North Vietnam Bike Tour (part 5) - Dien Bien Phu

Part 5 of our motorbike tour of northern Vietnam. In this video we travel from Moc Chau to Dien Bien Phu. We will ride northwest for about 280km, ascending 3,300m over the Annamite mountains in the process. In this video we will get to Dien Bien Phu and then spend the next day sightseeing. What is special about Dien Bien Phu? The French occupied Vietnam around 1858 as part of the European colonial landgrab. They established what they called Indochine, or Indochina, in 1887 On this trip we see some prisons and other artefacts of colonial rule here. It is not hard to see why they were not popular. In WW2 France was quicky overrun by Nazi Germany and so they were not so active in Vietnam, although the puppet Vichy French government was still around. The Japanese quickly took their place. The Viet Minh was formed in 1941, under leadership of Ho Chi Minh and his General Vo Nguyen Giap. They wanted independence for Vietnam from Japan and other colonial powers. Founded in China, they were both nationalist AND communist. With support from the US OSS (now the CIA) they became a resistance force. After the war, Ho Chi Minh wrote to President Truman to request recognition for Vietnam and independence from the French. He was ignored, and the US support France’s attempts to reoccupy Vietnam. So Viet Minh became the resistance against the French, and anyone seen as helping the French, from 1946 to 1954 – this was the 1st Indochina War. Failure to decisively beat the Viet Minh really annoyed the French so looking for a decisive victory as a bargaining position they sent Gen. Henri Navarre. He established a strategic position in a valley at Dien Bien Phu surrounded by high mountains, to lure the VM into a set piece battle and destroy them with superior firepower. They miscalculated. The Vietnamese manually hauled heavy artillery up the nearby mountains using rope teams and wheel blocks. An incredible feat. There they pummeled the French position in a total slaughter. They dug tunnels and planted explosives. They destroyed the airstrip meaning fixed wing aircraft could not land. The French surrendered in May 7, 1954, and that was the end of their Indochina colonial experiment. We look at the Vietnamese and French command positions. At a museum containing a huge 360-degree mural painting depicting the history. At some wreckage, old trenches and tunnels. #vietnam #northernvietnam #motorcycle life #motorcycletouring #dienbienphu #triumphtiger800 #northernvietnamtour2025 #ÐiệnBiênPhủ