The
Ho Chi Minh Trail was an elaborate system of mountain and jungle
trails linking North Vietnam, South Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos during
the Vietnam War against the United States. Today, the many paths of
the Ho Chi Minh trail criss-cross the newly built Ho Chi Minh
Highway. On this tour we explore the northern section of the Ho Chi
Minh trail, which was previously inaccessible, from Ngoc Lac to the
Hai Van Pass in Danang. This wide, smooth undulating highway is a
bikers dream as there is little traffic on the road. And it
conveniently will take us through farms, orchards, tribal villages
and offers us
easy access to some of the country's top attractions — one of
Vietnam’s most spectacular caves, the ancient royal seat of Hue,
the picturesque trading port of Hoi An and South China Sea beaches.
Fartun, how much bombing did the US do to stop the supplies?
ReplyDeleteThe United States could not block the Ho Chi Minh Trail with ground forces, because the countries it passed through were officially neutral. Extensive aerial bombing did not prevent the North Vietnamese from moving hundreds of tons of war supplies per day down the Ho Chi Minh Trail to the south. The trail undeniably lay at the heart of the war. For the Vietnamese of the North the Ho Chi Minh Trail symbolized the aspirations of a people — hiking it became the central experience of a generation.
ReplyDeleteOn November 11, 1968, Operation Commando Hunt was initiated by the U.S. and its allies. The goal of the operation was to interdict men and supplies on the Ho Chi Minh trail, through Laos into South Vietnam. By the end of the operation, three million tons of bombs were dropped on Laos, which slowed but did not consistently disrupt trail operations