Travelfish #477: The holes in the ground edition

A wrap on stuff worth reading

Jul 02, 2023

Hi!

This week I lead with a story on Torbjørn ‘Thor’ Pedersen who has spent the best part of a decade visiting every country on the planet—without flying. If you find the interview interesting, do lose yourself in his blog for a bit.

I’m currently in a very rainy Miri in Sarawak—I mention the weather as today Will and I have a bit of an adventure planned, overlanding it to Mulu National Park. Most everyone flies, but me being the grumpy no-domestic flights dude, we’re overlanding it. Plan holds for a 4WD trip to Long Panai and then a trip—by pirogue I believe—upriver to Mulu. When I WhatsApped to the owner of the digs we’re staying in Mulu what we had planned, she replied: “Enjoy the rock n roll 4X4 ride,” then “Standby some motion pills.” Fun times.

Anyways, it has been pelting down rain all night, so it should be fun…or character building at least. We leave at 9 am, and hope to reach Mulu by 5 pm—in case you were wondering, and as my son has mentioned eleventy million times, the flight takes 20 minutes. We will be flying out—if for no other reason than to avoid my son divorcing me.

Anyways, Mulu is all about the caves, and yesterday we visited the spectacular Niah Cave National Park as a taster. If you visit, watch your step—the walkways are in such bad shape they should be a fixture of national embarrassment—or perhaps they’re just part and parcel of the forever inept management of Malaysia’s national parks by the park authority. Regardless, the walkways are well dangerous in places, and I’d love to see their stats on visitor broken arms and legs—but hey, even if the walkways are falling apart, at least they have a whizz-bang electronic registration system. Priorities I tell ya.

Whining aside, wow, what a place. The pics in this issue are from there.

Cheers

Stuart

Now that’s a cave

The Great Cave—note the people in the foreground (for scale) and the waterfall at right. We had the entire complex almost to ourselves. Photo: Stuart McDonald.

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.

🇰🇭 Cambodia

Cambodian Pm Hun Sen Deletes Facebook Page After Criticism from NikkeiAsia ($)
From Cambodia’s Killing Fields To The US Secret Service from The Diplomat

Did someone order a beach view?

Ad: Salad Hut on Ko Pha Ngan’s beautiful west coast, from US$118 per night. Click here for the details.

🌴 Environment

How Will Climate Change Affect The Holiday Map? from The Financial Times ($)
8 Decarbonisation Tips For Tour Operators from ecollective
Indonesian Architect Presses Vision For Low-Cost Homes From Nature from Mongabay

🇮🇩 Indonesia

Addicts Went In For Treatment. Instead They Were Enslaved. from The New York Times ($)
Walking Jakarta, Part 1 from Chris Arnade Walks The World ($)
Raja Ampat Liveaboard June 2023 Trip Report from Dive Happy

🇱🇦 Laos

China-Laos Railway Records 25,000 Cross-border Passenger Trips from China Daily
Laos In Rainbows: Organiser Charts Gradual Progress For LGBT+ Rights from SEAGlobe ($)

Looking for deals on organised tours **with no domestic flying**? Here are a few for Southeast Asia via Travelfish partner TourRadar. (Prices are in US$)
Cambodia
Cambodia Explorer (11 days, $920)
Indonesia
Komodo Island Hopper (9 days, $1,196)
Laos
North Laos by motorbike (7 days, $2,062)
Malaysia
Sabah Highlights (7 days, $1,243)
Thailand
Bangkok to the North (9 days, $1,130)
Vietnam
North Vietnam by motorbike (7 days, $1,026)