Rusty Compass - independent travel guide to Vietnam and Cambodia.

Features people and places

Vietnam | Video

Vietnamese language lesson for travellers - Part 1

The first in a series of Vietnamese language classes for travellers. Make the effort to learn a few words of Vietnamese and you'll get a great reception...

Ho Chi Minh City | see and do

AO Show Saigon

A O is a refreshing new show playing at Saigon's historic Opera House. It fuses dance, circus and musical forms in a vibrant and light-hearted series of sketches that track Vietnam's transition from rural life to urbanis...

Halong Bay | Video

Overnight on Halong Bay aboard the Jasmine

A video from two days cruising on beautiful Halong Bay aboard a recreation of a traditional junk.

Cat Ba Island | Video

Hospital Cave Cat Ba Island with the hilarious Mr Cuong

Hospital Cave on Cat Ba Island was a military complex involved in the defence of the port city of Haiphong during the Vietnam War. Our guide Mr Cuong took...

Ba Be Lake | Video

Ba Be Lake

Ba Be Lake, north of Hanoi is Vietnam's largest natural lake and sits amidst forest covered limestone mountains in Ba Be National Park.

Ho Chi Minh City | Insights

Bookends to a war: Ap Bac and that Saigon rooftop

The 1963 Battle of Ap Bac in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta should have been a warning to the US of the perils ahead in their campaign against Ho Chi Minh’s...

Hue | see and do

Hue - the alternative tour

An alternative tour focusing on the ghosts of Hue - the city's turbulent past and lesser known landmarks.

Kep | Video

Kep - Cambodia's other ruins

In the early 1960s, Cambodia was a kingdom at peace. Its rich and famous travelled to the seaside town of Kep for weekends high living and they created a homegrown architectural style of remarkable ambition. By 1970, Cambodia's...

News Feed

Blog tales from the road

02 May 2013

Saigon photo essay: April 30 2013

This week, 30 April marked the 38th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War in 1975....

24 April 2013

Farewell to Dong Khoi St's Mr Thai.

A salute to Dong Khoi Street's wonderful Mr Thai. It seems he's finally taken his long...

15 April 2013

Foreign memorials in Vietnam - who was Roy Thompson?

We take a look at the restrained commemoration of war in Vietnam, the surprising presence...

Insights a closer look

16 August 2012

Phnom Penh boutique hotel update

A look at the flourishing of new boutique hotels in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.

07 June 2012

Mr Tan's Hoi An bonsai garden

Mr Tan, whose family has lived in Hoi An for 3 centuries, takes us through his courtyard home and his bonsai garden.

28 May 2012

Remembering a massacre - revisiting My Lai

We return to My Lai, the site of the infamous 1968 massacre of unarmed villagers by US...

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