How one of the most bombed places on the planet survived

We have a history theme to our CNN Travel newsletter this week, from Istanbul’s Ottoman legacy, to the discovery of ancient human footprints in New Mexico, to an underground Nazi fortress in Poland. First up, though, is an incredible story of survival during the Vietnam War.

Before 1965, Vịnh Mốc was a tranquil fishing village in central Vietnam, with a lush landscape of rice paddies, bamboo thickets and golden beaches.

Then, due to its strategic location on the border of North and South Vietnam, it became one of the most bombed places on the planet during the Vietnam War.

Over eight years, American forces would drop an estimated 9,000 tons of explosives over the village.

Relocation wasn’t an option under such heavy bombardment, so villagers took refuge in the only place they could: underground.

Within two years, an ingenious tunnel complex was constructed, with arched ceilings and thick walls, and zigzag subterranean pathways to better absorb bomb blasts.

Hundreds of residents would spend six years beneath the village while it was under fire, and at least 17 children were born in the underground complex’s maternity ward. Read the full story here .

For CNN subscribers, we also have the story of Poland’s Wolin Island , an idyllic vacation getaway , which once housed an underground Nazi fortress. It was an ambitious design, with a network of bunkers and almost a mile of tunnels.

The complex, known today as Wolin Underground City, was built secretly by the Nazis in 1936 in defiance of the Versailles Treaty , which prohibited German rearmament after World War I.

Today, it’s open for all to see.

Experts didn’t believe marks uncovered by a biologist in New Mexico’s White Sands National Park in 2009 were ancient human footprints.

Seven years later though, they were proved wrong — and it had earth-shattering consequences for long-debated theories about when prehistoric people first arrived in the Americas.

That was just the beginning: The discoveries snowballed from there .

Kyrgyzstan’s Saimaluu Tash valley is also home to ancient wonders that only came to light in modern times.

Ten thousand rocks, etched with nearly 90,000 carvings dating as far back as the Bronze Age, make Saimaluu Tash one of the largest and most remote high-altitude petroglyph sites in the world.

Getting there involves climbing a rocky path through the Tian-Shan mountains and crossing a seasonal snow bridge where the petroglyphs can be accessed for just a fleeting six-week window each summer.

For subscribers, the CNN Original Series “The Wonder List with Bill Weir” debuted in 2015 with a visit to the Pacific island of Vanuatu, where native tribes were facing a modern world that threatened their culture’s ancient traditions. Stream the episode here .

Izzet Keribar/The Image Bank Unreleased/Getty Images

The city now known as Istanbul has been at the heart of empires, from the Roman to the Byzantine to the Ottoman, and their legacies can be found throughout the Turkish metropolis.

Yedikule Fortress , a former prison and imperial treasury whose origins go back to the fourth-century Walls of Constantinople, is returning to its former magnificence as the result of a multi-stage restoration project.

Topkapi Palace , built in the 15th century on a strategic promontory at the edge of Europe, was the seat of the Ottoman Empire for nearly 400 years.

It’s one of the world’s greatest surviving palaces, alongside other regal estates such as France’s Palace of Versailles and China’s Forbidden City, and many tales of intrigue between sultans, eunuchs, concubines and the royal household went on within its walls.

LA’s Melody Ranch has spent more than a century standing in for America’s Wild West. Its dusty main street, saloon and hand-painted signs are seen in “Gunsmoke,” “Deadwood,” “Django Unchained,” “Westworld” and “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.”

Thousands of Americans are giving up their citizenship.

The world’s best airline for 2026 has been named.

It’s a sixth-time win for the elite carrier.

A media battle. A food recall. A travel nightmare.

What do you remember from the week that was ?

Fifty travel destinations to inspire you for 2027.

Chosen by Lonely Planet .

