Travelfish #389: Every town is worth a night + Rappler WTF
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Hi everyone,
We’re almost at hump day for the year. Here’s to hoping the second half of the year will be more upbeat than the first half—and there I was being glad to be rid of 2019. Careful what you wish for!
Yours truly getting all pensive at Nong Kiaow. Photo: Stuart McDonald.
Terrible news out of the Philippines today with a BS guilty verdict for Maria Ressa of Rappler. If you missed last week’s issue, please read up there on how you can help to support independent media in the region.
All this week on Couchfish I’ve been in northern Laos. I started off sticking rice in the ground, then I dreamed about what river travel in Laos used to be like, then Nong Kiaow and Muang Ngoi. I finished of this morning with a Q&A. This week coming, Phonsavan and the Plain of Jars.
On the free to read section, the diversion was Lombok’s Eastern Gilis, and my dealings with a French arms dealer. Enjoy.
Over on David’s Thai Island Times, I’ll point you to this earlier piece on Ko Phitak. Not heard of it? Neither did I. Go check it out.
Sticking with islands, Chris is all about wreck diving near Bangkok. If you are a keen diver, sign up for his newsletter here.
The photos this week are a mix of Cambodia, northern Laos and Vietnam.
Cheers and thanks for your support
Stuart
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Every town is worth a night
I have struggled a bit with what to write today. I wanted to write something on the travel industry and vampires or Frankenstein. I couldn’t find the right Stoker or Shelley quote though, to fit with what I wanted to say.
What do I want to say? I want to say that much of the industry is putting money ahead of people and it makes me ashamed to be a part of the scene.
Whatever.
Stung Treng sunsets are ok. Photo: Stuart McDonald.
Like I imagine many Travelfish readers, I’m missing travel like an ache. Send me anywhere—hell, I’d even take Sihanoukville at this point. But it ain’t going to happen. I’m living in a country whose approach to plague means it will be last off the blocks in opening up to travel. As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, travel, for me, means my library and slide collection.
Ho Hum.
Instead, I’m going to write about Stung Treng in Cambodia. If you’ve not heard of it before, Stung Treng is in the northeast of the country, just shy of the border with Laos. For years it was notorious for extortion scams. Sorry, I mean border irregularities requiring you to get your wallet out.
Taxi! Photo: Stuart McDonald.
I wasn’t here to cross the border, rather I am on the way to Banlung for research purposes. Lazing at Mr Tee’s guesthouse I meet two Polish academics.
Over a few drinks, they explain they’re in Stung Treng to measure sediment levels on the river. Their theory is, in the past, the river ran a different course. By analysing sediment samples, they hope to prove that the river is younger than people think.
I’m no river expert, but the rapids around 4,000 islands defeated the French. The river has been on this course for at least the last hundred years or so—how deep are they going to dig?
Cruisin. Photo: Stuart McDonald.
They explain that river islands move against the current. Sediment gets dumped at the top and tails off at the rear, so inch by inch they crawl upriver. By taking samples, they hope to prove ... something.
Of course I ask if I could join them.
I throw in $20 for gas and sure, comes the reply.
We leave the next morning in a longtail and it’s great to be out on the water, cruising up river. He pours over an ancient French paper map picking out an island. The boatmen rolls his eyes.
Our first stop is so wooded it is hard to believe the island is moving, but they’re both insistent it is. When I ask about left over ordnance from the wars they wave it off—no issue. So bush bashing we go.
Digging. Photo: Stuart McDonald.
I expect them to have fancy digging tech, an oversized bottle opener perhaps, to plunge into the deep. No chance. He just has a hand spade and digs up earth samples at random and tosses them into a bag she holds.
It doesn’t take me long to think they are a bit mad.
On another island there’s what looks like a huge crater. It is enormous, a near perfect round depression like what you can still see in northern Laos. No, “natural seepage” according to the dirt diggers. They take a sample from the centre.
They’ve been doing this research for months, up and down on the river taking “samples”. It is difficult to see any method to their madness. The boatman clearly thinks they are bonkers.
Off looking for more spots to dig holes. Photo: Stuart McDonald.
When it comes to lunch we pull up at another island. There’s a shack on the bank and we eat fried rice and drink heavily. Our legs dangle over the edge, watching the river slide by. Then we push on.
On the last island, we find a deep ravine, but then she takes a bad fall, twisting her ankle. While she lays on the valley floor in tears, he continues to dig like a madman. I check on her (no amputation required) , he calls me over.
Directions from a local woman regarding which island we should hit next. Photo: Stuart McDonald.
He’s found a buried watch.
An old plastic Casio.
Every town is worth a night—you never know who you’ll meet or where you’ll end up. I love it!
Cheers!
Stuart
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Ten things worth reading
Maria Ressa: Rappler editor found guilty of cyber libel charges in Philippines
As I wrote last week, please support independent media in Southeast Asia!
Cambodians Revel in Now Tourist-Free Angkor Wat
Lonely Planet author and filmmaker Nick Ray said if there can be a positive side to a pandemic, then it was Cambodians reconnecting with their spiritual side.
The Coming Coconut Crisis
“Some estimate that as many as 90 percent of all coconut trees in Asia are nearing the end of their productive life cycles. That could mean that coconut production has plateaued globally and could begin to fall.”
In Every Corner of Bangkok, Spirits Need a Home and Maybe a Strawberry Fanta $
“In an earlier era, his worship used to involve the preservation of stillborn babies with layers of lacquer. The practice of using fetuses in rituals has been outlawed but has still been seen in recent years.” This one via Erin Cook’s excellent newsletter. Not a subscriber? Why not!
On heroin
An interesting podcast on the history of opium. Worth a listen.
Indonesia to Open International Tourism to 4 Countries
Filed under “don’t hold your breath”.
Post-Pandemic, Will Bali Rethink Tourism?
A refreshingly solid piece on how Bali should rethink its tourism industry.
Foreigners to be charged “$3000 deposit” for C-19 quarantine, tests
Khmer Times is a rag, but this story is apparently true. The idea of charging all inbound tourists $3,000 a deposit to get in is a bit of an outlier on the world stage.
Myanmar’s Sikh Community $
“While no written rule or law exists in Myanmar that explicitly bans turbans in identification documents, there is still a pervasive assumption among officials that it is not allowed.”
Why is Cambodia’s brick kiln child labour persisting?
“Microfinance lenders and the debt placed on the borrowers is a large problem in Cambodia. The country has more than 2.6 million Microfinance borrowers, with loans exceeding $10 billion, and helps to explain why families are forced into the kilns.”
Something to read
Duterte Harry
The guy is an animal. Seems topical. I saw the author speak last year—interesting stuff. Available on Book Depository here.
Photo of the week
Chilling out at Pu Luong, Vietnam. Photo: Stuart McDonald.
Thank you!
Thanks from reading the Travelfish newsletter. Please feel free to forward it to all and sundry and your feedback, as always, is much appreciated.
Travel light!
Stuart & the Travelfish team