Travelfish #469: Singapore, slow travel, otters

A wrap on stuff worth reading

Hi!

This week’s lead is one on slow travel—so grab a coffee, put your feet up, and read it slowly. You’re welcome.

As I mentioned last week, Talking Travel Writing are in the midst of running a four-part series I wrote for them about sustainable tourism and travel writing—you can see the first one here, the second ($), the third ($), and the next one out tomorrow! If travel writing is your thing, you can sign up for either their free- or paid-newsletters via the prompt below.

I’m in Singapore at the moment, and it is where this week’s happy snaps are from—and holy hell this joint is expensive—the hotel prices really are bonkers mad, worse than pre-pandemic, with close to zero correlation between price and standards. If you’re headed this way, do keep an eye out for deals.

Over on Couchfish, there was a single paid post on the wonders of batik in Solo, then two free-to-read posts—one a wrap on three years, and the other, the first of a three-part series on travelling sustainably in Vietnam—can you?

Cheers

Stuart

My 4am wander Singapore still life

Clearly they must have just received their bill. Photo: Stuart McDonald.

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⭐️ Story of the week 

• What Does The Phrase “Slow Travel” Actually Mean? from CNT

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📚 What I’m reading

• To The Lake by Kapka Kassabova (Still—hey, I’ve been diving!)

🇲🇲 Burma

• Military Land-Grabbing Gathers Pace Under Cover Of Conflict from Frontier Myanmar ($)

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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

• Cambodian Island Looks To Ecotourism For Survival from Mekong Eye

• Alleged Corruption In Cambodia’s Monkey Farms Taints Global Wildlife Trade from SEAGlobe ($)

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

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🌴 Environment

• Airlines Want You To Buy Carbon Offsets. Experts Say They’re A ‘Scam.’ from The Washington Post ($)

• Deadly Heat Bakes Millions From China To India, Raising Blackout Risks from Bloomberg

• Thailand’s Air Pollution Crisis Deepens Amid Seasonal Crop Burning from NikkeiAsia

• Five Things Companies Need To Know About REDD+ Projects from South Pole

• Tropical Forests | Arguing While The World Burns: It’s Time For Peace from Peter Boyd

🇮🇩 Indonesia

• ‘We Kept It Natural’: Sumbawa In Indonesia Is A Paradise Of Unspoilt Beaches, Crystal Clear Waters And Natural Beauty – For Now from SCMP ($)

• Visually Impaired Woman Fights To Save Endangered Gibbons In Remote Indonesian Village from CNA

• For Blind Indonesian Children, Learning Qur’an Offers New Lease Of Life from Arab News

🇱🇦 Laos

• Dirty Air In Laos, Thailand Casts Pall Over Health, Tourism from Nikkei Asia ($)

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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

• Beyond Penang’s World Heritage Site, Activists Are Fighting To Save Historic Buildings from CNA

• Kluang Only Has One Mountain from This Is Southeast Asia

🇸🇬 Singapore

• So Long Singapore: Expats Flee City As Rents Go Through The Roof from Aljazeera

• Singapore To Resume Executions After 6-Month Break from The Diplomat

🇹🇭 Thailand

• How Chiang Mai Became The World’s Most Polluted City from Aljazeera

• Purple Line Plans Worry Art Chiefs from Bangkok Post

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

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🇻🇳 Vietnam

• How A French Doctor Convicted Of Raping Dozens Of Vietnamese Boys Continues To Evade Justice from VICE

• Novaworld Phan Thiet Review from Future Southeast Asia

Random other stuff

• How “Dark Tourism” Can Pass On The Lessons Of Past Tragedies from World Economic Forum

• Tigers, Turtles And Tea: A Boat Trip Down The Brahmaputra from The Financial Times ($)

• The Age Of Average from Alex Murrell

• Antarctic Tourism Is Up, But Experts Give It A Thumbs Down from Hakai Magazine

• Travellers Faced With Dilemma Of Affordability Or Sustainability from Travel Tomorrow

Oh Singapore

There truly is a sign for everything here. 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