Travelfish #478: The big trees edition
A wrap on stuff worth reading
Hi!
This week I’m leading with a solid long read on the ins and outs of “sustainable flying” … if there is such a thing. Give it a read when you’re waiting to board your next flight.
Our Sarawak trip is done and dusted, and I’ve got the first of a series of pieces on the trip up on Couchfish. The free to read portion is an overview of what we did and what perhaps we could have done better, while for paid subscribers, there’s 1,500 extra words on eating in Kuching at the end of it. Enjoy.
Our next to last stop was in the magnificent Mulu National Park—most famous for its enormous caves, but, if anything, I was even more taken with its forests. A couple of big tree pics in this issue.
Overall, while our time there was short, Sarawak was a fab destination. I reckon, particularly for families with teenage kids, it has huge potential—you just need to give it more time than we did—and have a bit of dosh!
Cheers
Stuart
Now that’s a tree
Will might be tall, but he’s not this tall—scroll down for the top of it. Photo: Stuart McDonald.
⭐️ Story of the week
The Seductive Vision Of Green Aviation from Noēma
📚 What I’m reading
We Have Tired of Violence: A True Story of Murder, Memory, and the Fight for Justice in Indonesia by Matt Easton
🇲🇲 Burma
‘We All Feel The Music Together’: Singers Bridge Differences Across Borders from Frontier Myanmar ($)
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
King Urges Subjects To Save Forests And Wildlife from The Phnom Penh Post
An Angelina Jolie Foundation Bee-Raising Project Thrives In Battambang Province from Cambodianess
Did someone order a beach view?
Ad: Salad Hut on Ko Pha Ngan’s beautiful west coast, from US$118 per night. Click here for the details.
🌴 Environment
Eco-Tourism: Is It More Than A Guilt-Free Indulgence For Guests Seeking A Lavish Experience? from Cosmos
Webinar: The Will To Travel – (Too) Far And (Too) Wide? from Stay Grounded
This Glacier Was A Tourist Destination. Now It Offers A Warning. from The Washington Post ($)
The Last Place On Earth Any Tourist Should Go from The Atlantic ($)
Don’t Give Up On Carbon Forest Offsets—They Are Essential To Tackling Climate Change | Opinion from Newsweek
In Graphic Detail: Humans Scare More Reef Fishes Than Sharks Do from Hakai
To Save The Planet, Should We Really Be Moving Slower? from The New Yorker ($)
🇮🇩 Indonesia
Netherlands To Return Treasures Looted From Indonesia And Sri Lanka In Colonial Era from The Guardian
Prosecuted For A Podcast, Indonesian Rights Advocates On Trial For ‘Online Defamation’ from SEAGlobe ($)
Indonesia Eager To Develop Megalithic Sites As Sustainable Tourism from Tempo
Lombok: Bali’s Fraternal Twin from The Global Jigsaw
🇱🇦 Laos
Modern Lao History Through Three Luang Prabang Hotels from Siam Rat
Dengue Fever Surges in Laos by Over 1,000 Cases Compared to Same Period in 2022 from The Laotian Times
Looking for deals on organised tours **with no domestic flying**? Here are a few for Southeast Asia via Travelfish partner TourRadar. (Prices are in US$)
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, $1,130)
🇲🇾 Malaysia
Malaysia At 60: The Urgency Of Inclusion from New Mandala
🇸🇬 Singapore
The Realities Of Operating Next To A More Popular Hawker from Rice Media
Singapore Ministers Face Questions Over Rentals from Asia Sentinel
🇹🇭 Thailand
How Craft Beer Helped Turn Thai Politics from NikkeiAsia ($)
Where Is Wanchelearm Satsakit? The Search For Exiled Thai Activist Abducted In Cambodia from Global Voices
Preserving Heritage from Bangkok Post
The Rainy Season On Koh Chang from I Am Ko Chang
Looking for somewhere special in Penang?
Ad: Campbell House in Georgetown, Penang from US$72 per night. Click here for the details.
🇻🇳 Vietnam
Vietnam Emerging As Southeast Asia’s New Tourist Hot Spot from DW
Quang Nam Plans Urban Railway Line Connecting Da Nang And Chu Lai Airports from Future Southeast Asia
The ‘Barbie’ Ban from Vietnam Weekly
Binh Minh’s Jazz Club Is Like A Dragon With Nine Heads from This Is Southeast Asia
Random other stuff
The ‘Awe’ Industry from Resurgence and Ecologist
How Narcissism Killed The Tourist from UnHerd
How AI Could Transform Travel—And How To Take Advantage Of It from TIME
Medellín: When Tourism Booms Are Bad For A City from WorldCrunch
The Future Of The Great British Youth Hostel Is In Doubt from The Telegraph ($)
A Beginner’s Guide To Community-Based Travel from Wanderlust
The Myth Of The Galápagos Cannot Be Sustained from The Atlantic ($)
Do Digital Nomads Want To Contribute To Local Communities? from Rudi’s Travel Journal
Millions Of Chinese Staying Home Curb Southeast Asian Growth from Bloomberg ($)
Tall
Who looks at something like this and thinks “I want to cut it down and turn it into deck furniture”? Photo: Stuart McDonald.
See you next week!
So that’s the wrap. I hope you are all in good health, and thanks for reading.
Cheers!
Stuart