3 Best Sights in The Northwest, Vietnam

Within walking distance of the Dien Bien Phu Museum, the command bunker has been remade with makeshift sandbags filled with concrete. Overhead is a reproduction of the corrugated roof from which a lone Viet Minh soldier waved a victory flag—the image, re-created several hours after the fact for a documentary film, became Vietnam's enduring symbol of victory over colonial oppression.

French veterans organized the construction of the small, rather forlorn-looking French War Memorial, which stands across the road from the command bunker. It commemorates the 3,000 French troops buried under the rice paddies.

Some of the battle's most intense combat took place at Hill A1, a position labeled Eliane by the French. Once considered impregnable by the French, it was the last key position to fall to the Viet Minh. A decrepit French tank and a monument to Viet Minh troops now stand here.