Travelfish #466: The Papua Edition

Two weeks of this? Send help.

Hi!

Regular readers will know I’ve a thing for stolen antiquities, and this week I lead with an astonishing piece out of one of the hubs of lifted old stuff. It is quite the read—and thank you to the excellent Campuccino newsletter for bringing it to my attention.

This newsletter is coming to you from the powdery shores of Sorido Bay Resort, Kri Island in Papua. A part of Indonesia’s famed Raja Ampat group of islands, coming from someone who has seen more than their fair share of beautiful places, I’ve seen nowhere like this—it is really is astoundingly beautiful, like in an Oh My God kind of a way. The pics this week are from here. I’m on the island for two weeks, so maybe some more photos next week! It was some effort to get here—two flights, two motorbikes, two boats, two days … and a hell of a lot more than two dollars … but boy was it worth the effort.

Last week, just the single Couchfish piece (free to read) as I was trying to square away many things before this trip—a story on the risks that face destinations as they grow, to a point, increasingly similar. Now that I’m here, I’ll get a bunch more out, though I tell, you trying to write about Jakarta while sitting here with reef sharks literally swimming by my feet, is going to be harder than anticipated.

Cheers

Stuart

Taxi!

The transfer from the Sorong boat to the resort. Look at that water! Photo: Stuart McDonald.

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⭐️ Story of the week 

• Met Museum Kicked Me Out For Praying To My Ancestral Gods from Hyperallergic

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📚 What I’m reading

• To The Lake by Kapka Kassabova

🇲🇲 Burma

• The Muslim Motorcycle Mechanic Who Downed Tools To Fight The Junta from Frontier Myanmar ($)

• City Of Terror And Darkness: A Life In Post-Coup Rangoon from Tea Circle

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Looking to book your transport online when you’re on the road in Southeast Asia? For Vietnam, look no further than Baolau. For the rest of the region, 12Go should be your first port of call.

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🇰🇭 Cambodia

• Cambodia Should Halt “Forced Evictions” At Angkor Wat: Amnesty from AFP

• After Khmer Rouge Tribunal, Cambodian Archivists Preserve A Brutal History from SEAGlobe ($)

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

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🌴 Environment

• Environmental Education Tourism In Khao Sok, Thailand from Talk Travel Asia (Podcast)

• Torrents Of Antarctic Meltwater Are Slowing The Currents That Drive Our Vital Ocean ‘Overturning’ – And Threaten Its Collapse from The Conversation

• I Am Haunted By What I Have Seen At Great Salt Lake from The New York Times ($)

🇮🇩 Indonesia

• 6 Predictions For A Decade Of Change In Bali from SCMP ($)

• Losing Jungle For Palm Oil’s Sake from Rainforest Journalism Fund

• Fighting With Fire: Bali’s New Year’s Eve Celebrations – In Pictures from The Guardian

• The Dangers Of Being A Female Rideshare Driver In Jakarta from Rest Of World

🇱🇦 Laos

• How To Reduce Open Waste Burning In The Lao PDR: Insights From Behavioral Science from World Bank Blogs

• Air Quality Falls To Toxic Levels Throughout Laos from The Star

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Looking for deals on organised tours? Here are a few for Southeast Asia via Travelfish partner GetYourGuide.

Cambodia
Up to 15% off a full-day trip Angkor Wat’s Kulen Waterfall.

Indonesia
Up to 15% off a tour to Merapi, Borobudur and Prambanan.

Malaysia
Up to 10% off a bicycle tour of Kuala Lumpur’s old city.

Thailand
Up to 30% off a 4-hour tour of Bangkok’s Chinatown.

Vietnam
Up to 50% off a one-day Hạ Long Bay tour.

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🇲🇾 Malaysia

• No Place To Call Home from This Is Southeast Asia

• Bringing Borneo’s Unique “Boat Lutes” In Tune With 21st Century from Nikkei Asia ($)

🇸🇬 Singapore

• Finding Zen With A Man Who Bathes In Mud In Singapore Forests from Rice Media

• In Stressed-out Singapore, Schools Are Changing Their Tone from SEAGlobe ($)

🇹🇭 Thailand

• Thailand’s Unemployed Elephants Are Back Home, Huge And Hungry from The New York Times ($)

• T.I.D.: Satun Coast & Offshore Islands from Thai Island Quest ($)

• This Is What Years Of Tourist Rides Do To An Elephant from CNN

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

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🇻🇳 Vietnam

• Digital Solutions Empower Ethnic Minority Women In Vietnam from Asia Times

• What Vietnam’s Alleyways Can Teach The Bay Area About Bureaucracy And Community from San Francisco Chronicle ($)

• The Rustic Beauty Of Hanoi’s Red River Brick Factories from Saigoneer

Random other stuff

• The Political Leanings Of People Who Go On Cruises, And More! from The Washington Post ($)

• Turns Out, ChatGPT Is Pretty Good at Planning Your Next Vacation from Bloomberg

• The Case For Surf Travel During The ‘Off’ Season from The Inertia

• Before The Internet from The New Yorker ($)

• Where Have All The Knives Gone? from Historical Foodways

Lunchtime views

The view from the restaurant is not the sort of one that takes your appetite away. 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