign, we killed and captured 16,200 enemies, shot at 62 planes of all kinds and confiscated all weapons of the enemy. The Dien Bien Phu historical victory contributed to the success of the resistance war against the French colonists and the liberty of the Northern of Vietnam.

The Dien Bien Phu victory left a number of precious historical relics.

Typical relics: 

1. Him Lam Hill: Him Lam Hill is one of three camps that was defeated right at the beginning of Dien Bien Phu campaign on March 13, 1954.

2. A1 Hill: A1 is a sign that our army gave to a hill. Nowadays, it becomes an immortal name sticked to the victory. A1 Hill is the most important camp of the French colonists in Dien Bien Phu. Here, our soldiers and the French colonists fought for a single piece of land. After fighting fiercely for 56 days and nights, we seized the camp in the evening of May 6, 1954.

3. Bunker of the French General De Castries: It is the commanding bunker of the French General De Castries and the staff at Dien Bien Phu stronghold.

4. Muong Thanh Airport: Muong Thanh airport played an extremely important role in reinforcing for Dien Bien Phu stronghold, which was controlled by our army at the beginning of the campaign. Now, it is being upgraded to be an international airport in the civil airlines system of Vietnam.

5. C1, D1, E1 Hills: They are strongholds to protect the central region of the enemy where many fierce fights took place. They are kept for serving visitors and tourists now. .

6. Dien Bien Phu Museum: A number of objects from Dien Bien Phu campaign are displayed here in the museum.

7. A1 Cementary: This is the place where heroes laid down in the Dien Bien Phu campaign were buried such as Phan Dinh Giot, To Vinh Dien, Be Van Dan, Tran Can, etc.

8. The Command of Dien Bien Phu Campaign - Muong Phang: It is in a primitive forest in Muong Phang commune, Dien Bien district. It is about 25 km from Dien Bien Phu city towards the East. There are many historical relics here such as the commanding bunker of General Commander-in-chief Vo Nguyen Giap and Hoang Van Thai, the working house of the command, etc

The complex of the Dien Bien Phu relics locates in Dien Bien district and Dien Bien Phu town. Therefore, it is very convenient to travel. Apart from the historical value, the complex of the Dien Bien Phu victory relics is also a great human tourist resource that is attractive to national tourists and international tourists as well. Nowadays, the Dien Bien Phu victory relics is admired by tourists and visitors who wish to visit it once.

The Command post of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign

Location: Located in Muong Phang Commune, Dien Bien District, about 35km, 10km as the crow flies, from the centre of Dien Bien Phu City.

Characteristics: Here visitors will find the hut where General Vo Nguyen Giap worked and other huts for information and military operation discussion. 

Major General, Deputy Chief of Staff Hoang Van Thai, deputy head of the Chinese consultants’ group and chief of staff Mei Jiasheng and other officers left Viet Bac for Tay Bac on December 6th, 1953 to make preparations for the Tay Bac Campaign in winter-spring 1953-1954.

On January 5th, 1954, General Vo Nguyen Giap, Commander-in-Chief of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign and head of the Chinese consultants’ group Wei Quojing left for Tay Bac. The General’s first stop was at Tham Pua Cave (Km 15, Tuan Giao-Dien Bien Phu road). This command post had been set up as early as December 7th, 1953. In this cave, on January 14th, 1954, General Vo Nguyen Giap assigned the tactical tasks for different divisions, following the guideline of “sweep attack, sweep victory” under which the battle would last 2 days and 3 nights with the D-Day set on January 20th, 1954. On January 17th, 1954, the Command post was moved to the area beside Huoi He Stream in Na Tau Commune (Km 56+200, Tuan Giao-Dien Bien Phu road). Due to some reasons, the D-Day was changed to the 25th then the 26th of January 1954. At 11:00 hours in the morning of January 26th, 1954, General Vo Nguyen Giap decided to swift from the strategy to “strike swiftly, win swiftly” to “strike surely, win surely”. This military order was sent to all units in Dien Bien. The Command post was situated in Na Tau from January 18th, 1954 to January 30th, 1954.

At night of the 30th and early of the 31st day of January 1954, the Command post was moved again to Muong Phang Commune. It stayed there until May 15th, 1954. This was the third and the last command post of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign. Atop the Phu Ca Mountain, General Vo Nguyen Giap had a watchtower built to get a panoramic view of Muong Thanh Field through binoculars. In this Command post one can visit:

-  Sentry box No. 1

-  Information Center

-  Hut of Reconnaissance Operation

-  Hut of General Vo Nguyen Giap, Commander-in-Chief of the Dien Bien Phu

-  The 96m tunnel through the mountain, connecting General Giap’s hut with that of Chief of Staff Hoang Van Thai

-  Area for Chinese consultants

-  Hut of Chief of Staff Hoang Van Thai

-  Meeting hall

-  Political sector

The Muong Phang Command post successfully bore the historical task of liberating Dien Bien entrusted by the Party Central Committee and Uncle Ho. 

