We drive about 100km from Hue to DMZ, an area of 5-km trip set along the two sides of Ben Hai River. It was bombed into a desolate wasteland, riddled with land mines and surrounded by barbed wire during the war. Nowaday bomb damage and craters are still evident in paddies, beside the railway tracks and beside the roads and bridge in the area. Here we also see the famous Hien Luong Bridge, which was first built by French sappers in 1950s and then served as border gates to the both sides. We then drive to Vinh Moc tunnel, which was constructed by the Vinh Moc villagers as an underground village to shelter from the American bombardments. The underground network consisting of three layers starting at a depth of 33ft (10m) with room for 300 people, including wells, a school, clinics, storerooms, observation posts, ventilation shafts and a maternity room where 17 babies were delivered during the war.

After have picnic lunch en route, we drive to the Ho Chi Minh Trail (Highway No.9) and stop on the way at the Dakrong Bridge. The bridge was the main access point to all the trails during the war and was bombed and rebuilt repeatedly throughout the conflict. The current bridge was built in 1975. We also see the Rockpile, a 230m high rocky hill that was an important outlook by the Americans, and then the Khe Sanh Marine base. There's a small museum around the base which some military hardware is on display -- a bunker, spent ordinance, two helicopters, and a crashed plane. The museum has a small, but surprisingly effective display of photos, dioramas, and artefacts from combatants on both sides of the war. Before drive back to Hue, we stop to visit the hill tribe village of the Bru-Van Kieu minority in A Shau Valley.