Full Day Tour to DMZ

Today was another early start as we are going on a full day tour to the DMZ of Vietnam.

The Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone was a demilitarized zone established as a dividing line between North and South Vietnam as a result of the First Indochina War.

During the Vietnam War it became important as the battleground demarcation separating North from South Vietnamese territories.

The zone ceased to exist with the reunification of Vietnam though the area remains dangerous due to the numerous undetonated explosives it contains.

The Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone ran from east-west near the centre of present day Vietnam spanning more than a 100 kilometres. It was a couple of kilometres wide about a hundred kilometres north of the city of Hue.

It ran along the Ben Hai River for much of its length, and an island nearby was controlled by North Vietnamese forces during the Vietnam War. Although it was nominally described as being at "the 17th parallel," almost all of the zone lies to the south of the parallel, with only a small portion of the zone near the eastern end actually including the parallel.

Our guide was incredible he actualy fought for South Vietnam but was very objective telling us about the war. John and I now have a much better idea of what happened here and why.Read more