Travelfish newsletter Issue 302 : Dieng Plateau + robotics and travel
Hi all,
New on Travelfish this week is an update of Indonesia's delightful Dieng Plateau, tucked away in Central Java. Expect Solo in the next few days as we continue fleshing out our Java coverage.
Also, a revised itinerary for four glorious weeks in Cambodia—you have four weeks set aside for there, right? Meanwhile, David’s Ko Kut update will be splashing on our desks any minute now, and a stream of Laos updates from Cindy should be on the way shortly.
This week’s soapbox looks at robotics and tourism. While the book review is of Australian author Jock Serong's On the Java Ridge, a fast-paced political thriller set partly on the Indonesian high seas.
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Soapbox
Robots and travel
The New York Times featured a bit of a fluff piece in January talking about robots and the US hotel industry. The story described how hotels were introducing robots to handle repetitive tasks like room service and deliveries, but made next to no effort to look at the bigger picture of where this could be heading in five to ten years' time. It got me thinking about travel in Southeast Asia.
Before I even started thinking about a robot coming in to make my bed, pour my drink or swing my hammock, I realised there is already a tremendous amount of robotics in travel. If you’ve ever booked a hotel online, chances are the details of the type of hotels you like are stored and suggested to you next time. Is that a robot? Well it is a computer programme deciding what it thinks you’re likely to book—though perhaps not like!
Hotels in particular lend themselves to automation. Walk in the front door, scan your passport and have a keycard pop out—lights illuminate the correct way to your room, the keycard will also open your room, and you can swipe it to get access to the pool, grab a towel and, once you’ve selected your deckchair, swipe the umbrella stand to have a robot wheel you out an iced beverage.
One assumes hotels will like robots as they’re less demanding, are non-unionised, can automatically detect travel writers and eject them, and best of all, can electrocute guests who whine too much. When I asked on Twitter if people would feel they needed to tip a robot, the responses were mostly no, though a few admitted they’d offer a polish for above-robotic levels of service.
As a guest, this sounds awful. A good hotel often becomes a great hotel off the back of its staff, while staff with the emotive ability of a robot are a major turn off. While I’m not a habitual tipper, I often leave loose change or a few small notes on the pillow for the cleaning staff—one of the many (often terribly paid) behind-the-scenes cogs of a smoothly running hotel. And I wonder what will happen to these people when the beds are made, toilets cleaned and windows washed by some shiny piece of aluminium with an annual service fee paid to a Silicon Valley robotics firm.
In developing countries, the tourism and services industry are often major employers, especially for women who would otherwise have very few opportunities to establish a degree of financial independence. When you travel, you become a reliable conduit of foreign exchange into the hands of those whose lives will be changed by it—this is one of the great things about travel.
So while I’m not suggesting making a pyre of robotics (yet), I do think a lot of thought meeds to be given to those whose jobs may vanish as a result of it. This train is coming.
Safe travels
Stuart
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What we’re reading
On the Java Ridge by Jock Serong
A fast-paced political thriller rather than a travel tale, On the Java Ridge explores the humanity behind Australia’s draconian border policies.
Thank you
Just a few quick words of thanks to businesses who have decided to advertise direct with us on Travelfish recently. If you know a business, small or large, who may be interested in advertising on the site, please send them our One Page Media Kit!
A special thanks to Thailand-based WWOOF Thailand, new on board this week, connecting hosts and organic farm volunteers.
Other advertisers include Asia Highlights offer tailor made travel through Vietnam, Take Me Tour offer experiences with locals out of Chiang Mai, Akha Kitchen offer Thai cooking classes in Chiang Rai and VD Travel offer trending itineraries across the region.
Featured destination
Dieng Plateau
If you’ve been a Travelfish reader for long you’ll know we’re forever harping on about Less Is More—our belief that travel is a more rewarded and sustainable experience by trying to do less rather than more. Instead of going to 10 destinations in 20 days, go to five. Instead of seeing six sights in a day, see four. Instead of doing a day trip somewhere, stay overnight.
It is this last one, the day trip versus an overnight stay, which this week’s featured destination, the Dieng Plateau in Central Java falls into. It could just as easily be Kep in Cambodia, Cat Ba Island in Vietnam, Champasak in Laos or Soppong in Thailand.
Set at an altitude of more than 2,000 metres, the Dieng Plateau is a smorgasbord of mountain peaks and viewpoints, steam geysers and boiling mud pits and last but not least, some of the oldest candis in Java. It is also bloody cold and has great french fries.
Despite this, most foreign visitors hit the Dieng Plateau on a blisteringly long day trip from Yogyakarta—a trip that involves six to eight hours of ground transport there and back and guarantees you’ll miss the dawn viewpoints and the chilly evening air (okay, we could happily pass on the latter). There are plenty of reasons for this of course, with the regular suspect being first-time travellers to Java invariably not allowing long enough time on the island as they’re also trying to fit Bali, Lombok and Flores into a one- or two- month visit.
So in our opinion the Dieng Plateau is certainly worth an overnight stay—the landscapes swing between other-worldly and breathtakingly beautiful. It also fits in sensibly to most itineraries kicking around central Java. You could easily arrive in the afternoon, have a dinner of french fries and beer then, the next day, start with a dawn sunrise climb, then explore the sights in Dieng on foot then grab a scooter and explore the outlying sights that afternoon before pushing on the next day to perhaps Solo or Yogyakarta.
