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Brief Introduction
 Located in North - Central Vietnam, Quang Tri is surrounded by Quang Binh Province on the north, Thua Thien-Hue Province on the south, Savanakhet (Laos)on the west, East Sea on the east with 75km seaside. Topography consists of mountains, hills, plains, sand dune and seaside. The long coast and complex network of rives includes Ben Hai, Cam Lo, Quang Tri, Thach Han making a good condition for hydroelectricity and aquiculture. The weather condition is very severe with hot and dry south- west winds. Annual average temperature is 24ºC.  Quang Tri preserves many remains from the anti- American resistance war such as the ancient citadel of Quang Tri, Khe Sanh Combat Base, Truong Son National Cemetery, Vinh Moc Tunnels, Hien Luong Bridge and Ben Hai River. Coming to there, tourists are able to take interesting holiday in Dakrong Beauty Spot and Cua Tung Beach. The beach has sparkling clean water, silky sand and  soft breeze, the whisper made by the rows of casuarinas trees. It is very pleasant to go on boat down stream on the Ben Hai River and admire the beautiful landscapes.Dong Ha Town is 74km from Hue City, 80km from Lao Bao Border crossing, 94km from Dong Hoi (Quang Binh Province), 190km from Danang, 598km from Hanoi, and 1,112km from Ho Chi Minh City . National Highway No.1A runs through the province and National Highway No.9, the Trans-Asia Highway connects with the Lao Bao international border gate to Laos.Highlights
 Quang Tri Citadel was built in 1824, during the 4th year of the reign of Minh Mang, in Trieu Hai district, Quang Tri province. The citadel is approximately 60 km north of Hue.The citadel had a style of Vo-bang architecture with its circuit of 2.160 metres – one door each side. There were four fortressed jutting out from each four corners to control the four citadel gates. Inside was the town palace surrounded by  a system of thick walls with circuit of 400 meters. The town palace was a three-roomed house whose two wings were used as places for the King to worship, and to give promotions to his inferiors or to occasionally celebrate festivals. Outside the town palace, there were a flagpole and castles such as Tuan Vu, An Sat and Lanh Binh and a rice store, etc and under the French domination, soldier camp and tax agency were added. However there are no remains of the  past there nowadays – due to the destruction of U.S bombs in the hot summer of 1972. The incident of 81 days and nights (from June 28 to September 16, 1972) has made this citadel well-known all over the world. By using fire-power, the South Vietnam puppet troop was determined to re-occupy Quang Tri old citadel within a couple of days. Quang Tri town, therefore, had to suffer from the U.S bombardment and shelling of 140 B52 aircraft in turn, more than 200 tactical planes, 12 – 16  fighter planes and cruisers. Within 40 days and nights it had suffered 80,000 tons of bombs – as many as that in the World War II in African battlefield within a month. Sometimes the number of bombs dropped in Quang Tri a day was far more than that on the whole South battlefield in the years of 1968-1969..Especially, on July 25, there were 5,000 shells fired at an area of 3 square km2 of Quang Tri and its vicinity once suffered 20,000 shells of big size a day. The US aggressors used bombs and shells with their destructive c apacity, to destroy Quang Tri, equivalent to 7 atomic bombs the they dropped onto Hiroshima and Nagasaki – Japan in 1945. It is, really, unbelievable that each inhabitant in this land had to suffer 7 tons of bombs averagely. Also, this has proved that ours is a heroic nation – for 81 days and nights, the whole Quang Tri old citadel had been shaking by U.S bombs and shells, and it was at the same time, the whole Vietnamese people turned towards their undaunted Quang Tri old citadel, following every step of our liberation armed forces. All were determined, side by side with Quang Tri to fight to their last breath. The Northern people had saved everything such as: ammunition, food and etc. to send to Quang Tri. Thousands and thousands of young men joined the army to go to the front. Many among those have been gone forever in this Quang Tri land.
Vinh Moc Tunnels - a place well-known as an underground village constructed to avoid bombardments during the American War (1965-1966).  Vinh Moc Tunnels is situated in Vinh Linh Village, Vinh Thach Commune, Vinh Linh District, Quang Tri Province. Situated 13km east of the national Highway 1A and just 6km away from the sea, Vinh Moc Tunnels has become a favorite destination for foreign tourists, especially American war veterans.The spectacular tunnel network stands as a testament to the endurance, wisdom and bravery of the local people in their fight for independence. The t unnels used to be thousands of meters long. But now there remain only 1,700m. This underground network is linked with 13 doors (seven opening to the sea and six to the hills). The structure is divided into three layers, the deepest being 23m underground. They are connected by a 768m main axis that is 1.6 to 1.8m high and 1.2 to 1.5m wide. It is linked to the sea by seven exits, which also function as ventilators and to a nearby hill by another six. Along the two sides of the main axis are housing chambers. There is also a large meeting hall with a seating capacity of 50 to 80 people, which was used for meetings, movies, art performances, surgeries, and even the delivery of babies (17 were born here). There are also f our air wells, two watch stations and three water wells. The village featured unique Hoang Cam stoves, named after the general who invented the store to allow for underground cooking without emitting smoke, thus evading the discovery by bombers. Before entering the tunnels, visitors are shown the displays of that brutal period in Vietnam’s history by some photos. They provide a sharp contrast for the vitality of the local people in during war time, celebrating on the victory day.
