Rusty Compass - an independent travel guide to Australia, Cambodia and Vietnam

Travel guide to
Australia · Cambodia · Laos · Vietnam

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The Australian who befriended Ho Chi Minh

Photo feature

The Australian who befriended Ho Chi Minh

Journalist Wilfred Burchett is the only Australian to rate a mention in the small museum around Ho... enlarge

FEATURES

Nostalgia and Vietnam's travel superpower - VIDEO

Hue Blog

Nostalgia and Vietnam's travel superpower - VIDEO

There’s been a big dose of nostalgia running through my recent videos on Rusty Compass. I’ve loved thinking about Vietnam back in the 90s and its transition to the present. Few... more

New things in Sydney - travel notes

Sydney Blog

New things in Sydney - travel notes

New openings, improved cycling and walking and ways to get around - there have been many positive developments in Sydney in recent years.... more

Lessons from decades exploring Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City Blog

Lessons from decades exploring Vietnam

In our latest video (below), I have a think about 30 years of change in Vietnam and some of the travel lessons and wider lessons from my... more

A traveller's guide to Vietnam's Buddhist Crisis of 1963

Ho Chi Minh City Blog

A traveller's guide to Vietnam's Buddhist Crisis of 1963

It's more than 60 years since South Vietnam was engulfed in what became known as the Buddhist crisis. It proved a critical point in the... more

Visiting Saigon's historic rooftop - symbol of the end of the Vietnam War

Ho Chi Minh City Blog

Visiting Saigon's historic rooftop - symbol of the end of the Vietnam War

It may be the most iconic image of the end of the Vietnam War. It was taken on 29 April 1975 by photojournalist Hugh van Es, as US... more

In Vietnam, tourists are still learning the lessons of the American War

Ho Chi Minh City Blog

In Vietnam, tourists are still learning the lessons of the American War

For three decades, Saigon’s War Remnants Museum has been the essential museum in the city - the one few visitors miss. It tells the... more

Vietnam loses a storyteller - RIP Nguyen Qui Duc

Hanoi Blog

Vietnam loses a storyteller - RIP Nguyen Qui Duc

Vietnam has lost a storyteller and creative force. Nguyen Qui Duc died in Hanoi on November 22 2023. Monumental upheaval has been such... more

RECENT REVIEWS

Beaches of Sydney

Sydney see and do

Beaches of Sydney

Sydney's beaches are legendary - they're a big feature of the city's summer lifestyle and a magnet for global travellers. Even if you're not a... more

Tasmania

Tasmania Introduction

Tasmania

Tasmania. It took me more than 50 years to visit. Make sure you don't leave it that long. more

Dien Bien Phu

Dien Bien Phu Introduction

Dien Bien Phu

Dien Bien Phu may be one of Vietnam's best kept travel secrets - especially for those with an interest in history. There's more than history too.... more

What's new in Sydney - a cultural travel guide

Sydney see and do

What's new in Sydney - a cultural travel guide

Sydney is changing fast. There are loads of new things for travellers to see and experience in the city from museums and galleries to new public... more

Hue - the alternative tour

Hue see and do

Hue - the alternative tour

Hue is central to everything in Vietnam's modern history - dynastic history, Buddhism, Catholicism, the coup of 1963 and the bloodiest battle of the... more

Hanoi

Hanoi Introduction

Hanoi

Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital, can make a strong claim to being one of Asia’s most compelling and beguiling cities. The tangled streets of the old... more