本周CNN旅游新闻简报的主题是历史，从伊斯坦布尔的奥斯曼帝国遗迹，到新墨西哥州发现的古代人类足迹，再到波兰的纳粹地下要塞。不过，首先要介绍的是一个令人难以置信的越战生存故事。

1965 年以前，永木是越南中部一个宁静的渔村，拥有郁郁葱葱的稻田、竹林和金色沙滩。

后来，由于其位于越南南北边界的战略位置，它成为越南战争期间地球上遭受轰炸最严重的地区之一。

在长达八年的时间里，美军估计向该村庄投掷了 9000 吨炸药。

在如此猛烈的炮火下，搬迁是不可能的，所以村民们只能躲到他们唯一能去的地方：地下。

两年内，一座巧妙的隧道建筑群建成，它有拱形天花板和厚厚的墙壁，以及之字形的地下通道，以便更好地吸收炸弹爆炸的冲击力。

数百名村民在村庄遭受炮火袭击的六年里被困于地下，至少有17名婴儿在地下建筑群的产房里出生。点击此处阅读完整报道。

对于 CNN 的订阅用户，我们还报道了波兰沃林岛的故事。沃林岛是一个风景如画的度假胜地，但它曾经是纳粹地下要塞的所在地。这是一个雄心勃勃的设计，拥有庞大的掩体网络和近一英里长的隧道。

该建筑群如今被称为沃林地下城，是纳粹于 1936 年秘密建造的，公然违反了凡尔赛条约。该条约禁止德国在第一​​次世界大战后重新武装。

如今，它已向所有人开放参观。

专家们并不认为生物学家在 2009 年于新墨西哥州白沙国家公园发现的痕迹是古代人类的足迹。

然而，七年后，事实证明他们错了——这对长期以来争论不休的关于史前人类何时首次抵达美洲的理论产生了翻天覆地的影响。

那仅仅是个开始：此后，发现像滚雪球一样越滚越大。

吉尔吉斯斯坦的赛马鲁塔什山谷也拥有许多古代奇观，这些奇观直到近代才被发现。

一万块岩石上刻有近九万幅雕刻，最早可追溯到青铜时代，这使得赛马鲁塔什成为世界上最大的、最偏远的高海拔岩画遗址之一。

前往那里需要攀登天山山脉的崎岖小路，并穿过一座季节性雪桥，每年夏季只有短暂的六周时间可以到达那里观赏岩画。

订阅用户可观看 CNN 原创系列节目《比尔·威尔的奇观清单》（The Wonder List with Bill Weir），该节目于 2015 年首播，第一集探访了太平洋岛国瓦努阿图，讲述了当地土著部落如何面对现代世界对其古老文化传统的威胁。点击此处观看该集节目。

Izzet Keribar/The Image Bank Unreleased/Getty Images

如今被称为伊斯坦布尔的城市，曾是罗马帝国、拜占庭帝国和奥斯曼帝国等各个帝国的中心，这些帝国的遗迹遍布这座土耳其大都市。

耶迪库勒要塞，这座曾经的监狱和皇家金库，其历史可以追溯到公元四世纪的君士坦丁堡城墙，如今正通过一项多阶段的修复工程，重现昔日的辉煌。

托普卡帕宫建于 15 世纪，坐落在欧洲边缘的战略要地上，近 400 年来一直是奥斯曼帝国的都城。

它是世界上现存最伟大的宫殿之一，与法国的凡尔赛宫和中国的紫禁城等其他皇家庄园齐名，苏丹、宦官、妃嫔和皇室成员之间许多阴谋诡计的故事都发生在这座宫殿的围墙之内。

洛杉矶的梅洛迪牧场一个多世纪以来一直是美国西部荒野的取景地。它的尘土飞扬的主街、酒吧和手绘招牌出现在《荒野大镖客》、《朽木》、《被解救的姜戈》、《西部世界》和《好莱坞往事》等影视作品中。

成千上万的美国人正在放弃他们的公民身份。

2026年全球最佳航空公司已经揭晓。

这是这家顶级航空公司第六次赢得冠军。

媒体战。食品召回。旅行噩梦。

你还记得上周发生了什么吗？

2027 年，50 个旅行目的地将激发你的旅行灵感。

由孤独星球推荐。