The war forced many people to either leave their villages or live beneath the ground. Vinh Moc residents opted for the second solution. A few would imagine that the rubber and pepper tree plantations today used to be a fierce battleground from 1966-1972 when Vinh Moc was a place to pass food and  ammunitions to Con Co Island. The area underwent tens of thousands of tones of bombs by U.S warplanes. The invaders wanted to return the area to the "stone age" and launched a destructive war there. It was estimated that local residents endured the equivalent of 500 heavy rockets per day. In 1976, the Ministry of Culture and Information recognized Vinh Moc Tunnels as national heritage site and included it in a list of especially important historical sites. To ensure security for visitors, the tunnels were restored with reinforced concrete and internal lightening.
 Ben Hai River also has another name: Rao Thanh River. The upper reach of the river is on a stretch of 100 kilometers to meet the sea at Cua Tung (Tung River mouth). The widest part of the river is about 200 meters. The portion where the Hien Luong Bridge spans across is about 170 meters.Hien Luong steel Bridge was first built by French sappers in 1950. Earlier the only means of transport across the river was by boat. The bridge was 178 meters long and had seven girders. The birders. The bridge surface was paved with wood planks. Under the Geneva Agreement on Vietnam signed  in 1954 Ben Hai river on the 17th parallel has been selected as a temporary demarcation line separating the country regrouping purposes. The DMZ area had Hien Luong Bridge divided into two parts which served as the border gates to both sides.Nowadays Hien Luong Bridge has become a historic landmark and a great tourist attraction. The existence of the bridge reflects the miraculous strength of the Vietnamese people throughout the course of the 20-year-long resistance war national independence, freedom and rail independence, freedom and reunification of the entire Vietnam.
Truong Son Cemetery was built on several low lying hills in  Truong Son village, Gio Linh district. In the cemetery there are a big war memorial, a stele house and a group of statutes, as high as 10 meters, depicting those fallen combatants who had sacrificed their lives for national liberation and independence.
The big stele bears an inscription highly evaluating the sacrifices and merits contributed to the national liberation war by those soldiers who had kept the Ho Chi Minh Trail connected all the time for the continuation of material and man power supply from the north to the battlefields in the south.
 Cua Tung Beach lies in the arc of Lai Cape and Ben Hai River-mouth, about 10km from Hien Luong Bridge, Quang Tri Province. The beach is not so long but famous for its white, fine sand, clear water and windy year-round. On either sides of the coast, there’s a white sand beach that the whole scene is really wonderful. Cua Tung Beach is picturesque and the sunshine changes the color every hour. How exciting it is  to view the nature from the boat downstream the river. From Hien Luong Bridge, the boatman will ride visitors along. On either side, there are green fields of rice, maize and bamboo clusters. At sunset, it’s quite amazing to admire exciting sea-gulls on the sea. At night, the murmuring of the sea and the whispering of pine-forests seem to fly visitors to the wonder world. Con Co Island that looks like a drifting ship can be clearly seen from Cua Tung during resistance war against the Americans. Con Co was a heroic outpost of Quang Tri.
 Cua Tung Beach was once said to be the “best of best beaches”. In fact, the day time changes of color, the landscapes, seascapes and mountains-capes help to beautify Cua Tung Beach: the long sand-bank in the south, green villages abound in tea, jackfruit tree, and pepper fields in the west. The Hau and Si Capes in the north look very much like the dinosaurs basking in the sunshine on the beach, so Cua Tung is appreciated to be the best beach due to its fine and white sand, safety even 400 – 500m  from the sea shine, it’s only 1.5m or 1.7m deep. The sanitation is acceptable. Typically, Cua Tung is far from all industrial zones, so the air, the water and the environment remain unpolluted. It’s not affected by hot spells from Laos due to its windy air from south – east. Sea-food here is remarkable: species of crabs, lobsters, snails, sea-shells and fish (chim – thu – nu – de) are just few to name. Cua Tung is really gift of nature in harmony with cultural and ecological spots: Ben Hai River, Hien Luong Bridge, Vinh Moc Tunnels, Cua Tung Beach or Ru Linh Virgin Forest and it surely will be a hopeful destination for visitors at home and abroad. |
