Travelfish #486: The Cà Phê Muối edition

A wrap on stuff worth reading

Hi!

I’m in Singapore at the moment and after a few days or drinking way too much hawker centre coffee—hey it costs $1.40 a cup versus around $6 in a snazzy cafe—the Cà Phê Muối story in Vietnam Coracle had my feet itching and stomach rumbling. Salt in coffee? You betcha!

Side note, if you thought Singapore was expensive before the pandemic, you ain’t seen nothing yet. My wallet be burning, and yes they’ll be a whining post on this topic very soon on Couchfish.

Over on Couchfish, last week I ran a paid piece on arrival at Probolinggo and how ride-sharing has changed the travel experience. A bunch more pieces are coming this week as have been flat out in Singapore over the last few days—apols.

Obviously I’ve gone with the Vietnam Coracle story for photo inspiration this issue.

Cheers

Stuart

Inside the city walls Cà Phê Muối

This one was so good I had to take off my glasses to gaze at it. Photo: Stuart McDonald.

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⭐️ Story of the week 

• Salt Coffee: Cà Phê Muối from Vietnam Coracle

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📚 What I’m reading

• Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe

🇲🇲 Burma

• Heritage Held Hostage: Conflict And Cronyism Threaten World Heritage Sites 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

• Gangs Forcing Hundreds Of Thousands Of People Into Cybercrime In South-East Asia, Says UN from The Guardian

• A Forest Gave Cambodia’s Captive Elephants A New Life. Now They’re Paying It Back from Mongabay

• Hidden Gem: Cambodian Cuisine Counts Blessings Of The Mekong from Nikkei Asia ($)

• Phnom Penh To Battambang By Train: Embracing Slow Travel from Khiri Travel

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.

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🌴 Environment

• In New Scramble For Africa, An Arab Sheikh Is Taking The Lead from Yale Environment 360

• Political Polarity At The Poles from Travel Weekly

• The Cruise Industry Is On A Course For Climate Disaster from TIME

• Should I Care About The Carbon Footprint Of Celebrities? from Outside Online

• Life In Plastic from Around The World In 80 Scrapes

🇮🇩 Indonesia

• Once Banned, Mandarin Learning In Indonesia On The Rise Amid Improving Ties With China from The China Project

• Smoke And Mirrors In The City Of Smog from Jakarta Now

• 5 Bali Hotel Workers Die In Lift Accident from Bali Discovery

• Meatball Soup On Instagram: (Not) Making A Mountain Out Of A Molehill from Fulcrum

🇱🇦 Laos

• Laos Sets Ambitious Target To Attract Over 2.7 Million Tourists In 2024 from The Laotian Times

• Sekong Province To Improve Facilities Near Tad Fai Mai Waterfall For Visit Laos Year 2024 from The Laotian Times

• What It’s Like To Travel The First Rail Route Through Laos from NZ Herald

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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)

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🇲🇾 Malaysia

• More Than Murals: Connecting With Malaysia Through Its Contemporary Arts from BBC

🇸🇬 Singapore

• Rewilding In Southeast Asia: Singapore As A Case Study from Society Of Conservation Biology

• Billion-Dollar Money Laundering Case: 9 Out Of 10 Accused In S’pore Have Cambodian Links from The Straits Times ($)

• It’s President Tharman And Whew, That’s Over. from We, The Citizens

🇹🇭 Thailand

• The Highs And The Lows: How Has Legalizing Weed Changed The Travel Experience In Thailand? from Adventure

• The Future Of Koh Chang from I Am Koh Chang

• The King Grants Royal Pardon To Thaksin Shinawatra, Reducing Sentence To One Year from Prachatai

• Island Wrap #67, Recapping August 2023 In Coastal Thailand from Thai Island Quest

Looking for somewhere special in Penang?

Ad: Campbell House in Georgetown, Penang from US$72 per night. Click here for the details.

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🇻🇳 Vietnam

• Nha Trang Environment Projects Stuck As People Reluctant To Part With Land from VNExpress

• Vignette: Local Ox Rampages Airport, Stops Flights, Gets Put In Museum In Huế from Saigoneer

Random other stuff

• Saudi Man Receives Death Penalty For Posts Online, Latest Case In Wide-ranging Crackdown On Dissent from AP

• Tourism: Bye-Bye Backpackers — Hello Culture Buffs? from DW

• What’s The Best Way To Engage With And Honor Local Cultures When I Travel? from AFAR

• The Other Side Of Paradise: The Abuses Of Tourism from El País

• ‘Everyone Has The Same Dream’: Mount Fuji Grapples With Rise In Tourism from The Guardian

• Domestic Travel Can Power Southeast Asia's Tourism Rebound from Nikkei Asia ($)

• Are Asian Destinations Ready For The Growth Of Muslim Travel? from Asia Media Centre

• Travel Influencers Are Making Tourism Dumber from The New Statesman ($)

• Tourists Arrive With An Attitude Of Entitlement from Travel Tomorrow

• The Race To Replace Derogatory Place Names from Grist

• How Lonely Planet Is Planning For The Future Of Travel from The Independent

• Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Lives #3 from NE Where

Cà Phê Muối + river = no complaints

From memory this was a three coffee session. 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