I’ve always been curious about the dramatic storms you see in films like cyclones and twisters. What is it like to experience one first hand? Well, I ended up being right at the epicenter of a tropical typhoon. Here’s my story. Steve, a tall Englishman with cropped grey hair and the air of someone who’s …
Continue reading “What it’s like experiencing a typhoon in Vietnam”
I’m experimenting with a new format for my post where all the historical/geographic details will come at the end in appendices. It was a quiet street in the early morning, almost empty except for a lone man leisurely passing by on an elephant. The great beast padded softly on the tarmac, surprisingly quiet for its …
This blog post is about a visit I made to Hoàng Đế Citadel in Bình Định, South Vietnam. It’s a 40 minute drive from Quy Nhơn City. The only respite from the harsh Bình Định sun was inside the tower, though the air inside reeked of guano. Besides, the ornamentation on its flank unnerved me, …
A few weeks ago, I started tinkering with the idea of a classroom videogame as a way to get more use out of the arcade computer peripheral device I made last year. After trying it out in a few classes, I began to realise the game had potential so I recruited an artist to create …
One thing I love is visiting historic sites. Another thing I love is the central highlands of Vietnam. And it’s exactly those twin passions that brought me to the town of An Khê. There sits, right in the heart of this town, perched not far from the Ba River, the venerable site of Tây Sơn …
With my VUS campus still very new when I joined two years ago, it’s been tough finding time to get away from the six-day workweeks. But I finally managed to stash a few overtime hours, and so I decided to do something different: I crossed the border from Gia Lai, Vietnam, into Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia. …
This post is about An Khê which is a town 70km east of Pleiku via the Mang Yang pass and 55km west of Quy Nhon via the An Khê pass. Situated between these two difficult mountain passes, the town has always been an important gateway to the insulated highland interior of Gia Lai and Kontum. …
Continue reading “Disneyland & The Golf Course: A Tour of Wartime An Khê”
The well-known travel guide Rough Guides has this to say about Pleiku: Though it’s not terribly easy on the eye, the regional capital of Pleiku possesses a carefree air quite in keeping with its far-flung location. The city was wrecked during the war, and so little of it was left standing that a near-total reconstruction …
“Christmas, 1967” The sand bags look the same:a dismal green-grey bag leaks red clayupon the bags below. Outside the perimeter,children pick though the garbage,thrown out waste of a thousand men.Christmas in Pleiku, 1967, war fillsthe surrounding hills. Across the valleywe see cloud puffs of artillery and at night red, green, amber flares dangle,shining bright beneath …
The dirt road gave way abruptly to a stretch of wet concrete drying under the sun. Nearby, men were clearing up after a days work. A glance at Google Maps suggested I was only 1.5 kilometers from my destination, so I decided to park my moped on the verge and began walking. From behind a …
Eastward Ho!