Ban Phu Cultural Relics  and Hoang Cong Chat Temple

Thành Bản Phủ nằm ở xã Noong Hẹt, huyện Điện Biên, cách thành phố Điện Biên Phủ khoảng 9 km về phía Tây. Ban Phu citadel is in Noong Het village, Dien Bien district, about 9 km from the West of Dien Bien Phu city.

This is a wonder of the construction work of Hoang dynasty. The citedal is about 80 ha wide, turning its back to Nam Rom river. It is made of soil and surrounded by a kind of bamboo from Thai Binh province. Arround the citedal is a trench, which is 4 – 5 metres deep and wide. The citedal is wide enough for elephants and horses to walk on. It has four gates: front gate, back gate, right gate and left gate. Each gate has a high watch-tower.

Hoang Cong Chat temple was built in the centre of the Ban Phu citedal (Chieng Le citedal) to worship Hoang descent line and 6 leaders of the insurgent army. It is an important cultural and historical relics in the local to worship the great devotion of Hoang Cong Chat general, a farmer hero, who was born in Thai Binh province, in the resistance war to protect Muong Thanh (Muong Then) from the occupation of Phe enemy. Besides, the temple is also a worshipping place of the local people on the full-moon day, the new year festival, especially in the traditional festival on the 24 - 25 of the second month of every lunar year.

Pa Khoang Lake

Pa Khoang lake locates in Muong Phang commune, Dien Bien district. Its position is very convenient, near the road 279, about 20 km from Dien Bien Phu city, linking Dien Bien Phu city with Muong Phang historical and cultural forest where remains the relics of the Command of Dien Bien Phu compaign.

The Pa Khoang tourist complex has 2,400 ha of total area, in which 1,320 ha of forest area, 300 ha of farming land, 150 ha of basic construction, and 600 ha of water surface area (the lake contains about 37.2 million m3 of water). This area has many favourable conditions for tourist activities such as diverse plants, various topography, good weather, etc. There are a number of animals and various kinds of orchids in the forest around the lake. There are many species of fish and floating plants in the lake (about 65 kinds of floating plants, 14 species of floating animals and 6 species living at the bottom of the lake).

Pa Khoang lake is lying in the centre of ranges of mountains, in a place of beautiful natural sceneries. In spring, mist covers ranges of mountains and small houses which creates a mysterious picture. In summer, the weather is quite nice with blows of cool wind. Visitors can enjoy the natural beauty in the distance or row a boat for sight-seeing. All makes a peaceful and romantic picture that is attractive to visitors and tourists. In the lake region, there are the villages of Thai and Kho mu ethnic groups who still follow traditional customs and habits of ethnic groups in the North West of Vietnam. This is also an intersting human tourist potential.

The landscape along Da river

Starting from Lai Chau town along Da river towards the East, passing Sin Ho and Tua Chua districts, or towards the West, visitors can view imposing sceneries, black stone edges, and high mountains, etc.

On the river banks, there are villages of the ethnic groups. The houses in the distance look like sketchy lines in the natural picture. The windy river is quite suitable for travelling on boat, viewing the landscape, listening to Thai folk songs and tasting local dishes. When the constrcution of the Son La hydroelectricity station is finished, the lakeside area is an advantage for developing eco-tours. It will also become a special type of tourism in the North-west area.

Pha Din Pass

Dốc Pha Đin chị gánh anh thồ

Đèo Lũng Lô anh hò chị hát

(Tố Hữu)

On a drive from Hanoi to Dien Bien province, visitors have to pass Pha Din pass that is about 32 km long. Pha Din means the earth and the sky in the language of Thai ethnic group. According to a legend of the local, it is the place where the sky meets the earth. Long time ago, there existed a deputation on the border between Lai Chau and Son La provinces. It was solved by a horse-racing. Two horses started from each side of the pass and the border was determined at the point where they met each other. The horse of Lai Chau province ran faster than the one of Son La province so the pass belonging to Lai Chau is longer than that of Son La.  At the height of above 1,000m, the pass is full of twists and turns, one side is a upright cliff and the other is a deep gulf. Therefore, visitors will have a chance to enjoy the natural landscape in the North-west area.

The landscape along Da river

Starting from Lai Chau town along Da river towards the East, passing Sin Ho and Tua Chua districts, or towards the West, visitors can view imposing sceneries, black stone edges, and high mountains, etc.

On the river banks, there are villages of the ethnic groups. The houses in the distance look like sketchy lines in the natural picture. The windy river is quite suitable for travelling on boat, viewing the landscape, listening to Thai folk songs and tasting local dishes. When the constrcution of the Son La hydroelectricity station is finished, the lakeside area is an advantage for developing eco-tours. It will also become a special type of tourism in the North-west area.

Hua Pe hot mineral Spring

Hua Pe hot mineral spring is in Thanh Luong commune, Dien Bien district, about 5 km from Dein Bien Phu centre towards the North West. The normal temperature of the water is about 60°C. Next to the spring is Pe Luong lake, a man-made lake, which is windy all year long. It gradually becomes an eco-tourist spot that is more and more atractive to visitors.

