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 …
Author Archives: Will Holland
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 …
What it’s like experiencing a typhoon in Vietnam
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 …
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The Elephant Dynasty of Buôn Đôn
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 …
Thành Hoàng Đế: Capital of Two Kingdoms
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, …
Launching my first game: WordStrike
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 …
Tây Sơn Thượng Đạo – An Khê
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 …
Long Weekend Over the Border
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. …
