A Few Cards and A New Country #173

I have three cards to show today. The first, from the newest country in my collection, is from Sri Lanka, country #173. It was sent by Aravinda from Maspotha , Sri Lanka. The stamp , of which I could not find any information shows a Low Country Drummer. The picture on the card's front is of a group of elephants in Pinnawala. The Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage is located in the hills of central Sri Lanka. This 24 acre elephant orphanage , also a breeding place for elephants , was established in 1975. When opened , it had 5 elephants and as of 2003, there were 65 elephants.

The second card was sent by Michael of cddstamps, while on his recent trip to South Korea. It shows The Grand Intercontinental Hotel in Seoul. It has 2 definitives on it, the flag stamp , issued in 2003 and the bird stamp , issued in 2001 showing swans. Thanks to Michael.

The final card , an oval shaped card was sent by Eric from Jura. The card itself was issued by La Poste and commemorates the 2007 Rugby World Cup. In additional to the 2 definitives , Eric used 2 really nice stamps. The larger valued at 0.85e shows a number of satellites in space, and commemorates the 50 years of space exploration (1957-2007). The other , a 0.54e stamp highlights the TGV. This high speed train holds the record for the fastest wheeled train, having reached 574.8 km/h on 3 April 2007. It now offers service between Paris and other European cities, allbeit at a slower speed than the record. Thanks Eric.

In closing I want to show a set of 3 stamps from Vietnam, sent by Tram Ha. They were issued in 2007 and show former President Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969).