Travelfish newsletter Issue 343 : On being a female travel writer + Hoi An & inhaling banh mi + Mae Salong
Hi all,
This week new on the site we have Mae Salong—a small hill top spot in Thailand’s Chiang Rai province.
Today it is best known for its tea and spectacular views, but in the not too distant past it was home to the “Lost Army”—remnants of the 93rd division of the Kuomintang (KMT) army who fled Yunnan after defeat by Mao Tse Tung’s forces in the Chinese civil war. If you’re kicking around northern Thailand, especially if you have our own wheels, the diversion is well worth it.
Into tea? You’re in the right place. Photo: Mark Ord
This week’s Soap Box is by Travelfish writer Cindy on what being a female travel writer entails. The Q&A is with another Travelfish writer from the past—Caroline Mills—who is based in Hoi An and she reflects on the pluses and minuses of World Heritage listing and also explains why she always packs a spare top in her handbag...spoiler: I’ve seen her inhale a banh mi.
Good travels,
Stuart, Sam and the Travelfish crew
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Soapbox
Being a female travel writer
On the heels of International Women’s Day, Travelfish asked me to share some of the challenges of being a female travel writer.
I’d like to think that gender or race play no role. I am a travel writer; I do my job and try to do it well. The information published on the website takes research, skill, experience, knowledge and dogged determination. There are challenges for sure, some specific to being a female journo on the road—I would need several thousand words to cover them. However, there is one that sticks out since it’s one I never expected.
Mae Salong: Prettier than palm oil. Photo: Mark Ord
When I’m on the road, I lie low and rarely share with others what my profession is for several reasons, including Travelfish’s credo to research anonymously whenever humanly possible and the politically sensitive nature of the regions I cover.
I’ve also learned to avoid telling because of the hostile reactions I have received.
In social settings with foreigners (travellers, expats, nomads [ed: arrgghh must we use this term? ;-)]), during chit chat there have been moments when I accidentally let it slip or I was too exhausted to conjure up a story, or I felt comfortable enough to let my guard down.
After initial questions, usually about whether I am paid for my work, the hassle always starts off like this: “Did you check that place out? You should pay me to do your job, ha ha.”
You probably wouldn’t say that to a doctor or an electrician but hey, it’s a joke right? I can feel what’s coming next.
Mae Salong: Red gates at the Chinese Martyrs’ Memorial Museum. Photo: Mark Ord.
“Have you been to X? Have you been to Y? No? Why not? You should do A, B, C. Why haven’t you gone there yet? Do you speak the language fluently? They should pay me to do your job.”
Tips from expats and travellers are one of the many possible sources for finding out interesting things, but this isn’t a friendly exchange. I am on trial. They are grilling me to discredit me. These interactions have happened enough times that it could safely be called a trend. In my experience, this has only come from men.
I’m an adult; I brush it off and don’t give a hoot. Perhaps it’s because those individuals regard my profession as fluff—clearly they don’t know what it takes to be successful in this industry. Perhaps it’s because everyone believes they are a travel expert these days. Perhaps I’ve just had a bad run of luck, of course not all men are like this. However, whenever it happens I am taken aback by the level of aggression, the thinly veiled need to belittle. Why is SHE being paid to travel?
Mae Salong: Khun Sa and his horse (pony). Photo: Mark Ord
It got me thinking of all the other professional women who have to prove they are qualified to occupy the same space as their male counterpart who may not experience the level of questioning and scrutiny because they look like they belong. By default we begin at a disadvantage and on the defensive, from the gender pay gap to even before we can be considered for a job, through name discrimination on CVs.
How can I turn being an underdog into a gift and an advantage?
Understanding what privilege looks like is vital when covering the regions I do, countries that in one century have been traumatised by colonial oppression, wars, genocide, tsunami, sex tourism and unbridled growth. This is all heady stuff for a backpacker who just wants to read our guide to Thai beaches but the Travelfish team’s knowledge of the regions we cover is in the DNA of the writing. You may not see it in digital ink but it’s there.
Empathy is an incredibly powerful tool in finding and telling stories. Stories about how sex education in Laos is non-existent leading to girls missing/dropping out of school because they simply do not know how to manage their menstruation or because of teen pregnancy. And how Laos Solidarity is an organisation training teachers on how to teach youth about puberty and menstrual hygiene.
Mae Salong: Take a walk in the woods. Photo: Mark Ord.
I can cover topics like how girls and women from ethnic minority villages in northern Laos are being sold to Chinese men for marriage because they have no other opportunity, and can recommend fair trade handicraft shops and vocational training centres that provide rural women with income, thereby reducing vulnerability and encouraging them to remain in the village.
The story of how Lao girls and women along the Thai border are extremely vulnerable to being trafficked into sex work, lured across by the promise of a factory job or sold by their own family. And how Sengsavang is helping rehabilitate and provide vocational training to victims in Savannakhet, one of the main hubs of cross-border trafficking.
