Dong Ha

Dong Ha (Vietnamese: Đông Hà) is a city in central Vietnam. It's the closest major city to the DMZ, or Demilitarized Zone, the area around the former border between North and South Vietnam.

Get in

• Travel agents in Hue offer cheap buses to and from Dong Ha as part of their DMZ tours. It also has connections to Savannakhet in Laos.
• Minibuses to and from Hue (50,000 dong) and Da Nang (100,000 dong) all day, every day.
• Vans to the Lao Bao border crossing cost 35,000-50,000 dong and run all day.
• The Saigon-Hanoi express trains (Trains S1, S2, S3, S4) do not stop at Dong Ha station. Only local (slow) trains stop here.

Get around

It is difficult to find any motorbike rentals along Le Duan, and walking is impractical given the long, dusty, hot roads. There are no city buses, so your best option is to take a motorbike taxi to your destination, and have a tour pick you up from your hotel if you plan to do the DMZ.

See

• The DMZ is an interesting one-day outing from Dong Ha.
• 1 Mine Action Visitor Center, Kid First Village (A little difficult to find. Look for the blue sign on Ly Thuong Kiet St and follow the dirt road past the lake). M–F 08:00–17:00. Excellent museum on the on-going effects of UXO (unexploded ordnance) in the DMZ area. Free. (updated May 2015)
• 2 Museum of Quan Tri province (Bảo Tàng Quảng Trị). M–F 07:30–11:30 13:30–17:00. Museum providing detailed information about the region, its history (including the Vietnam War), culture, local life and industries. Free. (updated May 2015)

Buy

• ATMs are everywhere in the city.
• 1 Tran Hung Dao St Market. One of the largest markets of the country. People can easily find affordable goods and souvenirs here, most of which are from China and Thailand. Travellers never want to miss this place when they visit Dong Ha. 

Eat

• Tam's Cafe, 79 Hung Vuong Street, ☏ +84 905425912. Excellent coffee and selection of drinks, some good Western food and basic Vietnamese dishes. Very helpful owner can arrange tours and help with anything you may need. Good place to meet other travellers in town. 

Sleep

• Hoang Lan Hotel (On the east side of Nguyen Du where it meets 9B.). Clean rooms have en suite baths, air-con, fan, Wi-Fi, and hard beds. Doubles: 200,000 dong. Double with mini-fridge: 250,000 dong. 
• Hotel Ngoc Anh, 361 Le Duan (South side of town, across from the train station and just up the road from the local bus station). Nice, new rooms. Very nice lady who will help with tickets or tours, but speaks little or no English. 170,000-190,000 dong. 
• Sao Mai Hotel (On the west side of Nguyen Du where it meets 9B). Cheap, semi-clean guesthouse with helpful staff who speak some English. Rooms have en suite baths, air-con, fan, and Wi-Fi. Inside parking is available. 200-300,000 dong, but you might get a single room in the low season for 160,000 dong.. 
• The Trade Labor Union Guesthouse. 160,000 dong. 
• Violet Hotel, Ba Trieu (opposite to lakeside restaurants, near Tran Hun Dao St). Budget hotel. Rooms with helpful staff, good air-con, hot showers, mini bar, TV. Expat owner is no longer on site, and it shows. Tam's cafe can help with directions. Singles 160,000 dong. 

Go next

Minivans run to Lao Bao (50,000 dong). The Dong Ha train station grants you access to any other city you may wish to travel to in Vietnam.

• DMZ
• Khe Sanh
• Dong Hoi
• Hue