DMZ two day tour - day 1

What was a DMZ?
A DEMILITARIZED ZONE was a piece of land that was established by the Geneva Conference (July 20, 1954) theoretically ending the war between the French and the independence movement of the French states, including Vietnam. The independence was granted to Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam,
DMZ was a boundary established at Ben Hai River (5 km to each side) to separate Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the North (pro communist) and Republic of Vietnam in the South (pro democratic), declared as a demilitarized zone with both government troops barred from this area.



the Peace Bridge captured on the photograph, before it was destroyed with the UN bombing



The Bridge was rebuilt, but not in its exact position. The new bridge was built just next to the remainings of the old one. Nowadays the Vietnamese government wants to bring back the original bridge so it is possible there will be two bridges over Ben Hai river soon.

A model of the DMZ, picture taken in the DMZ museum. You can see a highway #9, Ho Chi Mihn Trail and many more.



Under the terms of the Geneva Accords, civilians were to be given the opportunity to move freely between the two provisional states for a 300-day period. It was meant to end with 1956 elections, which never came to play. South Vietnam refused to take part in "free elections" questioning the ability of the Communist North of being able to held really free elections. This followed with an independence declaration from the South, rejecting the Geneva Accords and declaring South Vietnam to be independent state. This is foreseen as a culmination of American policy to establish am anti-communist state in the region to stop the Kremlin offense of taking the control over whole Indochina region.

More information can be found here : http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/genevacc.htm

I spent 2 full days travelling in the area and watching the remaining after the Vietnam War. And there is lots to see and weep about.

I had the luck of having a private Vietnamese tour guide whose family and himself fought in the war on the southern side. His history and commentary to the Vietnam modern history were unforgettable.

My DMZ tour guide - I will never forget him and his commentary on the history of Vietnam.

 

What will stay in my memory from these two days?

The air shed in Dong Ha, with crack in the walls from bombs, now surrounded with ordinary houses. Completely hidden from the street view for most tourists, only the locals know...

The Rockpile  - the mountain on which Americans carried one of their observation points. Quite inaccessible on the foot, the supply for the troops was carried from the air with helicopters. One cannot climb it today either. Special passes are needed from the government. A pass is around $200 and is usually granted only for American veterans who keep coming back and cry for their friends who never made their return. They don't speak much, just walk around and look and cry. It must be a very difficult emotional trip for them...

The Rockpile - the US Army stationery point

As you can see there are no trees and the nature around is quite poor. This is a reminder after the Americans - the amount of chemicals and TNT they used to clean up the space in order to be able to see anything.. it still has not cleared from the soil..

Vietnam is an amazing country, reach in natural beauty. Imagine what it would have been without all the wars that run through this country in the past centuries.

We went to see one of hundreds of unnamed soldier cemeteries. So many men and young boys were gone and never identified. Looking through names and dates of those identified, the average age was 19/20... It reminded me a lot of Polish history and the similarities between the countries from the was perspective. The sad thing also is that it looks like there is a new way of making money - people who are trying to understand their family roots and find their beloved - they are creating a demand for looking for old papers, war remaining, soldier traces, and what should have been a duty of a state to provide to those families - now certain people are taking advantage of them and charging big money for the "research" services.

Ben Hai River and the Peace Bridge. Very memorable place for all Vietnamese. This is where the border was established and the bridge was like a boundary between two worlds. It was even painted with two colours - painted red for the communist part and the southern portion with yellow. The existing bridge is not the original one, it was rebuilt but not in its exact position after Americans bombed it in 1967. From what I have understood they are going to rebuilt the bridge in its original position.

There were huge megaphones installed on both sides of the river - a remaining of the propaganda war. Each evening the communist propaganda would transmit its news to the southern part. Of course the southern part would response with a similar thing, giving their own news directed to the North. And so the next day the northern side would put a bigger and more powerful megaphone to transmit louder and farther... and so on. There is at least one of those megaphones left there on the northern part, with bullet points in it.. The size of the megaphone is ridiculous even now.

Memorial of the old Peace Bridge - the arch at the old Hien Luong Bridge over the Ben Hai River