With Vietnam preparing to reopen its international gateways, the author begins making plans to get back on the road.
Category Archives: travel
54. Stepping Back: Malay Memories
A 1976 excursion through the Malay Peninsula introduced the author to the smell of opium, the Ten Courts of Hell, and a coven of frightening ghosts.
53. My Year in Photos: Fifteen Favorites
A selection of the author’s photos, each of them a memory from a year of Travels in Vietnam.
49. Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Vietnam
There are contradictions galore in contemporary Vietnamese culture. “You can’t kiss in the street, but you can piss in the street,” one longtime resident noted.
48. Stepping Back: North Sumatra
Lake Toba, the great volcanic lake in a remote reach of Indonesia, was once an essential stop on the Asian “hippie trail.” The author shares memories.
46. Vũng Tàu Getaway
Vũng Tàu, the nearest seaside community to massive Ho Chi Minh City, is a clean and quiet resort town just two hours’ travel from the urban center.
45. Dear Vietnam: 10 Things I Love About You
Count on your fingers or toes. Here are two handfuls of reasons why Vietnam is a great country to be living in.
44. Stepping Back: Yogyakarta
The author reflects on his long-ago visit to central Java, especially the great religious monuments of Borobudur and Prambanan and the vibrant culture.
43. They’re Not Like Us, Bill (Part 2)
Continuing his musings on differences between Vietnamese and Western values, the author takes on curiosity and gratitude — in a culture with “no queues, no order, no concessions.”
42. They’re Not Like Us, Bill (Part 1)
The author finds himself challenged to understand and accept the values and mindset of his Vietnamese hosts, without surrendering his own Western standards.
41. The Lady Buddha
The bodhisattva Quan Âm has a following in Vietnam comparable to the Buddha himself. Sometimes called ‘Lady Buddha,’ her image is found at places of worship throughout the country.
40. Stepping Back: Bali 1976
With Vietnam still in pandemic lockdown, the author raids his memory cells to recall his earliest travels in Southeast Asia. The Indonesian isle of Bali was a very different place 45 years ago than it is today.
33. On Dating (Chapter One)
Dating in a new culture is like finding one’s self as a Stranger in a Strange Land. As any local might tell you, it’s “same same … but different!”
31. A Home in the Highlands
A move from Ho Chi Minh City to the coffee capital of Buôn Ma Thuột, in the rural province of Đắk Lắk, brings relief from urban air pollution and big-city traffic.
30. Where the Wild Things Are
The Saigon Zoo & Botanical Gardens, one of the oldest such parks in the world, shares its urban campus with a wonderful history museum.
28. The Last Mango in Margaritaville
Finding a comfortable home away from home is always something special for a traveler. Ong Lan beach on Phu Quoc island offered not just one, but two.
27. The View from Phu Quoc
Vietnam’s tropical resort island of Phu Quoc is a great place to escape the city and engage with nature … so long as rapid tourism development doesn’t overwhelm the laid-back ambience.
26. The Bleak Legacy of War
Ho Chi Minh City’s most profoundly emotional collection is displayed at its War Remnants Museum, where visitors learn more than they wanted about what is called the American War.
25. Tay Ninh and the Cao Dai Religion
The Cao Dai faith is an otherworldly blend of Asian, European and mystical beliefs. Its mother temple is a mere 80 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City.
24. Celebrating Tét
Vietnam’s biggest annual holiday celebration is Tet, the lunar new year. It’s kind of like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day rolled into one.
Travels in Vietnam 