The Dakrong Bridge and the Ho Chi Monh Trail
The current incarnation of the Dakrong Bridge was built in 1975 after reunification. Just west of the main DMZ zone, the bridge was considered the beginning of the Ho Chi Minh Trail network, and during the years of conflict with the United States, this access point was hotly contested. The Dakrong Bridge fell many times. Now it's a grand suspension bridge, a proud thumbed nose as if to say, "You can't knock down my bridge anymore." The road to the bridge leads to the border with Laos, and even the overnight buses that take intrepid travelers over this route will stop for a good look at the bridge, which heads south (buses continue on the main road west to Laos). Across the bridge is a small village that's a popular stop for tour groups, and where most buses turn around and head back to the main highway. The stunning scenery all along Hwy. 9 is worth the ride.
Note: The Ho Chi Minh Trail is a concept, not a road. The trail was a vast network, spread across hundreds of miles of terrain extending far into the interior of Laos, a broad avenue of hundreds of kilometers of trails that brought supplies to North Vietnamese troops, by hook or by crook, usually on the backs of porters or with giant loads precariously perched on overlaid bicycles. You might call it "the path of least resistance," or the "road less bombed or occupied," really. The trail starts in Quang Tri Province, basically anything from the Dakrong Bridge south, and the Americans were constantly trying to foil the Viet Cong and Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap's relentless end-run around the front line to stage attacks in the south.
The current incarnation of the Dakrong Bridge was built in 1975 after reunification. Just west of the main DMZ zone, the bridge was considered the beginning of the Ho Chi Minh Trail network, and during the years of conflict with the United States, this access point was hotly contested. The Dakrong Bridge fell many times. Now it's a grand suspension bridge, a proud thumbed nose as if to say, "You can't knock down my bridge anymore." The road to the bridge leads to the border with Laos, and even the overnight buses that take intrepid travelers over this route will stop for a good look at the bridge, which heads south (buses continue on the main road west to Laos). Across the bridge is a small village that's a popular stop for tour groups, and where most buses turn around and head back to the main highway. The stunning scenery all along Hwy. 9 is worth the ride.
Note: The Ho Chi Minh Trail is a concept, not a road. The trail was a vast network, spread across hundreds of miles of terrain extending far into the interior of Laos, a broad avenue of hundreds of kilometers of trails that brought supplies to North Vietnamese troops, by hook or by crook, usually on the backs of porters or with giant loads precariously perched on overlaid bicycles. You might call it "the path of least resistance," or the "road less bombed or occupied," really. The trail starts in Quang Tri Province, basically anything from the Dakrong Bridge south, and the Americans were constantly trying to foil the Viet Cong and Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap's relentless end-run around the front line to stage attacks in the south.
Details
Bookstore
Available as paperback
and as e-book.
