Dien Bien Phu

Tom making an offering at the cemetery for unknown Vietnam soldiers.

Saturday the 16th we flew from Hanoi to Dien Bien Phu, in the heart-shaped Muong Thanh Valley near the Lao border, one of the remotest parts of Vietnam. The valley is surrounded by steep, heavily-forested hills inhabited by Hill Tribes. Dien Bien Phu was the site of that rarest of military events, a battle that can be called truly decisive. Here, in 1954, Viet Minh forces over ran the beleaguered French garrison after a 57-day siege forcing the French government to finally abandon its attempts to re-establish colonial control of Indochina. We visited the DBP battle area, the Army Museum and A1 Hill which still has bunkers dug in its defence. Foreign tourists are still a rare sight here. While in the museum a father pointed to us and then his camera and motioned his son to stand with us.We returned the favor of a picture with him and his son. Smiles all around.

Tom with new friends at the museum.

Bunkers on A-1 hill.

During our dinner in the hotel we were treated to som traditional singing and dancing by a local and somewhat isolated froup of black Tai women. The Tai Dam or Black Tai originate from the vicinity of Dien Bien Phu, the original area of occupation of the Tai people according to the legend of Khun Borom, the legendary progenitor of the Tai-speaking peoples. They called this area Muang Then, the land of God, a name that still applies to the valley around Dien Bien PhMore.