Travelfish #487: The Nusa Penida edition

A wrap on stuff worth reading

Hi!

This week I’m leading with an excellent piece by Emily Ding taking a deep look at Indonesia’s Nusa Penida. I don’t typically feature paywalled pieces as the story of the week, but this is a really solid piece on a very fast-changing island and the complexities that come with it. Yes, I’m a paid subscriber! It also includes some great photos to accompany a long and interesting read, so much so I had to read it twice.

Over on Couchfish, I had two pieces—first my promised piece on “how not to do Singapore,” followed by, this morning, the first of two pieces on climbing Bali’s Mount Batur—the followup piece is out tomorrow. All are free to read.

Given the featured piece this week, it made sense Nusa Penida featured in the pics. The island is famous for the spectacular Kelingking Beach, but it’s less well known for its black magic, hocus-pocus, and ahhh range of temples. As you’ve no doubt seen pics of Kelingking before (if not, here you go), here’s a few from the other side of the island. Both are by Sally Arnold, who takes far better pics than me.

Cheers

Stuart

Start your engines

At Pura Palung Car Temple. Photo: Sally Arnold.

---

⭐️ Story of the week 

• Recapturing Memories In A Place I Loved Before: A Fool’s Quest? from Movable Worlds ($)

---

📚 What I’m reading

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

🇲🇲 Burma

• Myanmar’s Post-coup Economy Comes Crumbling Down from RFA

• Blood On The Tracks: The War Over Myanmar’s Railroads 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

• Cambodia’s Reportedly Strong Arrivals Fail To Impact Tourism Businesses from TTG Asia

• Cambodia’s “Scamdemic” Reputation Scares Off Travelers From China from Nikkei Asia ($)

• Tycoon’s Company Receives 1,247 Hectares Along Kep Coastal Waters For Satellite City Development from CambojaNews

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

• Tourism Lags On Emission Cuts As Climate Woes Besiege Destinations from The Energy Mix

• An Interview With Sungai Watch from The Sustainable Agency

• How To Talk About Waste In Tourism from Rooted

• The UNESCO Effect from BBC (Podcast)

• Talk About The Weather from Around The World In 80 Scrapes

• Earthquakes In A Warming World from Atmos

🇮🇩 Indonesia

• Carl Josef Kleingrothe: Capturing The Colonial Life Of Deli, Sumatra from New Mandala

• Five Killed As Elevator At Bali Resort Plunges Down Ravine from The Guardian

• Residence Permits/Visas For Indonesia from Matthew Brealey

🇱🇦 Laos

• Laos-Vietnam Railway Set To Open For Service In 2028 from The Laotian Times

• Notes On Luang Prabang In The New Era Of The Train from Nomadic Notes

• Luang Prabang – In 5 Photos from NE Where

---

Planning a holiday in Southeast Asia and need a sim card? Why not pick one up upon arrival?

Indonesia
Telkomsel 4G Sim Card with 35 Gig of data for 250,000 rupiah

Malaysia
Digi 4G Sim Card with 30 Gig of data for 35 ringgit

Singapore

Starhub 4G Sim Card with 100 Gig of data for S$9.70

Thailand
DTAC Happy Tourist 4G/5G Sim Card with 15 Gig of data for 150 baht

Vietnam
Vinaphone 30 days unlimited data for 265,000 dong

---

🇲🇾 Malaysia

• The Natwest Boss, The Missing Malaysian Billions And The Damning Email from The Guardian

• More Of Sabah Up For Cheap Sale? from Sarawak Report

🇸🇬 Singapore

• A Singaporean Rapper Tried To Call Out Racism. He’s Been Sentenced To Jail For His Statements from TIME

• Novelist Rachel Heng On Finding A Place In Singapore’s Changing Landscape from SilverKris

• How One Magician Holds Singapore’s Buskers Captive from Rice Media

🇹🇭 Thailand

• Thai Protest Rocker ‘Nga Caravan’ Celebrated At Last from Nikkei Asia ($)

• Thailand’s LGBTQ+ Community Draws Tourists From China Looking To Be Themselves from The Washington Post ($)

• Free From The City from Remote Lands

Looking for somewhere special in Penang?

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

---

🇻🇳 Vietnam

• Vietnam’s Phu Quoc Sees Decline In Tourists from Tuoi Tre News

• A Peek Into HCMC’s Thu Thiem Peninsula Before It Gets Facelift from VNExpress

• Erosion Puts Mekong Delta Future In Doubt from VNExpress

• Development V. Environment from Vietnam Weekly

• Hà Giang's Thôn Khun Is A Soothing Oasis For The World-Weary Traveler from Saigoneer

Random other stuff

• The Myth Of The Restful Vacation from A-Mail

• Nespresso: Known For Human Rights Violations, Now B Corp Certified from Fair World Project

• What Should We Do About Instagram Colonialism? from Los Angeles Times

• Japan’s Had Enough Extreme Tourism On Famous Volcano: ‘Mount Fuji Is Screaming’ from SCMP ($)

• The Age Of Bamboo from Medium

• Is This The Summer Of Bad Tourists? from BBC Travel

• Sustainable Tourism—Heading In The Right Direction Or A Flight Of Fancy? from Economist Impact

• From Bandung To BRICS+ from Noema

A view fit for the gods

Nearing Guyangan Spring at Pura Segara Kidul. Photo: Sally Arnold.

---

See you next week!

So that’s the wrap. I hope you are all in good health, and thanks for reading.

Cheers!

Stuart