Travelfish #471: The Cà Phê Võng edition

A wrap on stuff worth reading

Hi!

Apologies for there being no newsletter last week (again)—am still getting over this Covid thing—the tiredness is a killer, is like double-dengue!

This week’s lead is on coffee—something I could do with a lot more of it seems. In particular, coffee … in Vietnam … in a hammock. Hell, I could do with one of those too.

Over on Couchfish, I managed a mix to both the paid- and free list. For paying subscribers, I had one on another (yes, another) sexy mountain near Solo along with two on Surabaya—one on a historic hotel and the other on a great wander there I did. On the free list, I looked at some good work a fancypants hotel in eastern Indonesia is doing. If you’re not a Couchfish subscriber, you can sign up via the link below—it has both free- and paid- flavours, with the latter getting access to the over 350 archived itinerary paid-posts.

Given the featured piece this week is on coffee in Vietnam it seems only fair that the pics this week are on just that.

Cheers

Stuart

Cà Phê Muối

Salted coffee. Seriously good. Photo: Stuart McDonald.

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⭐️ Story of the week 

• Cà Phê Võng: Ode To Hammock Cafes from Vietnam Coracle

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📚 What I’m reading

• On The Java Ridge by Jock Serong

🇲🇲 Burma

• Myanmar: The Road Less Travelled from Travel: NE Where

• The House Bringing Joy To Myanmar Migrants In Thailand from Frontier Myanmar ($)

• Myanmar Regime Searches For People Who Photographed Flooded Bagan Temples from The Irrawaddy

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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 Emerge From Troubled Past In Hope Of Building Football Future from The Guardian

• “White Building” Review: Coming Of Age In Cambodia from The New York Times ($)

• Cambodia Should Rebuild The Railway Instead Of Building A Canal from Future Southeast Asia

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

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🌴 Environment

• Mekong Nations Feel Record-Breaking Heat, Worsening Climate Crisis Concerns from Southeast Asia Globe ($)

• There’s A Buzz About ‘Sustainable’ Fuels – But They Cannot Solve Aviation’s Colossal Climate Woes from The Conversation

• Bogus Carbon Offsets Drive ‘Carbon Neutral’ Claims from Bloomberg (Video)

• Adverts Claiming Products Are Carbon Neutral By Using Offsetting Face UK Ban from The Guardian

• What One Hotel Chain In Mauritius Can Teach Us About Sustainable Tourism. Local Food, Furniture And Experiences Make Attitude A Holiday Game-Changer from SCMP ($)

🇮🇩 Indonesia

• Indonesia Is Moving 10 Million People To This ‘Jungle Utopia’ - But Is It All As It Seems? from The Telegraph ($)

• Welcome To Nusantara from The New York Times ($)

• Why Everyone Wants A Bali Treehouse (They Even Come Flat-Packed) from Australian Financial Review ($)

• Bali’s Tourism Bounce-back Builds Momentum, With The Bali Hotels Association from South East Asia Travel Show (Podcast)

• Don’t Get Tricked On Lake Kerinci from This Is Southeast Asia

• Study: Indonesia’s Extensive Network Of Marine Reserves Are Poorly Managed from Mongabay

🇱🇦 Laos

• After Covid-19, Scientists Fear China-Laos Railway Could Spark Another Global Health Crisis from The Straits Times

• Luang Prabang Braces For New Dam, Influx Of Tourists from Mekong Eye

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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

• Check Out This High-resolution 1957 Map Of Kuala Lumpur from Soyacincau

• Why Malaysia’s Unity Government Will (Probably) Survive from Fulcrum

🇸🇬 Singapore

• “Doomsday”: Singapore Renters Sound The Alarm As Prices Surge from BBC

• Drugs And Conflict from We, The Citizens

• Google Partners With Singapore Tourism Board For AI-powered Guided Tours from PhocusWire

• Secret City: Have You Been To A Ghost Wedding In Singapore? from Coconuts Singapore

🇹🇭 Thailand

• Seven Surprising Things About Bangkok from Brent And Michael Are Going Places ($)

• Everything Turns Orange from Dari Mulut Ke Mulut

• Article 6 And Electric Buses In Thailand: How Carbon Markets Speed Up The Net Zero Transition from South Pole

• Making Travel Available For Everyone from Bangkok Post

• Snub Of Tourism Post Ignites Rancour from Bangkok Post

• T.I.D.: Chonburi Coast & Offshore Islands (Part I: Mueang Chonburi, Si Racha & Pattaya) from Thai Island Quest ($)

• T.I.D.: Chonburi Coast & Offshore Islands (Part II: Sattahip) from Thai Island Quest ($)

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

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🇻🇳 Vietnam

• The Vietnamese Military Has A Troll Army And Facebook Is Its Weapon from Rest Of World

• Vietnamese Activist Sentenced To 8 Years In Jail For Facebook Posts from RFA

• Just A Love Letter To Saigon’s Tropical Fruits from Saigoneer

• Vietnam Is The Underdog Threat To Thailand’s Durian Dominion In China from The Ken ($)

Random other stuff

• Digital Nomads: Putting Ideas Into Practice In A Portuguese Village from EL PAÍS

• Progressive Optimism Or Critical Pessimism? Why I’m For The Former. from Tourism’s Horizon

• The Power Of The Global Collective For Travel from Truth in Travel (Podcast)

• What Does The Future Of Hotel Wellness Look Like? from Road Book

• A Collection of Map Podcasts from Very Expensive Maps (Podcast)

• Opportunities And Challenges In Sustainable Tourism from Good Tourism Institute

• Everyone, It Seems, Is Cruising To Antarctica from CNT

• Asian Toilet Stories from Talk Travel Asia (Podcast)

• Hong Kong Wants More Tourists, But Mostly ‘Good Quality’ Ones, Please from The New York Times ($)

Not just red plastic chairs

Vietnam has short wooden chairs too. 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