DMZ, Vietnam

DMZ, Central Vietnam - darkometer rating : 5 - An area in Central Vietnam which used to be the "demilitarized zone" (DMZ) between North and South Vietnam. In the Vietnam War this became anything but demilitarized and was in fact where some of the fiercest battles of the whole war took place. (It shares the irony of discrepancy between reality and its name with another, still existing DMZ : that at the border between North Korea and South Korea ). Today the former DMZ is best visited on a special tour by car that goes up into the Central Vietnamese highlands and past various relevant sites, including the former Khe Sanh US base (now a museum). Some major sites in the DMZ area are given separate entries here (see under combinations ), but can easily be incorporated into a two-day DMZ tour. > What there is to see > Location > Access and costs > Time required > Combinations with other dark destinations > Combinations with non-dark destinations > Photos What there is to see: The tour, when starting it from Hue, first passes through various small towns, and occasional stops are possible at war sites such as a ruined school and church buildings (Truong Bo De and Na Tho Long Hung, respectively), riddled with bullet and shell holes and still blackened from fire. You also pass the odd rusting tank wreck and numerous monuments and war cemeteries. Eventually the route goes up into the mountains – and some of these already have evocative names from the Vietnam War days (e.g. "Hamburger Hill", "The Rockpile") but other than that there's not much to see at them. Similarly, part of the route allegedly goes along (or merely crosses) sections of the legendary Ho Chi Minh Trail , but of course nothing of it can really be seen.