Vietnam

Riding Motorcycles And Ostriches In Vietnam’s Mountains

Want to see the mountains, forests and farms of the “real” Vietnam? Get away from the tourist hoards, get on a motorcycle and go. I just did that, and even got to ride an ostrich. Here’s how you can too. Vietnam’s central highlands are defined by mountains, pine forests, and farms — and the rich…

Inside The World’s 3rd Largest Cave

The world’s third largest cave has “rooms” that stand 330 feet high and span 600 feet across. It’s so spectacular that it’s playing home to several upcoming blockbusters, including this summer’s Pan, and others the force compels us not to disclose. We hiked through the Vietnamese jungle to explore it. Hang En translates to “swift”…

I’m Riding A $450 Motorcycle Across Vietnam

Buying a $450 motorcycle to ride across a communist country devastated by war with your own sounds like a great idea, right? I thought so. Here’s how you can do it too. I’ve been traveling the world for the last seven months or so. It’s been amazing. But one thing that I’ve missed most about…

Check out the staggering size and beauty of the world’s largest cave

Wow. Ryan Deboodt took a drone inside Hang Son Doong in Vietnam, also known as the world’s largest cave, and captured stunning footage that shows off a world that looks like no other. You get a sense of the size of the place—the biggest chamber is 3.1 miles long, 660 feet high and 490 feet…

Drug-Resistant Malaria Is On The Verge Of Spreading Into India

In Southeast Asia, the malaria parasite has been steadily building resistance to the drug that’s used to treat it. This scary news, but even worse: the resistance is on the verge of spreading into densely populated India. This data comes from a new study in infectious diseases publication the Lancet (read the scientific paper here).…

Vietnam looks like a beautiful country to get lost in

Vietnam is where my family is from and I only just visited the country for the first time a few weeks ago. The food is delicious, the people were kind and it seems like a wonderful place to get lost in and explore and get lost again. Georgy Tarasov and his brother spent 45 days…

Trying to cross the street in Vietnam is just crazy

If you don’t walk with confidence, you’ll never cross the street. One bit of hesitation and you’re going to cause a massive scooter crash. You have to treat your body like a car. Or at least a moped. Or at least a helmet. If you don’t hit them, they won’t hit you. Or something like…

London’s plan to grow up might go down, Elon Musk’s quest to make electric cars cool, and funny anti-Rob Ford ads appear in Toronto. Plus: Learning from streets in Vietnam, Paris, and Manhattan. All this and more in this week’s Urban Reads. A large and influential group of Londoners have launched a campaign against 200…

Mud Wars, Sex in the Park, and Crimes Committed for Truffles

This week’s roundup includes sex, violence, and truffles—the last of which is not unlike the drug trade, with a surprisingly shady underside. So, without further ado, here’s this week’s R-rated landscape reads. Mud as a weapon of war The supply line for guerrilla fighters in Southern Vietnam included hundreds of miles of dirt roads nicknamed…

This dog poop is actually a secret US Air Force rescue beacon

Weird historical artifact of the day: This is not a dog excrement, it’s a T-1151 Dog Doo Transmitter from the collection of the National Museum of the US Air Force. It looks gross, but it was incredibly useful during the Vietnam War. Developed by the United States military intelligence in the 1970s, the poop transmitter…

These Astonishing Vietnam War Firefight Photos Look Like Laser Hell

When James Speed Hensinger was 22, he’d already spent nine months fighting in Vietnam, spending his nights in perpetual fear of snipers hiding in the mountains above. So come April of 1970, after fielding multiple nighttime attacks from a single sniper and his AK47, the 173rd Airborne Brigade—of which Hensinger was a part—decided to hit…

This Soaring Openair Cafe Is Made From Giant Bamboo Fishing Baskets

In Vietnam, it’s common to use bamboo baskets to catch fish and eels. Less common? To find the same type of bamboo structures supporting an entire building. This open-air beauty is the Kontum Indochine Cafe, in central Vietnam, and it looks like it’s supported by 15 giant bamboo fishing baskets. Fishing, however, is probably not…

The Only Thing Better Than a Fireworks Show Is a Fireworks Competition

There’s something wonderful about watching things blow up in sparkly, colorful explosions. You might even have your own little display over the holiday weekend. But this explosive timelapse video of the massive annual International Fireworks Competition in Da Nang, Vietnam will make your backyard show look puny by comparison. Over two nights, five firework shows…

Vietnam Builds a Giant Fire-Breathing Dragon Bridge To Commemorate the End of the War

To celebrate the 38th anniversary of the liberation of Da Nang, the Vietnam government built this awesome dragon-shaped bridge over the Han River. And to ensure that it totally one-upped the light show on San Francisco’s Bay Bridge, this one is covered in over 2,500 LED lights—oh, and it also breathes fire. Construction on the…

Did the Construction Company Get the Plans for This Building Upside Down?

This is the Hanoi Museum—in Hà Nội City, Vietnam—a beautiful 30,000 square meters building designed by gmp Architekten. I like the inverted pyramid design, but not as much I like its Guggenheim-ish spiral atrium inside. Quite impressive and pretty. [gmp Architekten via Archdaily]

This Watch Might Have Saved Someone’s Life in Vietnam

Luxury watch makers seem to be caught up in an arms race to include the most exotic materials in their timepieces. From genuine volcanic ash, to metal from the Titanic, to a face stamped from the bodywork of one of the most recognizable symbols of the Vietnam War. https://gizmodo.com/who-wants-a-watch-containing-volcanic-ash-from-last-wee-5522013 Mecccaniche Veloci’s new Only One watch…

Foolish Vietnam Cop Almost Dies Riding on a Criminal’s Windshield

Watch this Vietnamese traffic cop go for a wild, half-mile ride on the front of this speeding vehicle in Hanoi. Holy hell, it’s terrifying to watch him hang on for dear life by only the bus’s windshield wiper. High-speed chase: You’re doing it wrong. According to the Associated Press, 2nd Lt. Nguyen Manh Phan stopped…

America’s Killer Drones… Of the Vietnam War

The armed drone has become a symbol of modern war. Who needs people? We have cheap(ish) robots that can spy and kill for us—and they do, around the world. But before UAVs were rocketing Afghanistan, they roamed Vietnam. The Aviationist’s David Cenciotti brings us this test flight footage of an obscure piece of military history:…

This bat has one of the craziest noses in the animal kingdom

Meet Hipposideros griffini, who’s also known as Griffin’s leaf-nosed bat of Vietnam. This newly discovered species possesses a unique configuration of leaf-like protrusions on its schnoz that may help with echlocation. And if not, this creature deserves a medal for evolving one of most ridiculous mammalian noses out there. Researchers from the Vietnam Academy of…

Take a Tour Through the World’s Biggest Cave Passage

Working as a National Geographic photographer is (thankfully) more than just panther attacks and paraglider crashes. Sometimes you get to explore the underground equivalent of “a previously undiscovered Mount Everest” like photographer Carsten Peter. https://gizmodo.com/the-many-hazards-of-being-a-photographer-for-national-g-5864222 In this video, Peterson walks us through the Son Doong cave, believed to be the world’s largest natural subterranean passageway.…