Vietnamese relive flood of memories on Google Maps

Recently, a feature on Google Maps that allows users to view past Street View images has gone viral in Vietnam.

Nguyen Tuan Anh, 29, who works in Hanoi, shared an emotional experience when he used the feature to look up his childhood home in former Nam Dinh Province, now part of newly-merged Ninh Binh Province, which was formed by merging former Ha Nam, Nam Dinh, and Ninh Binh Provinces.

What he found stopped him in his tracks was an image of his grandparents captured four years ago, still full of life.

“My grandparents passed away a month apart, at the beginning of 2024," Anh told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

“When I saw them on Google Maps, it felt like it was just yesterday.”

He recalled his grandfather was still able to walk when the image was taken, but he was later bedridden by complications from diabetes.

His grandmother passed suddenly while caring for her husband, he shared.

Watching these images again brought tears not only to Anh but also to his mother.

“Thank you, Google, for capturing images of my grandparents when they were still healthy,” he said.

“I saw my grandparent sitting at a street coffee shop near my house in Dong Nai Province on Google Maps a few years ago and it broke my heart,” said Huynh Tam, 29, who is living and working in Ho Chi Minh City.

“Let’s cherish our loved ones while we still can – time waits for no one."

In the Mekong Delta, Duong Chi Khang, 23, stumbled upon a 2017 image of his family’s old convenience store in Nga Bay Ward, Hau Giang Province, which has been merged with Can Tho to form the current Can Tho City.

Seeing it brought back a flood of childhood memories, he expressed his emotions.

“We’ve moved away now, but seeing that house again filled me with nostalgia,” Khang said.

“Even more touching, I saw our old dog in the photo. 

"It died years ago. 

"I nearly cried seeing it again. I miss those days so much.”

Tran Ngoc Tuyet, a 20-year-old resident of Hung Yen Province, shared that when browsing Google Maps, she found an image of herself being dropped off at home by her then-boyfriend three years ago.

“I was just a high school girl back then. I saw the image, quickly took a screenshot, and shared it online,” she said.

“We’re no longer in touch, but Google Maps still holds that sweet memory.”

To explore the past, users can open the Google Maps app and switch to Satellite mode using the diamond icon on the right side.

The next step is entering the address they want to revisit, tapping on the property, and choosing the Street View mode.

The date option allows users to view older images captured over the years.

Under the merger strategy, which took effect on July 1, 52 provinces and cities were combined into 23 new administrative units, while the remaining 11 localities remain unchanged.

This merging resulted in 34 provincial-level units, including 28 provinces and six centrally governed cities (Hanoi, Hai Phong, Hue, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, and Can Tho).