Travelogue
Đà Nẵng by-the-Sea, on the Han River - 31 July 2026
Da Nang or Đà Nẵng, but also spelled Danang, is the fourth largest city in Vietnam by population and the largest by geographical area. It’s also ranked the fifth wealthiest among all Vietnam’s regions and is getting wealthier as an economic and transport hub popular with expats and tourists alike. Da Nang is at the northern point of Vietnam’s spectacular South-Central Coast (Duyên hải Nam Trung Bộ), which covers 45,000 km² stretching almost 700kms from north-to-south as far Binh Thuan province about 200kms northeast of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) once Saigon (or Sài Gòn) and to those native to there, still is. This coastal region is the gateway to the Central Highlands bordering northeastern Cambodia and southeastern Laos, and are home to the various mountain peoples (Montagnards), who largely escaped control of the lowland classical kingdoms and in many ways are still a world apart.The city stretches along the shores of Da Nang Bay to the nature reserve of Sơn Trà Peninsula then south along Mỹ Khê Beach. Inner city Da Nang is bisected by the airport and the Han River. Part of Quảng Nam Province, Da Nang itself reaches as far as the Cambodian border in the Central Highlands as part of the 2025 Megacity Merger designed by Vietnam’s government to resolve Da Nang's shortage of industrial land and turn the city into an economic powerhouse for the 21st century, the so called “Da Nang Miracle”. You can get there by bus, train, by plane and probably soon enough, by cruise ship
The Russian Seaside Resort of Vietnam - 28 May 2026
Vietnam is a country of just over 100 million people. It’s dynamic with a capital “D”. The economy is growing rapidly: driven by manufacturing of mobile phones and electronics in particular. The economy expanded by 8 percent in 2025 and expects to hit 10 percent growth in 2026. Its main trading partners are the USA, China, the European Union
Hà Tiên - Pearl of the Mekong Delta - 30 April 2026
Hà Tiên is an old provincial city in southern Vietnam (Việt Nam). It’s been described as a feng shui masterpiece of land, water, and wind tucked away in the most southwestern corner of Vietnam just over the border from Cambodia. It’s a coastal city and a jumping off point for Phú Quốc, Vietnam’s largest island and tourist mecca. Most of the city
Train to Kampot - 30 March 2026
On a recent trip to Kampot I got talking one day at lunch to an expat retired railway engineer. He was telling me about the train service to Kampot and how this was worth doing once. “If you do it twice it’s probably a reminder you should have only done it once” he quipped. He said the service was a railcar that hailed originally from Mexico. A
Barbershops in Cambodia - 28 February 2026
Barbershops in Cambodia come in a range of shapes and sizes, and with varying levels of facilities and creature comfits. Some are air-conditioned with all the paraphernalia you would expect to find in similar premises the world over. Others are indoors and offer fans for your comfort. Some are outdoor and can be found on the roadside, footpaths
Percy Sledge and the Bus to Saigon - 16 December 2025
The road distance from Phnom Penh to Saigon (Sài Gòn or Ho Chi Minh City, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, as it’s been now for years though Saigon is widely used informally), is just 226kms, or 206kms (128 miles) as the crow flies. In the 1900s a Frenchman once pedalled the distance on a cyclo in a day on the newly constructed highway built with
Neak Loeung and the Tsubasa Bridge - 25 October 2025
Neak Loeung is a sleepy, dusty town in Cambodia on the main road between Phnom Penh and the Vietnam border. Once upon a time the highway at Neak Loeung crossed the Mekong River by ferry as you moved between Kandal and Svay Rieng provinces about an hour’s drive south of the Cambodian capital in a country where transport still moves
Gym Etiquette in Cambodia - 31 August 2025
Gyms can play an important part in recreation for Cambodians as outdoor facilities are few and far between and there is a shortage of parks and sports grounds generally. There’s the Olympic Stadium built in the 1960s which never hosted any Olympic event, Phnom Penh’s Old Stadium in the city’s north and the brand new Morodok Techo National
Working Out in the Kingdom of Wonder - 31 July 2025
One of the things about travel is the chance to experience what’s different about a place: it’s people, customs, their behaviours, and habits. Some of the different approaches people take are interesting. Some can make you think, and some others can be a little irritating and exercise gyms are no different. But let’s face it, if everyone and
