Travelfish #458: Ghost story, Java edition

Ghosts, counting carbon, AI and more.

Hi!

This week am leading with a great piece on ghosts in Java—take my word for it, there are no shortage of them.

On Couchfish, two free reads this week, first a piece looking at the results of me carbon counting my trip to Vietnam, and then a look at the implications for AI and travel writing. The latter piece was not written by AI! Paid posts back tomorrow, and a big piece on sustainability and Vietnam out on Friday (or maybe Saturday).

My Vietnam trip is done and dusted—I finished off in Hanoi—a city I love, and the pics this issue are from there. It is great to be back in Bali and somewhere that is not freezing cold.

Cheers

Stuart

A sight for sore eyes

A very long train ride delivered me to Hanoi in time for dawn by the lake. Photo: Stuart McDonald

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⭐️ Story of the week 

• Ghosts Of Java from History Today

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📚 What I’m reading

• This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race by Nicole Perlroth (Still going!)

🇲🇲 Burma

• Fatal Business: Supplying The Myanmar Military’s Weapon Production from Special Advisory Council (PDF)

• ‘We Will Win’: Northern Alliance Doubles Down from Frontier Myanmar ($)

🇰🇭 Cambodia

• High-Speed Railway To Connect PP And HCMC from KiriPost

• Lost Lands: Mining The Mekong from SCMP (Video)

Ad: Phnom Penh’s Penh House, from US$70 per night. Click here for the details.

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🌴 Environment

• The Right Words Are Crucial To Solving Climate Change from Scientific American

• Flying Shame: The Scandalous Rise Of Private Jets from The Guardian

• Revealed: More Than 90% Of Rainforest Carbon Offsets By Biggest Certifier Are Worthless, Analysis Shows from The Guardian

• Travel Companies Rebuked For Exploiting Wildlife For Entertainment from Skift

🇮🇩 Indonesia

• On Lunar New Year, Indonesia’s Minority Chinese Muslims Embrace Ancient Heritage from Arab News

• Jokowi The Kingmaker? Indonesia’s Ruling Party Gripped By Search For A Successor from SCMP ($)

🇱🇦 Laos

• Passengers May Wait 4 Hours To Pass Immigration On Laos-China Railway from The Laotian Times

• Laos Struggles With Unexploded Bombs 50 Years After Paris Accords from NikkeiAsia ($)

🇲🇾 Malaysia

• Malaysia’s Tourism Recovery Flops As Thailand, Indonesia Cash In from Aljazeera

• Malaysia’s Anwar Tightens Singapore Ties In ASEAN Travel Rush from NikkeiAsia ($)

🇸🇬 Singapore

• Hot Weather, Late Night Buses And Geylang Serai Ramadan Bazaar Return from Rice Media

• Chinese New Year Reminded Me Why I Love My Grandmother from Rice Media

🇹🇭 Thailand

• Thailand’s Tuk-tuks Go Green Amid Rising Demand For Electric Models from The Guardian

• China Okays Group Tours To Thailand from Bangkok Post

• Dangerous Unintended Consequences Loom In The Wake Of Thailand’s Hasty Legalisation Of Marijuana from Fulcrum

Ad: Bangkok’s Sala Arun from US$73 per night. Click here for the details.

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🇻🇳 Vietnam

• Perfectly Imperfect from Life Is A Long Story

• Vietnam Is Scaring Tourists Away With Poor Quality Of Services from VNExpress

• On A Walking Tour, Mulling Over The Glorious Past And Odious Present Of Tô Lịch River from Saigoneer

• How A Film Turned A Historic H'mông Homestead In Hà Giang Into A Tourist Attraction from Saigoneer

Random other stuff

• Cartographer Maps New Dimensions Of ASEAN from SEAGlobe ($)

• Ethics, Sustainability & Accessibility In Tour Operations, With Ewan Cluckie, Tripseed from The South East Asia Travel Show (Podcast)

• Singapore To Luang Prabang, Laos, Train Journey: Travelling On A “Belt And Road” China-Built Railway from Traveller

• Chinese Travel Is Set To Return. The Question Is, When? from The New York Times ($)

Same day, still walking

This just before my finding out my favourite French hole-in-the-wall was closed for Tet. Photo: Stuart McDonald

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See you next week!

So that’s the wrap. I hope you are all in good health, and thanks for reading.

Cheers!

Stuart