DMZ (Vietnam)

Where an entire village lived for two and a half years. 17 babies were born in the tunnels. There is a small but informative museum here, with photos of the construction of the tunnels, and of daily life underground.

Crosses the Ben Hai River at the middle of the DMZ and marks the former border between North and South Vietnam from 1954-1972 when the North Vietnamese Army captured Dong Ha town in the 1972 Easter Offensive and pushed the border to the Thach Han River in Quang Tri town, some 32 km further south. During the partition of Vietnam, the bridge was painted with the two different colors. There is a monument on the north side.

Vietnam's national war cemetery.

This was the largest fire base of the US Marines below the DMZ. There were 24 big guns there to provide fire support for the Marines. In the 1972 Easter Offensive it was captured by the NVA when LTC Pham Van Dinh of the Army of Republic of South Vietnam surrendered his 1,600 soldiers and 24 guns to the NVA.

A Marine outpost built on top of a huge outcropping. Though it's inaccessible, it's a prominent sight from the highway.

Midway along Hwy 9, and is the starting point of Hwy 15, one of the main branches of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which leads south to the A Shau valley and the infamous "Hamburger Hill". Though not entirely legitimate, there is a monument commemorating it as a point on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, (called Đường Trường Sơn in Vietnamese).

Just east of the Lao border, was the site of a US base which fell under attack in early 1968. The attack of the NVA on Khe Sanh was a diversion for the 1968 Tet Offensive in the south. The old airfield of red dirt remains.

Mr Vinh, known to his American friends during the hostilities as "Davis", is an ex-ARVN military intelligence interpreter veteran from the war. He's old, speaks excellent English and is hospitable. At one stage, he interpreted for Colin Powell when he was a major general and General Westmoreland. He brings the sites of the DMZ alive. He is based in the Stop & Go Cafe in Hue but his cell number is listed here.