Travelfish newsletter Issue 268 : Phetchaburi & Cha-am + quality tourists + fall in the ocean
Hi everyone,
We’ve been busy practising the art of hammock swinging this week thanks to school hols, but who says you can't work from a hammock? Below two Thailand updates, a book review featuring some travel through the region and a soapbox on "quality tourists". More below the fold.
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The week that was
If you follow us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, chances are you’ve now muted us thanks to the stream of gorgeous beaches we've been sampling this week in Alor, eastern Indonesia. Don’t fret, Sam and the kids have just two more days of beachside bliss, while Stuart is off to Lembata for more ... umm ... beaches—best keep him muted.
This week we have complete updates to Phetchaburi and Cha-am on the site, along with some more filling out of Chiang Mai in the north. Rumour has it the complete rewrite of Kuta, Legian and Seminyak is due to land on our desk this afternoon, so that will also be working its way online shortly.
On the road, David is covering Bangkok angles, Cindy is in Luang Prabang for some well earned R&R before heading home to write up her month in Saigon and Mark is in Phnom Penh. As mentioned above Stuart is off to Lembata, Adonara and Solor, where he may bag another volcano.
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This week's soapbox is on the real quality tourists. The newsletter theme is "fall in the ocean"—inspired by the the ocean we’ve been falling into all week.
Please forward this newsletter on to any friends, family, strangers in bars, bus drivers, som tam ladies and massage men you think might be interested to receive it.
Good travels,
Stuart, Sam and the Travelfish team
Soapbox
The real quality tourists
We've been on holiday for the last week (two days to go!), lazing our days away on Kepa Island, a dot off the west coast of Alor in eastern Indonesia. I've been here before, and love it. The joint is rustic—there’s not a straight edge in the bungalows, the kitchen has a dirt floor and all the (delicious Indonesian) food is cooked on a wood fire—but then we can walk out of our bungalow and fall into turquoise waters to swim with reef sharks.
Where we're staying is owned by a French couple who've been here for two decades but the staff are all local and by local, we mean local local. Aside from the solar power (which is facilitating this week’s newsletter) there is little in the way of modern creature comforts. There's no hot water, the bathrooms are all bucket flush and, as the island is dry, salt water is carted up to the bathrooms each morning for the toilets; fresh water is reserved for bucket showers (please conserve water signs abound). There are neither fans nor air-con, and the bungalows are near impossible to lock—we don’t even bother trying. While we'd wager the staff have never seen the inside of a hospitality school, they get the job done (more or less!) and the hospitality is genuine.
Guests are a glad bag—French divers, three young German travellers, an Italian couple, a single Frenchwoman and an Indonesian family—and most are in Indonesia for more than just a short trip. Over the communal dinners we swap notes on ferry routes, good guesthouses and the best snorkelling spots.
These are the independent travellers, or the backpackers/flashpackers about which tourism departments are forever turning their nose up at in pursuit of “quality tourists”. Yet over the last week I’ve seen daily the impact that comes part and parcel with longer-stay tourism. It does create jobs for real locals (not blow-ins from Bali or Kupang), and these jobs are part of an environmentally sustainable enterprise.
Hopefully tourism departments across the region will (finally) switch on to the value of longer stay, low-key tourism and instead of deriding it, start supporting it.
Good travels,
Stuart
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Featured
The temples of Phetchaburi
Yai Suwannaram—collectively display the range of religious artistry that helped shape Phetchaburi from the 12th to 18th centuries. The following three-kilometre walking or bicycling itinerary will also take you to lesser-known temples plus the riverfront, old teak houses and fresh markets. (The temples of Phetchaburi are but a drop in the ocean of the temples of Thailand. Sorry.)
What we're reading
My Life With Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues by Pamela Paul
Pamela Paul has kept a Book of Books (Bob) listing all the books she has read, or attempted to read, for 28 years. My Life With Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues, is Paul’s memoir of her life as a reader. And while Bob looms large, this is more a meditation on reading and why we do it, and less about the books themselves––though many of them of course do feature (we hoped till the end, but there is no final list, sadly).
Off the forum
Can you help with advice on any of these questions?
Southern Thailand or Malaysia in September?
Beach for family late July early August???
10 Days in Bali- The Western side?
Cambodia, Laos & Myanmar 1st time.
Notes from the road
BURMA: The Mergui Archipelago
The Mergui Archipelago stretches from just short of Dawei all the way south to Kawthaung for more than 400 kilometres, with the most westerly isles lying more than 100 kilometres from the mainland. This spectacular part of the Andaman Sea, comprising some 800 islands, holds without doubt Southeast Asia’s largest untapped potential for beach and island exploration, though for now exploring by boat from Myeik is limited.
CAMBODIA: Koh Rong Samloem
Just 45 minutes by speedboat, yet a world away from the grubby confines of Sihanoukville, Koh Rong Samloem offers four completely different atmospheres on four different beaches on what many might describe as the archetypal paradise island.
