I was traveling solo in Vietnam at Christmastime, 2004. Fate and a series of situations beyond my control put me at the South China Sea rather than southern Thailand when the tsunami hit.
At the time I was bewildered and distressed at the inability to change my itinerary. I literally threw my hands up through near hysterical tears at my situation at the time. Just goes to show you....!
Halong Bay, Vietnam
Looks romantic but was really just smoky.
Bridge at the World Heritage Site of Hoi An
The colors !
A vendor on the beach on the South China Sea in Hoi An.
Calm waters here on the day of the tsunami in Thailand.
I put this in for the ewwww! factor but they do fascinate me.
How's this for you stampers? You could pick out any design and have it personalized or give them your own design and pick it up the next day. This was in Hanoi.
There was a different street in Hanoi for each kind of merchandise.
This was on sheet metal street.
On a rowboat trip to the limestone outcroppings.
My Hmong guide in Sapa- Northern Vietnam by the China border.
Local Hmong gals in Sapa with their wares.
My trek guide and her friend. She told me that she was 18 and also that she didn't like wearing the indigo clothing because it made her turn blue.
My boat trip guide, Hai
Halong Bay
My cousin is an Ambassador for Peace to Vietnam. She has been going to Vietnam since the 60's working with the locals. She also goes to Cambodia & Laos.
ReplyDeleteYour photos are lovely, and I think those colors are great too!
Thanks
bets
wow fantastic photos Kim......x
ReplyDeleteOne of my daughters is off to Vietnam in a week. It sounds like a fascinating place and these wonderful pictures confirm as much.
ReplyDeleteI take it the trip was successful in other ways. I'd be interested to hear more about your experience especially when the tsunami hit. That must have been terrifying.
Bets- I like all those places, I'll be posting more someday.
ReplyDeleteLorna- Thanks, It's great when I can edit down to the ones I think are best!
Elisabeth- your daughter will have some good stories and pics I'm sure.
As far as the tsunami goes, I first heard about it in a paper on a plane heading south and it didn't sound very big at the time and then by the time I arrived at my guest house which had CNN (which I can't even get at home) there was wall to wall coverage and I was glued to the TV. The worst part was that the internet wasn't working well in the internet cafes and I couldn't let anyone know that I was far away from it all as they couldn't know the details of my itinerary and presumed I was in Thailand at the time. But it did seem awfully close since I had been trying to change my itinerary to be there at one point.
xoxo Kim
Such amazing photos of such a beautiful country!! The little lady on the beach and the child on the boat are simply wonderful!!!
ReplyDelete