You haven’t seen a bad school run until you’ve seen it in Tân Phú, Ho Chi Minh City. Each morning at seven the alleys clog with motorbikes pressing through like sheep herded through a narrow lane. I plan my commute to work to be very early to avoid this rush. Then I wait for school …
Author Archives: Will Holland
Beads in Jrai Culture
It’s been a while since I’ve written about the indigenous cultures around Pleiku, though I feel there is still a lot more to uncover. At the time of writing, I’m in Sarawak, Borneo for Tết holiday. One of the first things that stuck me here as a tourist is the beads. Among indigenous Bidayuh communities …
Saigon’s Tombs of the Tay Son War
Regular readers know the Vietnamese civil wars of the 18th century known as the Tây Sơn wars are one of my favorite topics. Now that I’m back living in Hồ Chí Minh City, it’s interesting to learn how many connections there are between this place and those wars, which it turns out is quite a …
Lương Văn Chánh: Phú Yên’s Founding Father
When I first came to Tuy Hòa, I had vague ideas about funding my travels by writing online. This was before ChatGPT, when copywriter might have been a viable option. I used this blog to practise, read a few guides, and produced some quite bad content including a piece about “hidden gems in Vietnam”, which …
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Bình Định
Three days after the typhoon, I wandered down to The Social in Quy Nhơn, an expat hangout I’d assumed would still be closed—the street had been pitch black the night before—but it was suddenly lit up like a Christmas tree. We hauled wooden armchairs onto the pavement and sat there in the warm, dry evening, …
Chà Citadel
When I went out of Quy Nhơn city again, this time to visit Chà citadel, I had the most idyllic drive through the Vietnam countryside I’ve had to date. There was not a cloud in sight. The Côn river sluggishly drifted by. Cows grazed at its edge, bamboo leant over the water as if it’s nodding …
The Capture of Nguyen Nhac at Quy Nhon
It’s 1773, and the red flag of the Tây Sơn movement flies above An Khê town. Due to being squeezed for taxes, people have gathered there in open rebellion against the Lê emperor and their subordinate Nguyễn lords who rule the puppet Kingdom of Champa as their own private thiefdom. Having strengthened their ranks for …
An Nhơn: Bình Định Citadel
A painting caught my eye; a mob surging towards a castle gate while French soldiers in pith helmets brace to hold the line. This was in the Quy Nhơn Museum back in 2020, and it made me want to walk in the footsteps of those brave folk. But when I tried to find the castle …
Thị Nại Lagoon
I stopped to take a photo of the Cham tower between the houses and an elderly lady struck up conversation. She pointed to the other side of the road and said I should take a photo of that house too.I politely asked her why.She replied matter-of-factly “The storm blew the roof blew off”. Bình Lâm …
An Khê – Chăm Stele
As I pulled my foot out of the mud that came up to my knees, I realised it was no longer wearing a flipflop. I put my foot back in to try and feel around for it but couldn’t. The other flipflop was lost much the same way. I continued the walk barefoot. The hike …
Eastward Ho! 