VIETNAM’S LEADING BATTLEFIELD TOUR OPERATOR

Join us for a journey through the history of Vietnam conflicts.

Outstanding tour with knowledgable and informative local guide speaking excellent English, carrying photos in an iPad.

Ed V
Singapore, Singapore10 contributions

 
Private DMZ tour from Hue guided by Mr. Vu

Outstanding tour with knowledgable and informative local guide speaking excellent English, carrying photos in an iPad.
Oct 2017
My group of 4 booked a DMZ tour through a hotel in Hue, and thus we discovered Annam Tour and the informative guide Mr. Vu who I highly recommend. We traveled by private minivan. Highlights of this tour: scarred remains of a church that was the last building standing in Quang Tri, and the main road in an out of the DMZ area once used by American troops who occupied firebases stretching in a line to the Lao border and used to interdict Northern and Viet Cong troops and supplies filtering into the South along the Ho Chi Mihn Trail. While stopping to view the Rockpile and other firebase locations in the distance, Mr. Vu using his iPad displayed photos taken from the same locations during the 1960s, and photos of American and Vietnamese at work during this time. All along Mr. Vu brought the perspectives of the Vietnamese and of his family into the conversations; it wasn't strictly all about the American perspective. A teenager in my group was thrilled to find old bullets and other war debris under his feet in the dirt. At the former firebase Khe Sanh we viewed old aircraft including a C-130 4-engined cargo plane, newly arrived via an arduous journey in pieces on the back of a truck, and other war relics. There is also a reconstructed bunker and small museum on site. Interestingly, we could see for ourselves the surrounding higher hills looking down on the firebase and understood why the US Marine Commander did not want his troops stationed here but his challenges were overruled by the top US Commander, resulting in the infamous siege of this location. Next we traveled to the bridge at Ben Hai River where North and South met; the bridge still painted half in one color and half in another color (North and South disagreeing on color scheme) is a reproduction, but interesting to see, and in the vicinity is a small museum containing the huge propaganda speakers used by both sides to blare their propaganda at each other night and day. Bomb craters remain visible all around, though the lush vegetation has returned, to include complete coverage of the formerly denuded firebases. Next we proceeded to the village placed underground in the Vinh Moc Tunnels, where over 300 families lived and worked to escape the incessant bombing above. I'm 6'2" and had to stoop here and there but a reasonably fit tall person won't have trouble. Dioramas have been emplaced to depict life underground. Mr. Vu explained that of the dozens of babies born in the tunnels, most of them have grown up and live in a village nearby. Mr. Vu was very engaging throughout, he was knowledgeable of the causes of the war and of leaders on all sides of the conflict, and he was happy to relay the wartime stories told to him by recent visitors to this area. This DMZ tour took a full day and I was quite pleased with it. For travelers, definitely seek out a good tour guide who speaks English and has previous led people through this area. I recommend Annam Tours and Mr. Vu and will use their services if I return.

Private DMZ tour from Hue guided by Mr. VuWritten December 27, 2017
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