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 …
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 …
While researching the story of Mereyna, I stumbled upon another curious episode featuring some of the same characters caught up in a rather different affair with the Sedang people—this time, a decade later. The deeper I dug, the more it became clear that this story deserved its own blog post. A place called Poste Robert …
It’s been a busy summer. I spoke at a conference in Saigon, I spent a lot of time volunteering. Now we’ve reached the Bank holiday break for Vietnamese Independence day and I’m off to Saigon to see some friends for a well earned break. Conference At some point early in the year my employer VUS …
This is the introduction to my series From Moscow to Osaka by Land & Sea. Two months ago I quit my job at the bank. Today I finally set off on my month long adventure of trains, boats and hikes that will take me from sleepy Rufford, Lancashire, North-west England to Ho Chi Minh City …
Eastward Ho!