When Chi Nguyen first told people she would be running to Dalat, a lot of people told her “you’re crazy”. It didn’t stop there.
Le Ly Hayslip’s double bed, in a modest hotel room in Danang, is a sea of sparkly pink. Stacks of polka dot leggings, frizzy skirts and Disney princess-adorned t-shirts take up almost her entire sleeping space. They are donations from her two American granddaughters — girls whose lives are almost a perfect opposite to the one Le Ly chronicled 20 years ago.
As unlikely as it seems, belly dancing has taken Vietnam by storm. Matt Dworzanczyk meets one of the country’s leading dancers, Do Thi Hong Hanh
Business woman, mother and educator Thuy Nguyen is general director of Australian International School (AIS), and one of the guiding forces in our city’s education scene. She tells the story, and where it goes from here. Photo by Alexandre Garel
From the sport that’s overtaking Ultimate Frisbee to ANZAC Day and Aussie Rules. Harry Hodge gets the sport fever in the first edition of this new column. Photos by Kyle Phanroy
Suddenly, small galleries were opening up, and cute new coffee shops across the city hung art by local artists on their walls. People rode their motorbikes to the openings of exhibitions in far away districts.
Or is it the fall? Karen Hewell and Nick Ross do a tour of the growing swathes of lounge bars to find out why catering for lounge lizards is all the rage. Photos by Nick Ross
Early March in Paris and the snow that carpeted this city until only two days before has now been reduced to icy clumps on walls and the occasional patch of slush.
To be honest, Saigon is a great city,” she says, leading. “But I think people are getting sick of all of the DJ music.”
Francis Xavier takes a look at life on the outskirts. Photos by Alexandre Garel