Week 18: Dien Bien Phu (posted by Annie)

We flew into Dien Bien Phu on Halloween. At our homestay there were mostly European backpackers on their way to Laos. The view from our room was extraordinary. It looked over rice paddies where could see water buffalo roaming around and in the far background there were mountains looming over the town. 

We came to Dien Bien Phu because of the flooding in Hue, which is where we were originally going to go. This is the worst flooding that Hue has ever seen. Dien Bien Phu is famous because in 1954 the Viet Minh defeated the French at a massive battle. There were about 16,200 French soldiers who were killed or captured at this battle.

Early on our first morning we met our tour guide, Mr. Son. He showed us around the Dien Bien Phu museum about the battle. There is even a cyclorama about the battle -- just like the one we have back in Atlanta. The actually museum lots of fun communist propaganda, but this was actually a really big victory for the Viet Minh, so it's understandable.

Then, we went up the mountains to see General Giap's headquarters. On the way there, both Eliza and I barfed. We took a stop at lunch that had amazing ethnic Thai food -- they are one of the 53 ethnic minority groups in Vietnam. Giap's headquarters was fun to see because we took a walk around the mountains and there were lots of rebuilt structures to show everyone what it would be like to be there in 1954.

For dinner, we went to a local place. There was a group of young guys who invited dad for a beer. Everyone was really friendly because they weren't used to seeing tourists.

The next day we joined Mr. Son to walk around the battlefield. First we went to "A1 Hill" which was the last hill that the Viet Minh conquered. We walked through the concrete-reinforced trenches and looked at the crater where the Viet Minh blew up the hill with dynamite. The most exciting part was when Mr. Son and Eliza found a bullet casing. Later the next day we found out from the Veterans of the American war that the bullet casing was from a Soviet made AK-47, which means it couldn't have come from the war with the French. Instead, it was probably from the war with the Chinese in the late 1970s. Still, it was fun to talk to former Vietnamese soldiers about bullet casings because they really know a lot about the subject.

We also went to "Beatrice Hill" which allegedly the French general named after his mistress. We walked around these trenches as well -- we were the only tourists there, which was cool. We saw the spot where a Viet Minh soldier threw his body over a French machine gun to help conquer the hill. We ended our tour with the big statue on the highest hill in Dien Bien Phu. We reenacted the statue. The Vietnamese are really proud of this battle because it helped them win their independence.

The next day, we decided to go easy on the war stuff and instead go to a roller blading rink. This was a reward for finishing math homework. It was fun because none of us -- except mom -- had ever been roller blading much. We slowly developed the confidence to not fall. Then, Jane took a tumble and landed on her arm in a funny way and couldn't move it that well. The manager of the roller blading rink said that we should get it x-rayed at a nearby clinic. Luckily, it wasn't broken or fractured!

Overall, Dien Bien Phu was an amazing experience and I highly recommend it.