A day in Dien Bien Phu....

                         Dien Bien Phu (DBP), population 77,000, is described in Lonely Planet, perhaps the most authoritative of travel guides, as being a newly laid out, planned and growing provincial centre. The  two main streets are wide and straight and mostly devoid of private cars, this means of transport having not yet generally reached the mass population. I thought it however well worth a day to see up

Hauling the guns up the mountains.

close the site of the famous 1954 battle in which the French colonial army was destroyed---50,000 French soldiers marched off  into captivity. The first time an entire European army  was forced into surrendering to an Asian army. As a result of this victory at DBP, Ho Chi Minh was able to declare an independent & sovereign Vietnamese republic.
                         The French colonial army (supplied & supported by the USA from the side lines) decided that it would build a massive fortified base at DBP lying in a bowl of flat low land that is surrounded by high hills in the hope that they could draw the Viet Minh fighters into a  set piece battle and through massive fire superiority and control of airspace, completely annihilate the insurgents.

Frieze showing surrender of the French army.

While the French were prepared for an attack on their base in the bowl, they were not prepared for the massive bombardment they were subjected to from heavy guns atop the hills surrounding DBP.  Effectively any escape route for the French were blocked. Against all odds, the Vietnamese, under General Giap, had built roads up the mountains and hauled by human  muscle power alone, heavy guns and ammunition to high altitudes. The defeat of the French army was complete at DBP, and precipitated the complete withdrawal of France from its colonies in Indo China.
                       A major museum about a kilometre from the town centre of DBP, details the battle and it was to this location, plus a stroll through the military cemetery, that I ambled to in scorching hot sun and high humidity. With the purchase of a bus ticket for onward travel tomorrow to Laos the days task are completed. I will venture out again after 5pm, when hopefully it is a little cooler.

Tribal lady preparing to pilot her motor bike...