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LGBT rainbows emerge in communist nation of Vietnam

When several hundred supporters of LGBT rights took to the streets of Ho Chi Minh City last weekend, one could have been forgiven for fearing the worst. Strutting down Nguyễn Huệ pedestrian mall in drag and making a beeline for

Stopping pseudo-medicine: We need a cure for human nature first

I had not been long in Ho Chi Minh City when it was suggested by a regular at my local. We should set up a company and 3D-print rhino horn—using keratin, the stuff of which horns and fingernails are made—and

Bitter taste, bitter harvest

World Heritage site Ha Long Bay is one of Vietnam’s prime tourist spots but as hundreds of Australians floated around on luxuriously appointed cruisers a couple of weeks ago, looking at the wedding cake limestone islands and watching holidaying Russians

The killing of a Vietnamese pig

The decision to kill Hillary involved little hand-wringing or soul-searching. She was a pretty annoying pig, truth be told, giving Farmer John a hard time whenever she could. She would knock down his walls, get into his greenhouse, stick her

Going off-road in Mexico’s Baja 1000

It’s probably the first time the waiter in Ensenada has heard these two words, but he takes them in his stride: “Ta, cobber.” In turn, Chris Western takes to the largest steak on the menu—he double-checked to make sure—with gusto.

Pamplona bull runners must be prepared to die

When the bulls are released on to the streets of Pamplona in Spain, Bill Hillmann will be waiting. The start of the famous runs on Tuesday will be the first time the Chicago native has faced the animals since one

On the road to Tây Ninh, where a candy-coloured temple waits

It was on the road to Tây Ninh that Thomas Fowler and Alden Pyle found themselves trapped, in Greene’s The Quiet American, in a watchtower surrounded by Viet Minh; on the road to Tây Ninh that they escaped into the

How exactly do you sanitise ‘Game of Thrones’? Find out in Vietnam

This time last year, I wrote a short piece about the hoops through which expats on the South Atlantic island of Saint Helena were forced to jump in order to watch Game of Thrones‘ fourth season. There, where cable television