These stories are a small piece of the puzzle I put together alongside much lighter accommodation reviews, food guides and bus schedules. Don’t worry, it’s not all sad stories. Maybe one day I’ll write a memoir about the hilarious ups and downs as a travel writer, a female one at that.
For now, consider donating to these organisations or others in the places you travel. And let’s honour the som tam ladies, the noodle soup ladies, the hotel housekeepers—all the women who labour to make our journeys in Southeast Asia so memorable.
Good travels,
Cindy
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Talking Travel
Meet Caroline Mills
Every week we publish a Q&A, this week with chatted with Caroline Mills who was a Travelfish writer in a previous life and who has been based in and around Hoi An, Vietnam for almost ten years. You can follow her musings on Twitter at https://twitter.com/misscvietnam
You’ve lived in and around Hoi An in Vietnam for almost ten years now doing everything from writing for us through to managing a hotel an hour to the south of town. What keeps you in the area?
Predominantly the people—I love the “Quong Nom” accent, the sense of humour, enthusiasm, hospitality and kindness. The amount of time each day that is set aside for sleeping and eating. The geography—because I like to be near water, and obviously the climate.
Meet Hoi An. Photo Cindy Fan.
I ask because Hoi An is often trotted out regarding overtourism and I imagine it must have changed massively over the years you’ve been there. Did you foresee it becoming as popular as it now is when you first moved there?
I think it’s important at this point to differentiate between Hoi An as a holiday destination and setting up home here. The things that I get quite grumbly about are practically invisible when you just drop in as part of your annual holidays. It really is a beautiful place, but for me Hoi An has grown into a monster, and it’s why I no longer live there. I began to really struggle with the rapid change, it bought out an ugliness in people that just didn’t sit well with me.
With regards to your question on foresight, when we arrived there it was obvious that this explosion was just about to happen. Being honest, it was why we chose Hoi An as our first home in Southeast Asia—there was opportunity, and having travelled a large part of the country before arriving in Hoi An it was quite obvious why every tour guide and company slowed down in Hoi An (not just for the tailor commissions). It was just a very easy place to be.
I've seen getting a UNESCO Heritage listing being described as the “UNESCO touch of death”—meaning it preserves the town but destroys its soul. Would you say that description is appropriate for Hoi An?
I completely agree with that sentiment. The UNESCO Heritage listing has been a bit of a mixed blessing for Hoi An. On one hand if that Polish architect dude, Kazimierz Kwiatkowski hadn’t rocked up when he did and got the UNESCO balls rolling, the old town would have been knocked down years ago.
Get out of bed early for the best shots, sleepy head. Photo: Cindy Fan
However, UNESCO’s destination management at the time was insane—they basically picked a few dying trades to rescue as “traditional villages” and introduced a whole bunch of “not at all Hoi An” stuff—Chinese Lanterns, cao lau, the lantern festival—the entire Hoi An tailor scene was based on a questionnaire dished out to daytripping backpackers asking what would might make them stay a bit longer in the early days (other than building a few hotels, hostels and places to eat).
Combine that with the preservation orders slapped on old town properties and the lack of financial government support for local residents to pay for the expensive repairs—the result for Hoi An was that families were forced out of their homes and the entrepreneurial spirit of the residents was held back. It’s knocked the natural flow, and life has become so much harder for the local community.
Personally I see the whole “living museum” UNESCO created for Hoi An was in many ways the genesis of what Hoi An has become today—a creative spin of the facts. From an architectural preservation perspective, UNESCO’s input was invaluable, but it was a terrible way to introduce a small fishing and farming community to tourism.
Over the years local tourism authorities have made a few efforts to better manage tourist numbers, do you think these have been moves in the right direction? What else could be done?
The main standout is the catastrophic fail over the old town entrance ticket and the attempt to make it compulsory for all visitors. This was just really badly managed. At the time it almost felt like the tourism committee went into full on fish market mentality and hoped they could just secretly drop in an extra tax and no one would question it.
Quang Trieu Assembly Hall -- come at full moon, if you can. Photo: Cindy Fan
What slipped under the committee’s marketing radar was that the introduction of the compulsory entrance ticket also fell into a pre-planned timeline to expand the walking street zone—you’ve got to consider the increased expenses involved in that. Had the committee been transparent from the off, worked with the hotels, the old town businesses that would be affected by it and explained the real need to visitors prior to the introduction (where the money would go, that it would just be a one off payment, the extra experiences it entitled the purchaser to), it really wouldn’t have created so many waves.
