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Take a walk through the famous Khe Sanh firebase
Some days when the sun gets hot enough they still hear explosions from the uncleared areas surrounding Khe Sanh firebase as the heat sets off an old mine or artillery shell, so our guide says anyway. Fortunately nothing exploded the day we explored this famous battle field where some 10,000 Vietnamese and 500 American soldiers were killed.
The former American base was constructed on a plateau surrounded by mountains. In January 1968 North Vietnamese forces commenced a 75 day siege of Khe Sanh, although an expected North Vietnamese offensive never came and the base was eventually abandoned by the Americans in July 1968. Instead the North Vietnamese launched the Tet Offensive which proved to be the turning point of the war against the Americans.
Khe Sanh firebase today shows few signs of its past. The area around the track from the main road to the base is a coffee plantation these days. The site of the base is a barren area of red earth surrounded by jungle and the mountains from which the North Vietnamese laid siege to the place.
The "last vestige" of Khe Sanh Firebase
There is a rusted out tank to see and a variety of rusty reminders of the war are scattered about a small but interesting museum. The museum has a collection of guns, mines and other ordnance and a display of photographs which tell the story of the siege of Khe Sanh with sprinklings of propaganda.
Apart from a memorial and a few desperate looking itinerant vendors selling coca cola, fake souvenir dog tags and cartridge cases, there is little to see in Khe Sanh today. Nothing remains of the base itself, which was dismantled or bulldozed by the Americans when they left.
Rusted Tank, Khe Sanh Firebase
What remains is a ghostly sense of history and tragedy. Much of the area is barren earth and the surrounding mountains are a stark reminder of the strategic hopelessness of situating a base in such an exposed location. It is difficult not to be awed by the desolate atmosphere of a place where so many people died and many visitors wander about in silence.
Khe Sanh firebase and nearby Khe Sanh town are accessible by road and best visited with a guide. There are unknown quantities of unexploded shells, bombs, mines and bullets scattered about the area and it is unwise to wander about without local assistance.
Private transport or bus tours are easily arranged in Hue and will usually include visits to a number of other places of interest in the old Demilitarised Zone (DMZ). The cost of a day tour will be US$10 - 20 depending on where you buy and which itinerary you choose.
Khe Sanh Firebase today - a coffee plantation
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