Travel guide to Australia · Cambodia · Laos · Vietnam
handpicked · independent
Blog
The small businesses of the international travel industry are its heroes. Across the world, most...
Introduction
Tasmania. It took me more than 50 years to visit. Make sure you don't leave it that long. When I...
Blog
Cemeteries and tombs have been a big part of my travelling life. From my first international...
see and do
The Rocks was the first British convict settlement in Australia and the place where the long...
see and do
If you like cycling, exploring the temples of Angkor by bicycle is a delight. In fact, we reckon...
There is probably no major city in the world that’s better set up for swimmers than Sydney. We're... enlarge
Hanoi Blog
Vietnam has lost a storyteller and creative force. Nguyen Qui Duc died in Hanoi on November 22 2023. Monumental upheaval has been such a feature of Vietnamese lives for so... more
Ho Chi Minh City Blog
2023 marks 30 years since I led my first tour through Vietnam. It was August 1993. After decades of war and economic hardship, a... more
Sydney Blog
The 333 service to Bondi Beach is Sydney's busiest bus route. It's especially popular with international tourists. It’s in dismal shape -... more
Sydney see and do
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... more
Sydney Blog
One of the peculiar things you’ll discover as a visitor to Australia in 2023 is that our head of state isn’t Australian and doesn’t live... more
Sydney Blog
The small businesses of the international travel industry are its heroes. Across the world, most of the businesses that survive in tourism... more
Sydney Blog
When borders began to reopen in Australia and South East Asia at the end of February 2022, I found myself very quickly back out on the... more
Ho Chi Minh City Introduction
Ho Chi Minh City - still known to locals as Saigon - is Vietnam’s largest city and its economic powerhouse. The population has shot passed 10... more
Ho Chi Minh City hotels
A guide to the best areas to stay in Saigon in 2023, including District 1, the backpacker district, Chinatown and the booming expat area of District... more
Ho Chi Minh City hotels
Genuine boutique feel with locally inspired design touches. Generous rooms. Great central location. If you don't mind staying away from the big... more
Rusty Compass listings are always independent. We list the places we think are worth knowing about. Our Featured Listings allow a small selection of businesses already recommended by us, to pay a fee for a place at the top of our list. That’s it. Featured Listings have no impact on reviews, or on the curation and independence of our lists.