Less really is more!
Read more about the Dieng Plateau here.
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Flights: roundtheworldflights.com
Places to stay: Agoda, Booking
Tours and activities: TourRadar, GetYourGuide
Ground transport: 12Go Asia
Travel insurance: World Nomads
News from the region
BURMA I: Rohingya villages erased, replaced by army bases in Rakhine State
“Many in the international community have condemned the violence, suggesting it could constitute ethnic cleansing or even genocide. Amnesty has accused Burma of crimes against humanity.”
BURMA II: Myanmar's once-sleepy coffee industry reborn as 'premium' origin
“Just a few years ago, almost no one considered Myanmar a serious coffee-growing country. But that is changing.”
BURMA III: Myanmar's river dolphins and fishermen double down on unique relationship, as fish stocks dwindle
“Working together, the fishermen catch six times more fish and the dolphins pick off those escaping the net for an easy meal.”
CAMBODIA I: The climate-resilient alternative for Cambodia’s food production
“Grown in floods and thriving without pesticide, floating rice – sometimes known as deep water rice – has nourished generations of people in the Lower Mekong Region. In Cambodia, the traditional cultivation is still present around Tonle Sap Lake, in low-lying provinces such as Kampong Thom, Kampong Chhnang, Siem Reap, Pursat and Banteay Meanchey.”
CAMBODIA II: Protecting Cambodia's forests can be a deadly pursuit
“Safety for rangers is a problem throughout Asia, with more than two-thirds saying they have found themselves in life-threatening situations, according to a recent World Wildlife Fund (WWF) survey.”
INDONESIA I; How IT helps preserve Indonesia's wildlife
“Tissue samples from confiscated animals can be cross-referenced with a database of stored genetic codes, helping to unambiguously differentiate between species and sub-species -- not all of which may be endangered.”
INDONESIA II: Why are ethnic Chinese still being denied land in Indonesia?
“Yet discrimination continues in pockets such as Yogyakarta, where the land rights policy is implemented on an ad hoc basis. Sebastian, for instance, had no problem buying land soon after the reformasi that followed Suharto’s downfall. It was not until 2002, when he was relocating from the temple area and registered for a different plot, that he was informed of the policy.”
SINGAPORE: In conquering the sea, Singapore erases its history
“However, what this has meant is that, as Singapore has ascended GDP per capita rankings and its property prices have skyrocketed, lower-income citizens have had to work for longer to pay off their mortgage.”
SOUTHEAST ASIA: The future of wildlife in Southeast Asia?
“What does it all mean? When you visit Cambodia (or Laos or Thailand or Vietnam) visit the national parks—give them the political capital they need to survive (good tourist numbers can and do embolden officials).”
THAILAND: Avoiding Bangkok’s dystopian future lies in its watery past
“If the canal corridors can be linked together and act as feeders into the city’s mass transportation system – boats, buses and trains – Kanjanee believes “it will become a huge alternative … and a real option for people” who do not want to rely on cars.”
Travel writing
INDONESIA: Stunning photos of treacherous sulfur mining on an active volcano
“We were drawn to this particular story in part because of the otherworldly visuals up there in the crater, especially the colors, and also because of the incredible human struggle of the miners who climb up there every day at great personal cost in order to support their families.”
LAOS: Khao poon, the noodle of Laos
“As if all those steps weren’t labourious enough, the dense mixture is strained through a mesh cloth, a job best for two pairs of hands as one twists and squeezes the cloth and the other tries to direct it all into a bowl. The end result is a noodle batter that is sticky, glossy and smooth.”
TRAVEL: How travellers are ruining the world
“So how do we find a balance of loving the world without destroying it?”
TRAVEL HEALTH: 27 apps, sites and gadgets to help you stay fit while travelling
“It took me a long time to learn that exercise doesn’t have to be boring, it doesn’t have to be done in a gym, and it definitely doesn’t need to take up several precious hours each day. By utilising technology, I’ve found many plenty of places and ways to exercise while traveling, even when I really didn’t feel like it.”
TRAVEL SAFETY: Five destinations that call for caution
“It may seem surprising to see this French colonial metropolis, formerly known as Saigon and popular with tourists, ranked among the top five dangerous destinations, but Mr. Boles said that crime is an issue there, including violent, organised and petty offences. ” Ummmmm.
TRAVEL WRITING: For decades, our coverage was racist. To rise above our past, we must acknowledge it
“How we present race matters. I hear from readers that National Geographic provided their first look at the world. Our explorers, scientists, photographers, and writers have taken people to places they’d never even imagined; it’s a tradition that still drives our coverage and of which we’re rightly proud. And it means we have a duty, in every story, to present accurate and authentic depictions—a duty heightened when we cover fraught issues such as race.”
VIETNAM: The ferry from Soc Trang to Con Dao
“The new Superdong ferry, which is fast and comfortable, connects Tran De port in Soc Trang Province with Con Son Island, meaning that travellers can now add the Con Dao Islands (which is, without doubt, one of the most remarkable destinations in Vietnam) onto their Mekong Delta itineraries.”
Interesting site
Discover Cambodia
Some interesting stuff in here.
Travel shot
Terrific views on the way back out. Photo: Stuart McDonald
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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