Vietnam plans to turn the famed Ho Chi Minh Trail, used by the Communists as a supply line during the Vietnam war, into a tourist attraction, an official said yesterday.
Authorities in Quang Tri province plan to organize tours to areas near the trail where fierce fighting took place, such as Khe Sanh, Ta Con airport and Peak 241, said Nguyen Thi Mai, director of Quang Tri provincial Trade and Tourism Service.
Officials also plan to restore communication stations, front-line surgery units and vehicle repair stations built by communist soldiers along the trail, she said.
The trail, which began as a simple footpath over the Truong Son mountain range in 1959, grew into a network of more than 10,000km of paths by the time the war ended in 1975, despite massive bombing and defoliation by US planes.
Named after Vietnam's revolutionary hero, it was a vital route for supplies and troops from communist North Vietnam to battlefields in the south. Pipes were also constructed along parts of the trail to transport petroleum to the battlefields.
Provincial authorities have allocated 53 billion dong (US$3.5 million) to restore or upgrade parts of the trail, Mai said.
She said 37km of trail will be improved for easier access to the area, while 4km will be restored to its original state to show wartime conditions. The work is slated for completion by 2005.
Vietnam's government is also constructing a major north-south road, the Ho Chi-minh Highway, along portions of the trail.
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