Day 3 - Dien Bien Phu

11^th April 2011, Monday

460-520 km

This day was designated for excursions in Dien Bien Phu and surrounds. In the morning we went to the museum (in full: Dien Bien Phu Historic Victory Exhibition Centre). The exhibitions mostly consisted of weapons and other basic military stuff. There were several life sized statues performing different acts: throwing grenades, pulling artillery, shooting a machine gun with the tripod supported on the helmeted head of another soldier, etc. There were also some interesting propaganda leaflets telling German (Foreign Legion) and Arab soldiers to desert the French forces. I didn’t much mind all the heroizing and such ‘cause that’s what I expected but I was generally disappointed with the poor representation of the exhibits and the overall state of the museum. I have been to a number of museums in Vietnam, and while none achieve the standards I would expect from a nation which puts so much emphasizes on its history in its official pronouncements, there are much better examples in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. This museum was one of the worst. During noontime we relaxed at the hotel because the historic sites were closed from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Dien Bien Phu Historic Victory Exhibition Centre

"The French Foreign Legion - a bone grinder of Germans". Up in the corner are President Eisenhower and Henri Navarre, commander of all the French forces in Indochina

"Don't die for the cause of colonialism! Be prisoners! (surrender to us!)" (Arabic) "Run away in droves from the Legion! Join us!" (below)

Remnants of the French weapons outside the museum

The French had 10 US made M24 Light Tanks flown in for the battle

The afternoon programme started with the Revolutionary Heroes’ Cemetery. Rows upon rows of graves, a total of 15,000 Vietnamese soldiers killed in the course of the battle, many of them without names. All of the gravestones had bunches of incense sticks in front of them. At one end of the cemetery there was a bronze incense receptacle; flanked by golden statues of women plus kid and soldiers. The whole place was very peaceful and tended; a contrast to the street outside.

Revolutionary Heroes' Cemetery

To the left and right of the arch are bronze plaques with the names of the fallen soldiers running along the inner wall of the cemetery, from almost every province of Vietnam

After that we scrambled up Hill A1, part of the French defensive position called Éliane. All the eight French defence bastions were named after women; a refuted rumour claimed that they were named after the mistresses of General de Catries. The hill which commands a good view over the town, the air strip (the airport is at the same place as that crucial airstrip in ’54), the valley and the surrounding mountains gives one a good appreciation of the military situation more than sixty years ago. The trenches and bunkers on the hill are carefully reconstructed. One can also enter the sapper tunnels dug by the Vietminh under the French positions; in addition there is a huge crater from a 960 kg bomb which exploded in the morning of the general attack on May 6^th. Overall more than 2,500 Vietminh soldiers died before the hill was captured for good.

Another M24 light tank

The 960 kg bomb crater - it did look more impressive in reality

Tunnels, bunkers, and trenches on Éliane

Following that we climbed the steps to the Dien Bien Phu Victory Monument – this one standing on another hill D1, Dominique. After a lot of steps we arrived at the top and saw that there is a road coming up from the other side which allows you to drive almost all the way to the top – they probably use that during visits by state dignitaries. The view over the valley was even better than from A1. From up here one could perfectly observe the planes landing on the small airstrip, same as they did almost exactly 57 years ago – except for the artillery shelling. The bronze monument which crowns it all is the biggest in Vietnam. It was originally cast in 1965 but wasn’t erected at the spot until 2004 – on the occasion of the 50^th anniversary of the battle. It’s typically pompous and heroic as such monuments go: three soldiers and a Thai girl, with a rifle, a flag and a bouquet of flowers.

Dien Bien Phu Victory Monument on Dominique

Vietnam's largest bronze monument, 12.6 metres high, and weighing 220 tons. Cast by Nguyen Hai in 1965

"Quyết chiến, Quyết thắng" ('Determined to fight, determined to win')

In the evening we looked again for the French War Memorial. This time we found it, situated in a residential part of town, but it was closed – nothing much to see there anyway.

Welcome to the "Bloody Café"

French War Memorial, erected in 1994 by the Association Nationale des Anciens Prisonniers Internés Déportés d'Indochine

"To the officers and soldiers who died at Dien Bien Phu"

Had dinner at the hotel restaurant again: fried Snakehead fish. There were some other foreign tourist couples at the hotel with their Vietnamese drivers or guides.

That was one delicious "Fishzilla"

In general there isn’t too much to see at Dien Bein Phu. The battle sites and the other war memorabilia as well as the general terrain give you a better understanding of the course of this decisive battle; but it’s basically just a place for history buffs like me…

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Lots of the information on this post especially - but also on all the others - I owe to the excellent and very practical guidebook "Mountains and Ethnic Minorities: North West Viet Nam" by Tim Doling