The four-year project, which is divided into several phases, will revamp 271 hectares of land and restore the trails themselves and the old stops along the way.

More specifically, the work involves revamping a long section of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, building an administrative block and visitors’ center occupying 31 hectares at the 15-kilometer mark on Trail 20, restarting the ferry service at Xuan Son, and restoring Trail 15, the Nguyen Van Troi pontoon bridge, Ba Thang Rampart and the headquarters of the 559th High Command.

Phase one involves repairing the trails numbered 20, 12 and 16, and fixing four other wartime relics.

The restoration should do wonders for the local tourism industry and thereby help Quang Binh develop.

Established in the early days of the war against the Americans (1960-1975), the Ho Chi Minh Trail was a major logistical system that ran from the north to the south of Vietnam and also passed through Laos and Cambodia. It featured roads for trucks, paths for walking and cycling, and waterways for ferrying soldiers and supplies.

Thanks to the trail, the north could supply manpower and materials to the National Liberation Front in the south.

The section in Quang Binh Province is legendary. The mountains, rivers and villages in Quang Binh through which the trail ran (and still runs today) have become famous for the ferocious battles that took place there.

Source: SGGP