DMZ tour Dong Ha in Quang Tri province battlefield tour Vietnam war history travel
8:30 pickup from your hotel/train station/bus station in Dong Ha, meet and greet with local guide. First stop for the day is Mine Action Visitor Center – a museum-like display of explosive remnants of war collected around the DMZ area. Head West along Highway 9 – a strategic highway from Vietnam to Laos during Vietnam war – past Highway 9 National Cemetery where more than 10.000 NVA soldiers who died a long Highway 9 rest in peace labeled as ‘unidentified soldier’. Next stop is The Rockpile – American observation post for Communist infiltration and one of the strongest US Marine artillery base south of the DMZ. Drive past Dakrong bridge – one of many starting point of Ho Chi Minh trail from the DMZ crossing Highway 9 to the South to transport foods, weapons, ammunitions for the Vietcong . Last stop in the morning is Khe Sanh Combat Base – a US Marine base holds the longest siege of Vietnam war (77 days). Khe Sanh is compared to another ‘Dien Bien Phu’ for American.
Note: Camp Carroll (a Marine artillery base) is a bonus stop if you request in advance. For a stop at Lang Vei special force camp, please tell us in advance in your email or call prior to the tour date.
Going back to Cam Lo – Dong Ha area for lunch or if you want we can have lunch in Khe Sanh. Recommended foods: Rice paper with herbs and BBQ pork, Pho beef noodle soup, BBQ goat meat and lemon leaf goat meat with sticky rice. On the way back along QL9, you’ll be driving past many local Bru ethnic people villages and have chance to see local markets selling local products (avocado, bamboo shoot, ging sen, dragon-eye fruit, pineapple, pigs, …)
DMZ tour Dong Ha in Quang Tri province battlefield tour Vietnam war history travel
After lunch, we continue our trip to Truong Son national military cemetery or Ho Chi Minh trail cemetery as all of the soldiers who are buried here are from the Ho Chi Minh trail military corp or Group 559 which was established in May 1959 to transport troops, weapons, ammunitions, foods for the National Liberation Front (aka Vietcong). Drive along Ben Hai river to the East to Freedom bridge where you can walk across the demarcation line at 17th parallel – the former border between North and South. Take a look at National Unification Memorial, the UN building and museum to understand the aspiration of the Vietnamese to unify their country. Last stop of the day would be Vinh Moc tunnel – an underground village built to hide from American bombing raids. This tunnel will show you the difficult living conditions during the war of the Vietnamese living in the North and is a real testament for Vietnamese indomitable will. Drive all the way to your hotel in Dong Ha. Great farewell.
If you would like to go to Hue at the end of this tour, please let us know in advance (30 USD extra). On the way to Hue, you can see Long Hung church – a last standing from the 1972 Easter offensive on Highway 1 in Quang Tri town (this part of QL1 was called the Street Without Joy because of so many casualties of the civilians fleeing the battle sites from Quang Tri to Hue during the 1972 Easter Offensive)
Please email us at vinadmz@gmail.com or talk to Tam Le +84.947.019.119 for more customized tours with stops at Quang Tri citadel – famous for its 81-day bloody battle between North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and South Vietnam Army (ARVN) and La Vang cathedral – a pilgrimage site for the Catholic in Vietnam.
Tour price: $US 130/group of 2 persons (+$US 50 for extra person)
– Private car
– Private guide
– All admissions
– Bottled water
DMZ tour Dong Ha in Quang Tri province battlefield tour Vietnam war history travel
Popular tours offered by VINA DMZ TRAVEL
Photo credit: Erika Petrucci
