This Vietnamese Coastal City Ticks off a Year-Round Holiday Checklist: Beaches, Culture, and a Mountaintop Retreat.

As a war history junkie from an early age, I first stumbled upon the name Da Nang while reading over accounts of the Vietnam War. Not long after, a television series that aired in the Philippines in the early 1990s, entitled “China Beach”, taken from the moniker American soldiers gave to My Khe Beach, a slender stretch of Da Nang’s long and sunny shoreline, etched the city even deeper in my imagination. Those early mentions of the city shaped my understanding of Da Nang: once a pivotal site in a violent conflict, now transformed to a coastal city humming with life and drawing travelers from around the world.

The Golden Bridge at Ba Na Hills

A decade ago, the mere mention of “Maguindanao” is enough to strike fear, its name inseparable from the grim headlines of 2009. But as justice has taken its course and the political climate has begun to settle, the province is emerging from the long shadow of its past. Today, a shift is underway: toward its culture, its stories, and the landscapes that have remained largely unseen. Maguindanao may not appear on the usual tourist itinerary, but it is a place that rewards those willing to look beyond reputation and toward discovery.

Masjid Al-Nasser Abpi, also known as the White Mosque, located in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte.

A month after visiting Ba Na Hills in Vietnam, where a replica French village piqued me with newfound interest about French designs, I found myself longing for a more faithful experience. The village, though spectacular, felt theatrical, a careful imitation of a culture I wanted to experience in its truest form.

Le Coq Bleu is perfect for meaningful conversation

Traveling across the Philippines has long been my gateway to discovering the country’s vast pool of talents in creating crafts and heritage arts. From the intricate weaves of the Ifugao to the colorful Inaul cloth of Maguindanao and countless others, each piece tells a story of tradition and identity, passed down through generations. I thought I had seen it all—until I stumbled upon something new to my learnings in a laidback town in Iloilo province.