<figcaption>A Shau Valley</figcaption>

<img alt="A Shau area lodens remarked" src="https://www.secretindochina.com/upload-images/programmes/a-luoia-luoi-district/AShau_area-lodens-remarked-1578368990.jpg" />
<figcaption>A Shau area lodens remarked</figcaption>

Dis­cov­er the A Luoi Dis­trict, sand­wiched between the west­ern part of Cen­tral Vietnam’s moun­tain­ous A Shau Val­ley and the Laot­ian bor­der (Sar­a­vane and Sekong Provinces), and gain insight into some of the strate­gic focal points dur­ing the Viet­nam War. Togeth­er with Ashau Spe­cial Forces Camp and Ta Bat, A Luoi Camp formed the back­bone in the U.S. Spe­cial Forces’ pres­ence in the Ashau Val­ley. Today, lit­tle remains from the mil­i­tary base except the endur­ing old run­way stretch­ing across the rur­al town of A Luoi.

<img alt="Operation in A Luoi" src="https://www.secretindochina.com/upload-images/programmes/a-luoia-luoi-district/operation-in-a-luoi-1578369060.jpg" />
<figcaption>Oper­a­tion in A Luoi</figcaption>

Ashau Spe­cial Forces Camp, locat­ed only two miles from the Laot­ian bor­der, one of the most inac­ces­si­ble val­leys in the coun­try. Dur­ing the Viet­nam War, the U.S Army Spe­cial Forces occu­py­ing Camp A Shau were able to mon­i­tor NVA activ­i­ty along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The sur­round­ing hills reach approx­i­mate­ly 1500 feet above the val­ley floor. Due to sur­round­ing moun­tains and low-lying clouds and fog, access to the val­ley by air could be dif­fi­cult. In 1966, A Luoi and A Shau camps were aban­doned due to increased pres­sure from the People’s Army of Viet­nam (PAVN) forces and the A Shau Val­ley became a major PAVN base area sup­port­ing oper­a­tions through­out Cen­tral Highlands.

<figcaption>A Luoi moun­tain © Mack Payne</figcaption>

Climb the infa­mous Ap Bia Moun­tain, which Amer­i­can troops called Ham­burg­er Hill, or Hill 937, where a dead­ly bat­tle in May 1969 which last­ed 11 days car­nage by both sides to take con­trol of the high ground. Ris­ing from the floor of west­ern A Shau Val­ley, Ap Bia is a soli­tary mas­sif uncon­nect­ed to the ridges of the sur­round­ing Anna­mite range. The entire moun­tain is an uninvit­ing wilder­ness blan­ket­ed in dou­ble- and triple-canopy jun­gle, dense thick­ets of bam­boo forests, and fields of high ele­phant grass. The Pro­to-Indochi­nese who inhab­it the area call Ap Bia the moun­tain of the crouch­ing beast.

Meet Ms. Ho Can Lich, a Viet­namese Ama­zon­ian, orig­i­nat­ing from A Luoi, the first woman declared a People’s Armed Force Hero who led a 160-strong, all-female guer­ril­la brigade dur­ing the war. Dri­ve along the famous Hô Chi Minh trail and stop at a ​“Mon­tag­nard” vil­lage to become acquaint­ed with the Bru peo­ple. Enjoy fan­tas­tic moun­tain views while pass­ing through Katu and Ta Oy eth­nic vil­lages, green hills, crys­tal-clear bub­bling streams and pret­ty waterfalls.

<img alt="" src="https://www.secretindochina.com/upload-images/programmes/a-luoi-district/mountain-illus-1578544357.jpg" />