Dien Bien Phu at a glimpse

Area: 9,560 sq. km.
Population: 440,800 habitants (2004).
Capital: Dien Bien Phu City.

Administrative divisions:

- Town: Muong Lay
- Districts: Tua Chua, Tuan Giao, Dien Bien Dong, Muong Tra, Muong Nhe, Dien Bien, Muong Ang.
Ethnic groups: Viet (Kinh), Thai, Mong, Dao, Giay.

Dien Bien Phu is 35km from the Laos border and one of the remotest spots in Vietnam. It is also the site of the Viet Minh's decisive victory over the French when they defeated the 13,000 strong garrison at Dien Bien Phu, thus forcing the French government to abandon thier plans to re-establish control of Indochina. A museum now occupies the site of battle.
As well as the museum you will find various military atrifacts around the town. The headquarters of the French commander has been re-created, and the old Moung Thahn Bridge has been preserved. There are monuments to both the Viet Minh and French soldiers.

Geography:
Dien Bien Province is on the North - West Vietnam. It is next to Lai Chau, Son La provinces, Laos and China. The province has many mountains stretching along north-west and south-east direction. Muong Thanh Valley is largest one of this region. The topography includes forests, high mountains, narrow valleys, small plains, and springs.
Climate: Dien Bien is mountainous tropical area. There are the dry and the rainy seasons. The average temperature is about 21ºC – 23ºC.

Tourism:
Dien Bien possesses charming natural scenery such as Pa Khoang Reservoir, Tham Bang Cave, Ban Phu Citadel, Museum of Dien Bien Phu Victory…
Dien Bien are also proud of many historic sites: Noong Nhai Vestige, Muong Phang Forest, especially, Dien Bien Phu Vestige with a global well-known victory in 1954.
Traveling from Hanoi to Dien Bien Phu, it takes 1 hour by plane. But by road, travelers go over kilometers of mountainous road and cross Pha Din Pass. The stretch of road goes uphill and downhill alternately with many sharp bends. It is a memorable event for everybody in this superb mountain.

Transportation:
The network of road is convenient include:- It takes 474km from Hanoi following National Highway No. 6 to Tuan Giao and then the 279 to Dien Bien Phu.- It is 195km from Dien Bien Phu to Ma Lu Thang border gate (Lai Chau) following National Highway No. 12.- The National Highway No. 279 links Tuan Giao to Tay Trang border gate vise Dien Bien Phu.
Beside that, there is Muong Thanh Airport in Dien Bien Phu, connecting Ha Noi – Dien Bien Phu.

What to see

Complex of the Dien Bien Phu Victory Relics:

COMMAND BUNKER OF GENERAL DE CASTRIES
The Command bunker of De Castries lies at the heart of the entrenched camp of Dien Bien Phu in the middle of the Muong Thanh Field. The original shape and size, structure and arrangement of the bunker are kept intact.
Fifty years ago, one could see the top of the bunker from a high hill. To reach there, however, Vietnamese troops had to fight heroically during 55 days and nights, amidst numerous hardships and difficulties. Around the bunker were situated dense systems of defense lines, including many layers of barbed wires and four tanks. The bunker is 20m long and 8m wide. It consists of 4 compartments, which serves as both working offices and resident places.

One now can still find the iron vaults and sandbags atop the bunker. There used to be a roofed trench connecting the bunker of De Castries with the blockhouse at Cay Da in Hill A1. French troops piled up wooden planks and sandbags to make trenches. They took the wooden planks from the houses of the Vietnamese ethnic minority groups.
Inside this bunker, De Castries received such high-ranking officers as French Prime Minister Joseph Laniel, US President Dwight Eisenhower, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, as well as well-known journalists. At 5h30pm on May 7th, 1954, Ta Quoc Luat, head of Company 360, Regiment 209, Division 312 captured alive General De Castries who was sitting at his desk in the corner of the bunker.

The tunnel had four compartments as follows:

Compartment 1
This is the office of Lieutenant Colonel Charles Piroth, who was in charge of French artillery in Dien Bien Phu. Prior to his departure to Indochina, Piroth submitted a tactical plan to Henri Navarre, in which he affirmed that “no artillery gun of Viet Minh could fire three times without being destroyed” in Dien Bien Phu. However, after experiencing the fierce attacks of Vietnamese artillery, Piroth committed suicide with a grenade in a tunnel at the end of Muong Thanh Bridge on March 15th, 1954. De Castries worried that his troops would lose their morale if they knew this so he had Piroth buried in the one end of Muong Thanh Bridge. Then he cabled to inform Navarre that Piroth had disappeared together with his jeep.

