After the Geneva Accord in 1954, the north and the south of Vietnam was temporarily divided at the 17th parallel and the Ben Hai River was the temporary military demarcation line. The Demilitarized Zone (or DMZ) of no more than 5km in width was created on either side of the Ben Hai River.

Travel Guide to Vinh Moc Tunnel, Quang Tri

1/ The Historical Context

The Accord was meant to be broken and from 1965 the US started the destruction bombings of North Vietnam. Vinh Linh was the outpost of the North and was the most heavily bombed area during the time.  From 1965 to 1972, the US dumped over 500 thousand tonnes of bombs in the area of Vinh Linh District, which means 7 tonnes of bomb for every single person of Vinh Linh.

Opening to Vinh Moc Tunnel

2/ Vinh Moc Tunnels

Vinh Moc Tunnel is in Vinh Linh District, Quang Tri Province, 13km east of  the National Road 1A, 6km north of Cua Tung River-mouth and 30km west of the offshore Con Co Island. Vinh Linh District had 20 communes and 1 town, of which 14 communes and the town had a tunnel themselves each, with the total length of over 40km, when the US started escalating the bombing of North Vietnam. The tunnels of Vinh Linh were built in each commune to ensure the normal life for the local people and to ensure the continuity of supplies of war materials. Nowadays, only the tunnel of Vinh Moc is well-preserved and open to the public.

 
Vinh Moc Tunnel in Vinh Linh, Quang Tri, Vietnam

The total length of Vinh Moc Tunnel was  2km including 780m of the main tunnel and the rest was smaller branches. Along side the main tunnel, there were chambers and compartments for households of 3-4 persons each. There were also function rooms for meeting, for giving birth, for hospital... From 1965 to 1972, there were 17 babies born inside the tunnel of Vinh Moc, safe and sound...

 
A family shelter inside the tunnel of Vinh Moc

The tunnel of Vinh Moc was composed of 3 levels: Level 1 of 8-10m underground was for fighting and temporary shelter; Level 2 of  12-15m underground was for the villagers to live; Level 3 of 30m underground was for storing war materials. There are 6 openings to the nearby hills and 7 openings to the sea.

3/ Tour to the Vinh Moc Tunnels

Paradissa offers day trip from Hue, from Dong Hoi or from Dong Ha to visit Vinh Moc along with the former famous sites of the DMZ of Vietnam. A trip to the area would provide our travellers with the opportunity to learn about the war as well as the Vietnamese life during the hard times.

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