INDONESIA: Karimunjawa Islands
Think of your ideal tropical paradise. Once you have that in mind, if it includes white-sand beaches fringed by palm trees, turquoise water so bright it stings your eyes, warm weather all year round, few tourists (for now) and just enough decent accommodation to ensure you don’t have to pitch a tent (although that’s an option too), then the islands of Karimunjawa could be your paradise.
ISLANDS: Kepa Island
Just off the southwest tip of Alor, Kepa Island is home to the lovely La P’tite Kepa, but it can also be visited on an easy day trip from Kalabahi should you not want to stay in the resort (or they’re full).
LAOS: Don Khon
Far larger than Don Dhet, Don Khon offers the laidback riverside vibe without the unruly development and general trashiness that has befallen Don Dhet. The southernmost tourist destination in Laos, Don Khon also holds the majority of Si Phan Don/the 4000 Islands’ natural and historic attractions.
MALAYSIA: Semporna
The islands around Semporna hold a treasure trove of riches below their jewel-toned seas, with the biggest drawcard being Sipadan, one of the world’s best dive sites and made famous by Jacques Cousteau. Sipadan and the other islands are not only limited to divers—it’s possible to snorkel here, too.
SINGAPORE: Pulau Ubin
Any Singapore trivia buff should know that the city-state isn’t made up of just one island, but 63 small separate ones. One of the easiest to reach, just a quick bumboat ride from Changi Village out near the airport, is Pulau Ubin, one of the most rustic places left in Singapore.
THAILAND: Ko Pha Ngan
Although best known for the monthly full moon parties, which attract thousands of travellers from all over the globe, there is a lot more to stunning Ko Pha Ngan than getting trashed and passing out in the powder-soft white sand.
VIETNAM: Con Dao
Located off the southern coast of Vietnam, the remote and utterly beautiful Con Dao Islands offer visitors a rare experience not found anywhere else in the country. The isolated archipelago is comprised of 16 islands and islets: rugged mountainous masses of rock covered in dense forest, fringed by coral reef and drowning in sublimely turquoise-azure sea. Prepare to be dazzled.
News from the region
BURMA: Myanmar’s tourism destination dreams fade amid empty hotels
"Yet, just two years after it was built, this four-star hotel sits half-empty for many months at a time, according to manager Nero Kyaw Wai."
CAMBODIA: Khmer Rouge Trial, perhaps the last, nears end in Cambodia
"Three lower-ranking cadres still face charges of genocide, but their prosecution seems unlikely, given strong opposition from Prime Minister Hun Sen and doubts about continued funding for a tribunal that has already cost $300 million."
INDONESIA: Evidence shows dogs in Bali are being brutally killed and the meat sold to unsuspecting tourists
"A group of Australians asks the vendor if the satays are dog meat."
SINGAPORE: A feud erupts between Singapore’s prime minister and his siblings
"The late Mr Lee was much more hard-nosed about such things. One reason he gave for demolishing the house was the high cost of maintaining it."
SOUTHEAST ASIA I: Southeast Asia's democracy deficit erodes bottom line
"Such political challenges are reflected elsewhere in the region; they point to a pronounced slide towards authoritarianism."
SOUTHEAST ASIA II: The war on Southeast Asia’s natural environment
"Other large-scale forest blocks that have survived until the present in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and elsewhere may not be so lucky in the coming years. In fact, they may altogether cease to exist."
THAILAND: New railway to connect marine life to sea
"The line, a combination of existing rail tracks and a new line to be built in Surat Thani, will connect with two other state plans to lay down rail tracks in Phangnga and a tram system in Phuket in the Andaman Sea.
VIETNAM: American tourist stabbed to death on Saigon backpacker street
"Ho Chi Minh City is one of the top tourist destinations in Vietnam, welcoming more than five million foreign arrivals last year. But safety issues such as muggings and violent street attacks remain a concern for visitors."
Travel writing
CAMBODIA I: On the trail with Cambodia's tarantula hunters
"Cambodians have long hunted spiders for food and medicine but it wasn't until severe food shortages during the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime in the mid-1970s that people turned to spiders as a staple." If it's June, it must be time for a tarantula story.
CAMBODIA II: The natural look: Koh Kong
"On either side, thick mangroves scale the banks and the sunlight trips off the water, freckling the waves formed by our boat."
INDONESIA: What I learned about Jakarta by reading old travel guides
"But one thing Jakarta has never been is a big tourist draw." LOL you don’t say.
THAILAND I: What has happened to Khana Ratsadon's architectural heritage?
"Eighty-five years after Khana Ratsadon staged a coup which ended Thailand's absolute monarchy, its architectural heritage faces oblivion."
THAILAND II: Changing Chinatown as seen by those who live there
"Walk down Yaowarat Road on a given night and find the area known as Chinatown alive with tourists clamouring for street food unaware of the forces transforming the neighbourhood."
Interesting site
One Bag
So here is OneBag.com, a non-commercial Web site that teaches?—?in exhaustive (exhausting?) detail?—?the art and science of travelling light.
Travel shot
Strike a pose. Photo: Cindy Fan.
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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