It takes 474km from Hanoi following National Highway No. 6 to Tuan Giao and then the 279 to Dien Bien Phu. Beside that, there is Muong Thanh Airport in Dien Bien Phu, connecting Ha Noi – Dien Bien Phu. Dien Bien is mountainous tropical area. Dien Bien possesses charming natural scenery, also proud of many historic sites.

Dien Bien Phu Highlights:

++ Command bunker of General De Castries

Location: 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.
Characteristics: 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 ThanhBridge 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 Phuth, 1954, De Castries asked her to come back to Hanoi by airway. 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 13

 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

Location: Hill A1 is situated in Muong Thanh Ward, Dien Bien Phu City, Dien Bien Province.
Characteristics: 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.

++ Historical Sites of Dien Bien Phu Victory

Location: Located in and around the 20km-long valley of Dien Bien Phu.
Characteristics: After the victorious battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, almost all historical sites of this battle lying to the east of the Muong Thanh Field have been preserved intact. 

The valley of Dien Bien Phu was 18km long and 6-8 km wide when the Dien Bien Phu campaign began. To date, the valley spreads over 20km long. On November 20th, 1953, French paratroopers occupied the valley and built 49 strongholds in three sub-sections. Among these sites include artillery emplacements, remains of airplanes, MuongThanh Bridge, the command bunker of De Castries, Hill A1 and the cemetery. Some 35km from the center of Dien Bien Phu City, in Muong Phang Commune lays the Command Post of General Vo Nguyen Giap.

++ Other highlights

1. The Museum of Dien Bien Phu victorious battle: The museum houses a great deal of documents and objects relating to the 55-day arduous battle of Vietnamese soldiers and people to make the glorious victory of the whole nation in spring 1954. The museum exhibits its objects both indoors and outdoors.

2. The cemeteries in Hill A1 (644 tombs) and Doc Lap Hill (2432 tombs): This is the resting place of Vietnamese soldiers who sacrificed heroically in the Dien Bien Phu Campaign. In Hill A1 lie the tombs of heroic martyrs such as To Vinh Dien, Be Van Dan, Phan Dinh Giot and Tran Can.

3. Hill A1: This height stands block the way to the northeast sub-section. It has a significant role, controlling the whole battle of Dien Bien Phu. During 36 nights and days, the fierce battle claimed the lives of 2516 Vietnamese soldiers. Only until the night of May 6th, 1954 did Vietnamese soldiers win this decisive battle.

4. Muong Thanh Airfield: This was the stronghold 206 and the central airport of the entrenched camp of Dien Bien Phu. Currently this airport is renamed Dien Bien Phu and becomes one of the destinations in the flight system of the Vietnam Civil Aviation.

5. The Command bunker of the Dien Bien Phu entrenched camp: De Castries worked inside the bunker. The original shape and size, structure and arrangement of the bunker are kept intact.

6. Him Lam Hill: On March 13th, 1954, Vietnamese troops fought the first battle in Him Lam Hill, which is situated to the northwest of the valley.

7. Doc Lap Hill: Vietnamese troops liberated the hill on March 15th, 1954.

8. Hills C, D and E are well preserved. From afar, one can easily recognize the name of these hills. Atop D1 Hill stands the newly-erected Statue of Dien Bien Phu Victory.

9. The Command post of the Vietnamese soldiers from January 21st to May 8th, 1954: It is situated in a primitive forest in Muong Phang Commune. Here one will find the hut where General Vo Nguyen Giap worked and other huts for information and military operation discussion.

Travel Guides in 67cities and Provinces of Vietnam:

Hanoi|Hochiminh(Saigon)|Halong|Hue|Hoian|Haiphong|Catba|Hoabinh|Caobang|laocai|Maichau|
Sapa|Sonla|Dienbienphu|Thainguyen|Phutho|Babe-Backan|Hagiang|langson|Bacninh|Hatay|
Haiduong|NinhBinh|Thaibinh|Quangninh|DongHoi|QuangBinh|Quangtri|Phuyen|Phutho|Thanhhoa|
Nghean|Hatinh|Danang|Taynguyen|Kontum|Gialai|Daknong|Daklak|Dalat|BinhDinh|Nhatrang|
PhanThiet|Muine|Vungtau|KienGiang|Phuquoc|Tayninh|Vinhlong|Travinh|Dongthap|Tiengiang|
Angiang|Cantho|Bentre|Camau|