Other questionable decisions that are not as widely publicised have been rushed due to rapid increases in tourism sectors and trends. Asian tourism, and daytrippers (notably the major increase in both the Chinese and Korean tourist market) has led Hoi An on a weird path of segregation. The word among the experts was that this transient market would have a short lifespan—many of these visitors prefer to stay in modern cities like Da Nang, and most would choose a theme park like Ba Na Hills over Hoi An’s “living museum”.
To address this last year, a theme park, Hoi An Impressions was built on Hen island near the old town, and Vinpearl Land to the south of Hoi An (both have replica old town streets and buildings) off the mentality to make hay while the sun shone and to better cater to an Asian markets differing travel expectations.
In turn this segregation has lifted some of the pressures on the old town, and potentially given those markets a little more longevity, but at a further cost to both the community and environment.
Do you think there are too many tourists in Hoi An and if so, what would you suggest as being an appropriate method to tackle them?
Yes and no. During what is considered to be high season, tourist numbers are off the scale, and it’s truly awful. Outside of that it’s still possible to enjoy a relatively crowd free environment. In the old town, better management of large tour groups and the buses and coaches packed with day trippers would certainly help ease some of the foot traffic.
White rose dumplings are even better than they look. Photo: Cindy Fan
For everyone’s sanity (more than any, for the few true remaining residents), Hoi An should scrap the Lantern Festival—it has no cultural value or even a history beyond Hoi An’s UNESCO’s heritage title year, it’s just horrible and really demeaning, yet visitors plan their whole travel itineraries around that one day of the month.
It would also be interesting to see some research post the “compulsory old town ticket” fail. At the height of it, the loudest voices emanated from those that wanted access to the old town for shopping, bars and restaurants—they vocalised a total indifference to museum and cultural site visits. Maybe it’s time to introduce limits to the numbers of these businesses in high traffic areas and look into better zoning. Old town “curfews” should also be reconsidered, the very fact that most restaurants are unlikely to host you for dinner if you rock up any time after 21:00 makes for a very high concentration of visitors for a few short hours. Presently you are pretty much guaranteed empty streets by 22:00, even in high season.
When we caught up last year in Hoi An we met at an obscure seafood restaurant on the beach about 30 minutes by bicycle from town, and we were the only guests. Would you say this is a good way to experience the town? ie from a distance, just dabbling your toe in the downtown water now and then?
For me, yes. I fell in love with a very different Hoi An, and I’m almost a decade older now—we’ve both changed and I need more of a challenge now. The reason Hoi An has always been such a popular destination is as I previously mentioned, because it’s so easy.
Banh Mi Phuong—aka yum sandwich. Photo: Cindy Fan
As a traveller, a visit to Hoi An is the same as just dipping your toe in—however you do it, it’s a beautiful seaside city and the rewards completely outnumber the annoyances. And like every other over-populated tourist destination in the world you really don’t have to travel far to find areas that feel a bit more real.
Just like that obscure beach, I prefer those places—the food is always far better.
If you had friends who had never been to Vietnam before coming to Hoi An, would you suggest staying on one of the beaches or in town? Why?
Neither! I’d recommend they stayed on the outskirts of town within a walkable distance. That terrible overtourism has pushed all the best local joints into these streets and attracted a whole new swathe of exceptionally good Vietnamese one dish places, barbecues and beer gardens from all over the country to cater to all the new blood steaming into Hoi An for work. The new dynamics this has brought to Hoi An is really exciting.
I’m not so sure I’d recommend the beach anymore though, unless you like playing sardines.
Name Hoi An’s premier tourist trap. Why?
This week? An Bang beach. Because it’s sunny? The one thing about Hoi An is it is not consistent, moods change as often as you or I change our knickers. It’s why practically every printed guide book recommends the same old places, year after year and why practically every blog post is out of date before it gets published.
If you had time to see, do or eat one thing in Hoi An, what would it be? Why?
You witnessed me inhaling a banh mi from Phuongs place, and the fact that I actually carry a spare outfit in my handbag for a quick post banh mi change, to save everyone the embarrassment of walking around with me sporting a pork fat drenched t-shirt. That really would be my one thing. I love banh mi.
I've seen a few opinion pieces suggesting travellers are better off staying in Da Nang and visiting Hoi An on a day trip. Do you agree? Why or why not?
Da Nang is amazing for food. The beaches are kind of fab if you stay in a fancy resort, and there are some really good value places to stay in the city—as a destination it can be a lot cheaper than Hoi An. I recently stayed there for a week and loved everything about it. It’s so easy to traverse and a really fun place to get lost. I’d certainly recommend a few days there if that old question about splitting time in Hoi An between old town and beach came up.
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Travel shot
Mae Salong: Please shop here. Photo: Mark Ord.
Till next time
That’s it from us for now. As usual, enjoy the site’s new additions and drop us a line if there’s something in particular you’d like us to cover in Southeast Asia.
Travel light!
Stuart, Sam & the Travelfish team
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