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.
Ban Phu Cultural Relics
and Hoang Cong Chat Temple
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
potentia
Pa Thom Cave
Pa Thom cave is in Pa Thom commune, in the West of
Dien Bien district, bordering with Laos. The local
people call it “Tham Nang Lai” that means the cave of
fairies of flowers. Pa Thom cave is at the middle of a
mountain. The entrance is vault, 12 metres high, 17
metres wide. Right at the middle of the entrance is an
enormous block of stone that looks like the head of an
elephant. The depth of the cave is about 350 metres.
It consists of 9 vaultlike roofs and the widest one is
about 20 metres. There are three big blocks of stone
piling up together at the entrance like an enormous
python separating the cave into two parts with two
different entrance gates. Outside and inside of the
cave, there are a number of stalactites in various
lively shapes. They are sparkling and colourful in the
light of candle. The roofs of the cave are very high.
Each roof looks like a magnificent and splendid
palace. Pa Thom is a beauty spot connected to
beautiful legends of love that makes the landscape
more poetic and an attractive tourist destination in
Dien Bien district.
Pha Din Pass)
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
Tham Pua Cave
Tham Pua cave is in Bung
Lao commune, Tuan Giao district. It is an ancient
cave, deep and wide, about 1,000 metres high with many
narrow paths. Coming here, visitors have chance to see
in their own eyes a number of stalactites in various
shapes which look like such animals as dragons,
phoenix, lions, elephants, and beautiful orchids.The
local people have found out many historical remains
such as axe, stone pestle, and fossil bones.Tham Pua
cave is also the first Commanding Unit of The Dien
Bien Phu compaign. It is the place where the decisive
meeting for the Dien Bien Phu compaign was held on
January 14, 1954. At present, Tham Pua cave is being
proposed to be recognized a historical relic, and a
tourist destination.
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.
U Va Eco-toursit
destination
U Va locates in Noong Luong commune,Dien Bien
district, about 10 km from Dien Bien Phu city towards
the South-west.U Va has a spring source of hot mineral
water which is from 60 to 65oC. Coming to U Va,
visitors can view the natural landscape, enjoy
interesting services and deepen yourselves in the
natural hot spring. In addition, visitors can have
chance to widen the knowledge of cultural value of
Muong Thanh, an ancient land area of thousand years of
history. Together with the upgrading traffic system
leading to tourist destinationss and investing in
tourist services, U Va is being built a tourist and
convalescent centre attractive to domestic and
international visitors.
Muong Luan
Ancient Tower
Muong Luan ancient tower
is an art architectural work which is worth visiting
and reseaching in Muong Luan commune, Dien Bien Dong
district, about 70km from Dien Bien Phu city.
Although the traveling to Muong Luan ancient tower is
still difficult, it will be an attractive tourist
destination for a tour to learn about the culture of
the ethnic groups in the North-west.
