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spiderbraids) wrote2021-04-28 08:42 am
spiderbraids) wrote2021-04-28 08:42 am
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Blast from the Past: Vietnam 2007 (Part 1)
Time for another blast from the past, this one from late April-early May 2007, when I visited Vietnam with my mom and my since-deceased maternal grandmother :-) I posted some of these pictures at the time, and here they are again (plus several new ones), now bigger and without the Photobucket watermark :-)
(New) Sunrise on the first day of the trip, on this day 14 years ago, after taking an overnight bus from Bangkok
We start in Mukdahan (town on the Mekong river/Thai-Lao border), just after breakfast (our guide told us we were going to have meals in three different countries). This is the bus that will take us (me, mom, grandma) across the border. Note that the lettering on the bus is Laotian.
And to do this, we have to cross this bridge. Nice vista of the river here.
On the other side now, and here's a plaque at Lao customs. We're only passing through Laos on our way to Vietnam: the only stop we had in the entire country was for lunch.
Lots of roadside cows in Laos...
And goats too ;-)
(NEW) Lunchtime in Phine :-)
(NEW) This particular restaurant is apparently a common stopping point for all tours taking this route... The beverage ads are Laotian, but the tour company stickers are all Thai (except for Tan Hong Travel in Danang), and there's even a Thai house-blessing plaque (red with yellow text)
(NEW) I took this photo because as a Winx watcher, I found the idea of a mobile phone service called "WeFly" amusing :-) (Was an apparently now defunct teen-oriented service provided by Lao Telecom)
And by afternoon, we're in Vietnam. Hello, big border gate!
Our first attraction is the Vinh Moc tunnels. They're VERY tight...
This should give you a good indication of how tight. (I had to crouch over for most of the tunnel walk. Definitely not for the claustrophobic ;-) )
(New commentary: Compared to the picture of this same room on Wikipedia, the father model's hand has fallen off :-))
(NEW) Next up is a brief stop at Hien Luong bridge, near the tunnels (first two pics were actually before visiting the tunnel)
(NEW) Countdown clock for a stoplight at Dong Ha, where we would have our dinner. These would later catch on in Thailand (albeit looking different than those here)
Random picture of roadside marker just outside the restaurant where we had dinner on the first day of the trip. QL1 = Quoc Lo 1 = Highway 1. TPHCM: Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh = Ho Chi Minh City = Saigon.
(New) Sunrise on the first day of the trip, on this day 14 years ago, after taking an overnight bus from Bangkok
We start in Mukdahan (town on the Mekong river/Thai-Lao border), just after breakfast (our guide told us we were going to have meals in three different countries). This is the bus that will take us (me, mom, grandma) across the border. Note that the lettering on the bus is Laotian.
And to do this, we have to cross this bridge. Nice vista of the river here.
On the other side now, and here's a plaque at Lao customs. We're only passing through Laos on our way to Vietnam: the only stop we had in the entire country was for lunch.
Lots of roadside cows in Laos...
And goats too ;-)
(NEW) Lunchtime in Phine :-)
(NEW) This particular restaurant is apparently a common stopping point for all tours taking this route... The beverage ads are Laotian, but the tour company stickers are all Thai (except for Tan Hong Travel in Danang), and there's even a Thai house-blessing plaque (red with yellow text)
(NEW) I took this photo because as a Winx watcher, I found the idea of a mobile phone service called "WeFly" amusing :-) (Was an apparently now defunct teen-oriented service provided by Lao Telecom)
And by afternoon, we're in Vietnam. Hello, big border gate!
Our first attraction is the Vinh Moc tunnels. They're VERY tight...
This should give you a good indication of how tight. (I had to crouch over for most of the tunnel walk. Definitely not for the claustrophobic ;-) )
(New commentary: Compared to the picture of this same room on Wikipedia, the father model's hand has fallen off :-))
(NEW) Next up is a brief stop at Hien Luong bridge, near the tunnels (first two pics were actually before visiting the tunnel)
(NEW) Countdown clock for a stoplight at Dong Ha, where we would have our dinner. These would later catch on in Thailand (albeit looking different than those here)
Random picture of roadside marker just outside the restaurant where we had dinner on the first day of the trip. QL1 = Quoc Lo 1 = Highway 1. TPHCM: Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh = Ho Chi Minh City = Saigon.