VietNamNet Bridge – Under the Valley of Love, a well-known tourist destination in Da Lat city, in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, is an interlaced network of tunnels of a hundred of kilometers to serve the illegal exploitation of tin.

These tunnels are built firmly and propped up by pine wood. Tunnels are between 0.8 to 1m wide and nearly 2m high. They are lighted by electric lamps, with ventilation systems and water supply and drainage pipes.

Houses are built on tunnel gates, which are disguised as orchid gardens. Ore is transported from the tunnel by motorbikes.

A local gardener named Phan said that the price for one kilo of tin is VND300,000 ($15). “Each several days, I see motorbikes carrying tin from tunnels. Each trip is worth VND50-60 million ($2,500-3,000),” he added.

The local government has carried out several campaigns against illegal tin exploration but after a short period of time, tin miners return.

Below are pictures captured at tunnels in the Valley of Love on May 15: