The A Shau Valley (Vietnamese: ''thung lũng A Sầu'') is a valley in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

Huế Huế (formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province) is the southernmost coastal Municipalities of Vietnam, city in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam, approximately in the center of the country. It borders Quảng ...

, along the border of

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

. The valley runs north and south for 40 kilometers and is a 1.5-kilometer-wide flat bottomland covered with tall

elephant grass The term Elephant grass may refer to the following grass species: * The Asian ''Miscanthus giganteus'', also known as giant miscanthus, commonly used as a biomass crop * The African ''Cenchrus purpureus ''Cenchrus purpureus'', synonym ''Penniset ...

, flanked by two densely forested mountain ridges whose summits vary in elevation from 900 to 1,800 meters. A Shau Valley was one of the key entry points into

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

for men and material brought along the

Ho Chi Minh trail The Ho Chi Minh Trail (), also called Annamite Range Trail () was a Military logistics, logistical network of roads and trails that ran from North Vietnam to South Vietnam through the kingdoms of Kingdom of Laos, Laos and Cambodia (1953–1970), ...

by the

North Vietnamese Army The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), officially the Vietnam People's Army (VPA; , , ), also recognized as the Vietnamese Army (), the People's Army () or colloquially the Troops ( ), is the national Military, military force of the Vietnam, S ...

and was the scene of heavy fighting during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. The A Shau Valley is bisected lengthwise by Route 548. The

Ho Chi Minh Highway Ho Chi Minh Road or Ho Chi Minh Highway () is a highway in Vietnam. It runs from the north to the south of Vietnam, west of National Route 1. The highway was named after Hồ Chí Minh. History The route roughly coincides with the Ho Chi Minh t ...

now runs along the valley floor.

References

External links

Battlefields in Vietnam Landforms of Huế Valleys of Vietnam {{Vietnam-geo-stub

See also

References

External links