An Ode to Vũng Tàu, Saigon's Unwavering Summer Crush
I recently took a trip to Vũng Tàu after a long summer of cultural research, which had me traveling up and down Vietnam. It had been seven years since I’d been back to the homeland, and 19 since I’d last seen the beaches of Vũng Tàu, when I was only 16. It felt like returning to a high school crush, and it made me think of the words of Trần Thiện Thanh, who once wrote, “Nhớ lúc xa xưa mười sáu trăng tròn…” I won’t say I wasn’t looking for something familiar, poetic, and possibly even as sappy.
Paul Christiansen in Travel
In Hội An’s Pottery Museum, Mini Clay Landmarks Hold Unexpected Memories
When preparing to visit Hội An’s Thanh Hà Pottery Museum, I didn’t anticipate an opportunity to reminisce. I hadn’t been to the museum dedicated to the region’s pottery traditions before, so how could it illicit fond memories?
Kit Humphrey in Travel
The Poetry of Everyday Life in Central Vietnam's Coastal Towns
Traveling south through central Vietnam by train can bring you to the familiar or the obscure: the Disney-fication of Hội An, the peaceful bays of Quy Nhơn, or the thrill of derelict spaces in Huế.
A Tribute to the Incredibly Eye-Catching, Organic Signage of Sa Đéc
Signs are like voices.
Linh Phạm in Travel
On a Walking Tour, Mulling Over the Glorious Past and Odious Present of Tô Lịch River
We began our journey in front of a bank where the street Trần Nhật Duật turned into Chợ Gạo.
Tuyết Nhi in Travel
Visit a 160-Year-Old Chapel Inside Saigon's Historic St. Joseph's Seminary
Hidden within the compound of the Saigon St. Joseph’s Seminary is a historic chapel that has withstood the test of time.
Tà Năng, One of Vietnam’s Most Beautiful Trails and Best-Kept Secrets
Whether we choose to participate or not, most of us are fascinated by Vietnam’s motorbike culture.
Khôi Phạm in Travel
Bask in the Morning Sun in the Green Heart of Huế Along the Hương River
As tourists, it's in our built-in compass to seek out novelties and excitements, if anything, to remind us that our daily humdrum is not everything, and there exists a world out there with multitudes to explore.
Thi Nguyen in Travel
No Nón Lá, No Problem: A New Saigon Tour Takes the Road Less Traveled
Sitting down for a bowl of phở, sipping a glass of cà phê sữa đá, visiting the Saigon Post Office: these activities are all too common to the tourist experience in Saigon. So much so that it's of...
Lee Starnes in Travel
[Photos] Urbanist Travel Getaways: Pastoral Scenes of Pindaya, Myanmar
Myanmar is no longer the secret of Southeast Asia. With tourist numbers increasing, its dusty country roads, seemingly endless parades of monks and crumbling colonial architecture are now officially a...
Yok Don Ends Elephant Rides. Tourists Can Now Watch Them, but Silently and From a Distance
Putting an end to cruel elephant rides, Yok Don National Park invites visitors to observe the animals in their natural environment going about their daily lives.
Experience: I Was a Tour Guide in North Korea During the Era of Otto Warmbier
In 2017, I worked as a tour guide and social media manager for the same North Korean tour company that brought Otto Warmbier to visit the nation. The period climaxed, tragically, in his death. Back th...
Michael Tatarski in Travel
[Photos] Tokyo's Historic Tsukiji Fish Market After the Morning Rush
Tsukiji Fish Market has been one of Tokyo's most well-known destinations for centuries, famous for its early-morning tuna auctions and frenetic wholesale seafood stalls. Yesterday, however, its inner ...
Ha Long Bay Will Open New Harbor to Welcome Luxury Cruise Ships This Month
Hon Gai International Harbour will allow the world's largest cruise ships to dock in the UNESCO heritage site.
[Photos] Grandma, Barber, Farmer, Friend: Portraits of Everyday Life in Central Vietnam
After Ninh Binh, a beautiful area crossed by spectacular rivers and crowned by mountains, I followed the Ho Chi Minh Road as far as Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. Photo opportunities there were hard...
Vietnam Starts Ranking Tour Guides to Improve Tourism Quality
In hopes of inspiring tour guides to improve their performance, Vietnam's tourism officials will launch a trial program that grades guides on capability, knowledge and skills.
[Video] Breathing Vietnam: A Visual Diary
When it comes to travel videos about Vietnam, at this point it might seem that we’ve seen everything, from breathtaking drone footage to extreme close-ups of the country’s street food bounty.
[Photos] Portraits From the Jagged Borderlands of Northern Vietnam
The night after I bought my motorbike, I dreamt of aspiring mountains and plunging valleys. At dawn, I stuffed everything I had onto the racks above the bike’s rear wheel and started heading north, le...
[Photos] The Young Man and The Sea: Fishing at Dawn by the Cham Islands
There I was again, squeaky wooden floorboards under my feet, dodging coils of soaked, salty ropes and boxes upon boxes of freshly caught fish. I wasn't going to leave Hoi An until I could join a fishi...
Hong Kong Airline Cathay Paciic Misspells Its Own Name on Airplane
Whoopsies!
VNA to Launch Direct Flights From Da Nang to Osaka Next Month
Beginning on October 26, the route will link Vietnam's fourth largest city with the major Japanese metropolis.
[Video] A Medley of Cathartic Vietnam Moments in 'A Taste of Vietnam'
This video starts with the open sea and a lonely boat; then it quickly segues into throngs of motorbikes chasing after one another on local streets. In the background, ominous, almost sinister music d...
Michael Tatarski in Travel
Urbanist Travel Getaways: Vietnam’s Subterranean Wonders
The dense, untouched forests of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in Quang Binh Province hide some of the world’s greatest underground geological formations. Beneath the park’s stunning limestone mounta...
Seoul's Museum Kimchikan Takes Visitors Deep Into the World of Kimchi
In 1988, in the same year Seoul hosted the Summer Olympics, even though it had nothing to do with sports, kimchi shone on the international stage for the first time.
Da Nang Voted Best Airport in Vietnam, Followed by Noi Bai, Tan Son Nhat
Da Nang International Airport has been crowned the best airport in Vietnam.
Kit Humphrey in Travel
[Photos] An Urbexer’s Paradise: Inside the Rides of Hanoi’s Abandoned Water Park
Almost everyone has, by now, heard of Hue’s apocalyptic abandoned waterpark – a place so eerie it feels like entering a Jurassic World sequel. Who knew there was another park right here in Hanoi?
How a 16th Century Love Story Inspired Hotel Royal Hoi An’s Design
The sturdy wood homes with Japanese support joists, Chinese tiled roofs, French louvered shutters and bright yellow walls that line Hoi An’s lantern-lit stone streets, canals and bridges are relics fr...
Brian Letwin in Travel
[Photos] Urbanist Travel Getaways: Cat Tien National Park
Three hours northeast of Saigon sits a patch of verdant forest among a landscape of neverending rice paddies. Cat Tien National Park is the closest you can get to hike-able, pristine nature from the m...
