Dak Po Victory Relic: Connecting inter-regional tourism

"Old battlefield"

Passing Dak Po town along Highway 19 towards Pleiku City, one can fully observe the Dak Po Victory Monument on the top of a high hill. The top of the sacred temple commemorating the heroic martyrs in the glorious battle 70 years ago seems to touch the blue sky of Truong Son-Tay Nguyen.

After nearly 10 years working as a tour guide at Dak Po Victory Monument, Ms. Pham Thi My Dung (Dak Po District Department of Culture and Information) shared: “With each meeting with historical witnesses and veterans, I have more stories to gradually accumulate to enrich the information introduced to the people and tourists. The job also leaves me with many unforgettable memories, especially when meeting relatives of martyrs. They are yearning to find the remains of their loved ones. Some people recount memories of their fathers and brothers who have forever remained here.

I am trying to find more information to explain and spread the value of the Dak Po victory to the general public and tourists, and at the same time hope to help in the search for the 147 martyrs' remains that have not been found yet."

Dak Po Victory Relic has the strength to connect and develop inter-regional tourism thanks to the convergence of historical and architectural values. Photo: HN

According to Ms. Dung, in addition to the Memorial Temple and Victory Monument, visitors can learn about the glorious battle that is considered an epic of the 20th century at the exhibition house. There are over 100 artifacts, documentary images, costumes of our soldiers (restored at the Military Zone 5 Museum), photo books, a model introducing the Dak Po victory, and a photo book introducing the life and career of the late Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Minh Chau - former Commander of Regiment 96, who directly commanded the Dak Po battle.

In addition, there are many images of the French army in despair in defeat and disintegration; the joy of the people when their homeland was liberated; or the portrait of the young battle commander with his determined eyes to defeat the enemy. Although the number of artifacts is not much, it is enough to create a slow-motion film about history.

Inside the Exhibition House. Photo: HN

Ms. Dung added: “There are special artifacts of the Hero of the Armed Forces Nguyen Minh Chau brought back from Ho Chi Minh City by his daughter and his family members. Or the book “Victory on Route 19 An Khe-Dak Po Lien Khu V in the Winter-Spring Campaign 1953-1954” by the Traditional Liaison Committee of Regiment 96 (People's Army Publishing House) are all very valuable; currently there are only 2 copies left, of which 1 is stored at the District Library and 1 is displayed here”.

Tourist connection point

Located on Highway 19 connecting to the eastern gateway of An Khe town, Dak Po Victory Relic has the strength to connect the eastern tourist routes and destinations and develop inter-regional tourism. Mr. Nguyen Le Hoang Anh - Director of Gia Lai Eco-Tourist Trading Company Limited said: "International visitors in general, when taking them to the eastern tourist routes and destinations, introducing the battle of the Vietnamese Army against the French on Highway 19, they are attracted and very curious. Therefore, Dak Po Victory Relic has been included in our tour program for decades.

This is a very interesting old battlefield tourist route, connecting with related points in An Khe town is even better. Anyone interested in history wants to come here. Especially international visitors, they really want to know how people grew rice in the difficult times, had to rely on the rugged mountains and forests, how they supplied food to be able to defeat powerful empires like France and the US. However, the attractiveness of the relic also depends on the scale, nature of the relic, the tour guide, the stories they tell to visitors.

Dak Po Victory Monument is located on a hill facing Highway 19. Photo: HN

Ms. Bui Thi Thuong - Vice Chairman of Dak Po District People's Committee: "Recently, the District People's Committee has coordinated with An Khe town and Kbang and Kong Chro districts with the support of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to develop a specialized tourism program on culture and history. Including connecting relics such as: Pleiku prison, Tay Son Thuong Dao special national relic complex, Early Stone Age relics, the province's revolutionary historical relic site in Krong commune, Dak Po victory relic. Thereby forming a common destination to connect neighboring localities, contributing to promoting tourism in Dak Po district in particular and the province in general".

Highly appreciating the value of Dak Po Victory Monument on the Eastern tourism route, Mr. Nguyen Tan Thanh - Chairman of the Provincial Tourism Association - affirmed: "This is the area with the richest tourism resources in the province. In which, Dak Po Victory Monument is the starting point, connecting Kbang district and An Khe town into a "triangle" in the East.

From here, we start to go to Stor Resistance Village, through the province's revolutionary historical relic site in Krong commune and return to the special heritages in An Khe town. Combining historical relics with natural landscapes in Truong Son Dong, this is a route worth experiencing like no other.

The Chairman of the Provincial Tourism Association also said: "When talking about tourism, there must be a product that has a certain appeal to pure tourists, not just groups of veterans, students, union members, youth or departments, branches, and organizations coming to visit and study.

Therefore, to promote value through tourism, it is necessary to learn from successful models in localities that are strong in this type, and select appropriate methods to apply to your relics.

Young generation of Dak Po district learn about the history of the battle through pictures and documents. Photo: HN

On the local side, Ms. Bui Thi Thuong - Vice Chairman of Dak Po District People's Committee - said: "To promote the value of Dak Po Victory Monument, the district focuses on promoting propaganda and tourism activities. Increase the quality and duration of news, articles and promotional images on mass media.

In addition, promote the application of information technology and digital transformation in tourism promotion activities of the district. Regularly update documents, images, and tourism promotion reports to the provincial tourism website, link with the electronic information pages of districts, towns, and cities in the province to share and introduce cultural tourism products between localities.

Participate in cultural, tourism and sports events organized by the province to introduce the culture and people of Dak Po district, participate in tourism fairs inside and outside the province to promote the district's tourism products as well as approach tourists, investors, and major travel agencies to seek opportunities for development cooperation".

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/di-tich-chien-thang-dak-po-ket-noi-du-lich-lien-vung-post281872.html