Now, Dien Bien province is investing in upgrading the system of road to the mineral spring and in the infrastructure to support the tourist development. Therefore, Hua Pe hot mineral spring will be an eco-tourist spot in Dien Bien province in the near future.

Special local made products

Rice 64 and Dien Bien sticky rice : These are best kinds of rice that are grown in Muong Thanh rice field, one of the largest ricefield in the North West of Vietnam. They are known all over the country and especially popular in such provinces as Son La, Hoa Binh, Ha Noi and other neighbouring provinces.

Sau Chit alcohol : According to local people, Sau Chit is a good kind of alcohol for the health, which have been favoured by the “heads” of villages and group of villages. Nowadays, all of visitors coming to Dien Bien Phu want to taste it.

Dien Bien brocade : Brocade products reflex clearly the cultural and spiritual life of ethnic groups. In addition, they are made by hard-working and skilfull ethnic women. They also show thier suol and feelings through every single designs of such brocade products as costums, Pieu scarves, bags, blankets, matresses, etc.

Rattan and bamboo plainted products: In every day life, the ethnic people have used natural materials to make useful objects. They are also very nice souvenirs for tourists such as rattan desks, chairs, baskets, etc. Coming to Dien Bien Phu, visitors will feel the greatness of Dien Bien Phu historical victory. Visitors also have chance to taste special local made products, to to enjoy beautiful folk songs and to buy nice souvenirs for relatives and friends.

Traditional festival:

Traditional festvials are cultural actiities that reflect the spiritual life of each ethnic group. Therefore, they are attractive to many tourists. Through festivals, tourists and visitors learn more about the customs and habits of the local people.

There are 18 ethnic groups living in Dien Bien province where the cultural traditions are displayed through festivals.

Major festivals:

Dien Bien Phu victory Anniversary:  It is the most important festival of Dien Bien province that is held on May 7 annualy. This festival bears not only national but also international meaning.

On this day, thousands of visitors come here to view a glorious place, to think and learn more about the national history. The Dien Bien Phu victory Anniversary begins with a meeting to review famous pages of national history. Following the meeting are the activities that make the atmosphere of festival more jubilant and exciting.

Ban Phu Citadel Festial: This is a big festival that is held every year to worship the great devotion of the leader Hoang Cong Chat and his soldiers in the resistance war to protect Muong Then – Dien Bien from the occupation of Phe enemy. The festival is held from the 24 to 25 of the secon month of lunar year in Ban Phu. At the festival, there are such activities as rituals, local made food and drinks, singing, dancing, etc.

Bamboo Shoot Sprouting Festial (Kin Lẩu Ló): This is a popular festival of many ethnic groups such as Mang, Khang, Xinh Mun, La Hu, Kho Mu, Phu La, etc. in the North of Vietnam. The festival is held at the beginning of the rainny season when bamboo shoots sprout. According to the local’s concept, it is the time to start the farming in a year. It is held with a hope to get bumper crops and express their greatfullness to God.

Cong ethnic group’s village worshipping festival : In the third month of lunar year, all villages hold the worshipping rituals before the seed-sowing season. On this day, the local people set gates and avoid signs on the way to villages so that nobody are allowed to come in. All families do the worshipping rituals on their farming land. They pray for bumper crops and nothing can do harm to their crop.

La Hu ethnic group’s new rice festival: La Hu ethnics often do new rice ritual in the tenth or the eleventh month of the lunar year. The special thing in this festival is that La Hu ethnics do not pick up egetables or cut down trees and plants for 3 days in order to pray for them growing well all the year round. In addition, La Hu ethnics perform their folk dance with drums.

Han Khuong festival:  Han Khuong is a traditionally cultural actiity of Thai ethnic group. The festival is usually held right after havesting the crops in the eleventh month of the lunar year. The festial is often held on a large plot of land in the illage. The young boys and girls set up a wooden floor, about 1.5 metre high, surrounded by a piece of wide-meshed bamboo lattice, and an entrance. They sing and talk together until midnight. The next day, they continue enjoying themseles. Han Khuong festial held by the girls is a party to court their partners before getting married. So, Han Khuong has left numbers of lovely experiences and remarks of a period of time of ebullient youth.

Bauhinia flower festial:

Bauhinia blossoms, bauhinia crumbles

Our love is beautiful like a bauhinia flower

And what flower is fresher?

My loe!

(Thai ethnic love song)

In the sencond month of every lunar year, when it is warmer and bauhinia flowers start to blossom so many that all mountains and forests in the North West is covered with white, Thai ethnics begin bauhinia flowers fetial. On this occasion, Thai ethnic girls and boys have opportunity to meet and talk together. The boy picks up the most beautiful flowers to put in his love’s hair. The girl is so shy and hide herself under the bauhinia branches. The festial of bauhinia flower is not only a festival of loe and happiness but also an occasion for Thai ethnic people to pray for their crops, to express their respect to their granparents and parents. It is a chance for young people to get closer to each other through pieces of music and songs. 

NT

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