Compartment 2
This is the office of Seguin who was in charge of the French air force in Dien Bien Phu. He was tasked with the protection of the Muong Thanh and Hong Cum airfields. He himself faced shameful defeat. Before attack of Vietnamese troops, the French troops carried out around 100-150 sorties each day, transporting some 100-300 tons of goods to Dien Bien Phu. After assaults of Vietnamese troops, especially when the runways of Muong Thanh Airfield were cut off, French troops had to parachute goods to Dien Bien Phu, many of which came to hands of Vietnamese troops.

Compartment 3
This is the office of De Castries’s secretary. Upon being promoted to the Commander of the Dien Bien Phu entrenched camp, he required to have this secretary, who was both a nurse and a journalist. When the Vietnamese troops attacked Dien Bien Phu on March 13th, 1954, De Castries asked her to come back to Hanoi by airway.

Compartment 4
This is the information and radio transmission center of the French troops in Dien Bien Phu. When the Dien Bien Phu campaign ended, Vietnamese troops captured only one female French nurse, De Galard. She was among one of the first to be released under Vietnam’s policy.

HILL A1
Hill A1 is situated in Muong Thanh Ward, Dien Bien Phu City, Dien Bien Province. Hill A1 was the strongest post of all the 49 strongholds in Dien Bien Phu fortified entrenched camp.
Hill A1 had three defense lines. The first one, stretching from the Cay Da blockhouse, protected the way to the hilltop. Currently this is the main road leading to the top of Hill A1. The second line was for counter-offensive assaults and the last one was a kind of underground bunker atop the hill. There were trenches connecting these three lines. Unaware of the underground bunker atop the hill, Vietnamese troops assaulted from the dried stream. To occupy one third of the hill, Vietnamese troops lost 2516 troops and discovered the bunker thanks to enemy’s flare.
Tactical method was changed. Despite numerous difficulties, Vietnamese troops dug a tunnel to destroy the bunker with explosive. After 16 days and nights, Vietnamese troops found a brick foundation, which was left from some construction built by French troops in 1940. Considering that was the bunker wall, Vietnamese troops brought 970kg of explosive there and detonated them at 20h30pm on May 6th, 1954. The pressure of the explosion made the ears of the French captain in charge of the bunker bleed. He thought that was a new kind of weapon used by Vietnamese troops and surrendered. The explosion left an enormous hole like a crater, which is rather afar from the top of Hill A1. This hole now serves as a tourist attraction.

THE COMMAND POST OF THE DIEN VIEN PHU CAMPAIGN
Located in Muong Phang Commune, Dien Bien District, about 35km, 10km as the crow flies, from the centre of Dien Bien Phu City. 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.

MUSEUM OF DIEN BIEN PHU VICTORY
Museum of Dien Bien Phu Victory lies opposite the cemetery of Vietnamese martyrs in Hill A1, the center of Dien Bien Phu City. The museum was built in 1984 in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Victory. The museum opens for tourists inside and outside Vietnam. The outdoor sections of the museum were finished in service of the Year for Tourism in Dien Bien – 2004.
By the end of 2003, the museum was upgraded and its exhibition sections reorganized. To date, the museum has five exhibition sections, featuring 274 items and 122 pictures, many of which are newly added, about the 8-year resistance against the French colonialists. The five sections have the following contents:
- The strategic location of Dien Bien Phu
- The enemy’s scheme at Dien Bien Phu
- The Party’s guideline regarding preparations for the Dien Bien Phu Campaign
- Impacts of Dien Bien Phu domestically and internationally
- Present-day Dien Bien Phu

 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.

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.

How to get there

Getting to Dien Bien Phu can be a lengthy journey. Buses from Hanoi take around 16 hours to make the 470km journey so it's best to break the trip with a stop over at Son La.
Where to stay
Below is a list of hotels in Dien Bien Phu sorted by price range (highest first).

Dien Bien Phu Hotel
Price Range: Up to $25 per night
279A 7/5 Road, Dien Bien Phu
(Tel: 825103)

Muong Thanh Hotel
Price Range: Up to $35 per night
Tran Dang Ninh, Dien Bien Phu
(Tel: 826719 Fax: 826720)

Beer Factory Guesthouse
Price Range: Up to $25 per night
Tran Can, Dien Bien Phu
(Tel: 824635)

Binh Long Hotel
Price Range: Up to $25 per night
429 Muong Thahn, Dien Bien Phu
(Tel: 824245)

May Hong Hotel
Price Range: Up to $25 per night
Tran Dang Ninh, Dien Bien Phu
(Tel: 826300)

Bank Guesthouse
Price Range: Up to $25 per night
Dien Bien Phu (Tel: 825852, Fax: 826016)

"Source: dulichdienbienphu"