Travelfish newsletter Issue 344 : Mental health + a walk in the woods + Aranyaprathet (really!)
Hi all,
Warning, oversharing klaxon! Sorry I missed last week’s newsletter—I had a meltdown two weeks ago, but since then, I’ve found a good doctor (plus family and good friends) to speak to, then went to Singapore for, well, what was another disaster. Ho hum. Thinking silver linings to leaden clouds I did take a few good walks (see Soapbox below), highlighting that, well, sometimes you need a holiday from a holiday.
Prasat Sadok Kok Thom near Aranyaprathet. Shady and atmospheric. Photo: David Luekens
Sorry if this is bit of oversharing, but just goes to show, travel, and especially travel publishing, isn’t just a snooze in the hammock.
Anyway, moving on. We’re kind of getting back onto track, with an update to Aranyaprathet in Thailand (who says we don’t cover bottom shelf destinations!) and next week, hopefully we’ll be getting some destinations which are, well, more enthralling, than Aranyaprathet (not hard!) onto the site. Watch this space.
This week’s Soapbox is on finding a mental health break by wandering the woods in Singapore and the interview is with Lina Goldberg, a Travelfish alumni who is running a successful website for those thinking about staying in Cambodia a little longer than two nights in Siem Reap. Yes expats!
Good travels,
Stuart, Sam and the Travelfish crew
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Soapbox
Stretch the legs and ease the mind
Just back from a pretty disastrous week-long stay in Singapore (see above), the one highlight was a walk I found the time to do—the Southern Ridges, a roughly 10km walk that runs along the south coast of the city between Mount Faber in the east and Kent Ridge Park in the west.
Starting from Harbourfront MRT, by the time I reached the summit of Mount Faber some twenty minutes later I was a hot mess of sweat, but was greeted by terrific views out to the north offering an aspect across the city I had not experienced before. Best of all a delightfully refreshing breeze sprinted up the slope to cool by beating heart.
After the initial climb the next few hours were meandering and easy—much of the walk is also approached by car (this is hardly jungle trekking)—but other sections, including two quite good canopy walks were definitely pedestrians only.
Aside from two large tour groups at the summit of Mount Faber, the few people I passed by seemed very local. Older citizens doing tai chi, families out for a lazy morning walk, the occasional posy of office walkers wearing matching shirts and caps, bouncing off each other’s energy. Quite a few cyclists—Singaporean cyclists love their gear!
Morning waves and greetings were surprisingly common, welcome and returned. It’s funny how when you encounter other travellers, often people are at pains to not acknowledge each other, as if you’re impinging on their experience by being there in “their” holiday. Along this walk however I found it to be the complete opposite—and it felt great.
There were of course unmistakingly Singaporean aspects to the walk—the sign threatening (from memory) a $1,000 fine for feeding the monkeys brought a smile to my face, but on the other hand I don’t think I saw a single scrap of rubbish along the entire walk—try and do that in Indonesia!
Not all city’s are as well kitted out for a walk of course, but you’ll almost always find a park of some description, and some days , when you just really need a break from everything—including travel—a walk in the woods can be just what the doctor ordered.
You can read more about the Southern Ridges Walk here.
Good travels,
Stuart
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Talking Travel
Meet Lina Goldberg
Every week we publish a Q&A, this week we’re again chatting with an ex-Travelfish writer (don’t worry, we’ll run out soon!) Lina Goldberg who runs the Cambodia expat site MovetoCambodia along with a couple of street food tours in the country.
Can you tell our readers a little about Move to Cambodia please?
Move to Cambodia is a site for expats living in Cambodia and those looking to move here. There’s also travel stuff on the site, but the original intention was to be like Lonely Planet or Travelfish, but for people living in the country.
Previously you wrote for us here at Travelfish, what would you say is different when you are writing for the expat set?
When I was writing for Travelfish, Stuart and Sam used to complain that I wanted to cover too many expat-oriented topics. So on Move to Cambodia I cover things that are useful to travellers, but also topics that are aimed squarely at those living in Cambodia, such as how to get a driving license or issues around work permits.
With a site called “Move to Cambodia”, we’d expect a significant amount of your readership to be at least considering moving there. What would you say is the number one challenge for people considering making the move?
In the last few years Cambodia has been trying to tighten up their rules for foreigners living in the country, particularly those around work permits and long-stay visas. The rules for some visa types are still very unclear and they can be enforced differently for different people, apparently for no rhyme or reason. The visa issue is still much easier in Cambodia than it is in Thailand, but the new difficulties are definitely something that people are talking about.
You’ve been based on and off in Cambodia since 2010 and over that time there have been vast changes within the country. Can you highlight one good and one bad please?
There have been a lot of changes in Cambodia since I moved there in 2010. A lot of foreigners don’t like the fact that the country is becoming more developed. But for the most part, development is welcomed by Cambodians. Personally, I love the food court at Aeon Mall.
The mainland beaches at Sihanoukville in particular have become a barometer for how the country is changing—you were there earlier this year, what are your thoughts? Is there a silver lining?
I was pretty horrified by my recent trip to Sihanoukville. I hadn’t been there in a while and I used to have a real soft spot for the much-maligned city. But the recent Chinese takeover of the city is pretty dramatic and doesn’t seem positive. The only silver lining I can think of is that the guys at Monkey Republic got a great price for their place when they sold out. Apparently the Chinese buyers are willing to pay ridiculous sums for businesses, so I guess it works out for some people.
You and your partner also run food tours in both Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, what got you interested in doing that? Who would you say your food tours are aimed at? Do you have Khmer people do them?
Our food tours are very much aimed at “foodies” and people who are interested in getting below the surface and trying local food. In Cambodia it can be easy to fall into the trap of eating at tourist-oriented restaurants and never seeing how locals really eat. In Siem Reap, we also go to the countryside and visit food producers, which is something that most visitors to the country wouldn’t be able to do on their own.
We’ve had a few Cambodian people come on the tour, specifically Cambodian Americans. In fact Nite Yun, who has been getting a lot of attention recently since her restaurant Nyum Bai was named by Bon Appetit as one of the US’s best new restaurants, came on the tour before she set up Nyum Bai.
With such high profile neighbours to the east and west, do your think Khmer food is undersold internationally?
Cambodian food doesn’t get the attention of the cuisines of Thailand or Vietnam, but I think it’s more of a marketing problem (or a lack-of-marketing problem) than anything else. At some point Cambodian food will be the next big thing and everyone who went on our tours will be very smug because they knew about it first.
Many travellers to Cambodia are visiting just to see Angkor Wat and so stop for just a couple of nights. Where would be the first other destination you would steer people with a few extra days to (after Angkor)?
I love Battambang. It’s got a great local arts scene, stunning colonial architecture, and my favourite hotel in Cambodia, Bric-à-Brac.
Burma gets a lot of negative press in relation to the human rights situation there and Western tour companies have seen a considerable drop off in clientele. Would you say Cambodia is nearing the same point with regard to human rights and the political situation?
Probably not, to be honest. Despite its problems, Cambodia is a stable country and although not having an opposition party is a very real problem, that doesn’t rise to the level of the genocide of the Rohingya in Myanmar.
We like to encourage travellers to “give something back” during their travels, either by making a donation or helping out in some other positive manner. What Cambodia-based organisations would you highlight as being worth consideration. Why?
There are a lot of organisations doing great work in Cambodia, including Ponheary Ly Foundation, Friends, Phare, and Cambodia Living Arts. Another great way to make an impact in Cambodia is to donate blood. Blood donation is not part of Cambodian culture and the blood banks are almost always dangerously low, so donations are always appreciated.
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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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