(i) The Ho Chi Minh trail had great significance in the Vietnamese war against the US. It symbolises how the Vietnamese used their limited resources to great advantage. (ii) The trail, an immense network of footpaths and roads, was used to transport men and materials from the north to the south. (iii) The trail was improved from the late 1950s, and from 1967 about 20,000 North Vietnamese troops came south each month on this trail (iv) The trail had support bases and hospitals along the way. In some parts supplies were transported in trucks but mostly they were carried by porters. (v) Most of the trail was outside Vietnam in neighbouring Laos, and Cambodia with branch lines extending into South Vietnam.