Travelfish #491: The sharkies edition

A wrap on stuff worth reading

Hi!

This week I’m leading with a piece on AI. Just when I thought I never needed or wanted to read another story on it, I did—and I’m glad I did so.

I’m still in the Philippines—but leave Malapascua tomorrow for the ride back to Cebu City, then home on Monday. I’ll miss this little postcard-sized island and the people that live here. As a guy in a beach bar said to me tonight when I commented on just how friendly I’ve found Filipinos to be:

“We Filipinos have an American brain, Chinese hands, and a Spanish heart.”

I’m not quite sure what he meant with the hands and brain bit, but he was spot on with the heart.

Over on Couchfish, I had two paid pieces on Java’s Mount Ijen—one focusing on my own idiocy, and another on an all together more serious aspect of the peak. This coming week, Couchfish finally steps onto Bali’s shores. Meanwhile, last week’s Wednesday Deals looked at three choice places to stay in Huế.

Elsewhere, I contributed to a piece alongside Tim Hannigan on the Future Of Travel Writing for Talking Travel Writing, which many appear to have enjoyed. Lastly, I’m a guest in a few weeks time on a Travel Massive live webinar asking the question How Does Slow Travel Impact Local Communities? Registration is free!

OK, enough about me, well, almost—this week’s theme is sharkies, because over the last few days I’ve seen a bunch of them including Malapascua’s calling card—Thresher Sharks. These creatures are a thing of pure gracefulness and beauty, and when they leap out of the ocean right in front of you, take my word for it, your jaw will drop. They’re so elegant in fact I almost wished I had an underwater camera—as I don’t, you’ll have to settle for some above-the-surface pics. Sorry.

Cheers

Stuart

Thresher Sharks are early risers

Which makes for a 5am departure—something that would be bearable if it wasn’t for the dire state of coffee here. Photo: Stuart McDonald.

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⭐️ Story of the week 

• How Will A.I. Learn Next? from The New Yorker ($)

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📚 What I’m reading

• Doppelganger by Naomi Klein

🇲🇲 Burma

• Gold Mining Devastating Forest Reserve In Myanmar’s South from Mekong Eye

• The Myanmar Barmaid Who Nabbed A North Korean Assassin from Frontier Myanmar ($)

• UN Probe Finds Myanmar Army Using Forced Labour 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

• Three Days Away: Battambang Pt.1 from Around The World In 80 Scrapes ($)

• Ros Serey Sothea: The Golden-Voiced Cambodian Surf Rocker Slain By The Khmer Rouge from Far Out

• Cambodia Bars Green Activists From Traveling To Accept International Award from Mongabay

• Holiday In Cambodia from Around The World In 80 Scrapes

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

• Net-Zero: It’s Not Just Where You End Up, But How You Get There That Matters from Sustainability By The Numbers

• Our Love For Travel Burns Deeply. Oil Giants Search For ‘Green’ Aviation Solution from The Sydney Morning Herald ($)

• Offset Market Hit By Fresh Allegations Of False CO2 Claims from Bloomberg

• UK Airlines Decried For Offering “Irresponsible” Frequent Flyer Incentives from GreenBiz

• From Mallorca To Bhutan: Making Tourism Sustainable from DW

🇮🇩 Indonesia

• Australia Will Pay $27M Compensation To Indonesians Held In Adult Jails When They Were Children from The Guardian

• Documenting Bali Tourism And Hospitality Culture from Paras

• The Plastipelago from New Mandala

• Millions Of Sellers Stranded As Tiktok Shop Shutters In Indonesia from Rest Of World

🇱🇦 Laos

• “I Feel Hopeless”: Living In Laos On The Brink from BBC

• Notes On Muang Xai: A Stop On The Laos-China Railway from Nomadic Notes

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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

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🇲🇾 Malaysia

• “Haze Cannot Be The Norm”: Malaysia Urges Indonesia To Take Action from Reuters

• UNESCO Convention To Decide Nomination For Niah National Park To Be World Heritage Site from The Borneo Post

🇸🇬 Singapore

• Deciphering Singapore’s Emphatic But Enigmatic Presidential Election Result from Academia SG

• Soak Up The Sun At These Picnic Spots In Singapore from SilverKris

🇹🇭 Thailand

• Two Dead And 14-Year-Old Held Over Siam Paragon Mall Shooting from BBC

• Greenpeace Thailand Protests Greenwashing In Climate Policy from Prachatai

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

• Vietnam Poised To Become Large-scale Carbon Credit Market from Vietnam Investment Review

• Poorest Districts Worst Affected In Ho Chi Minh City Floods from The Third Pole

Random other stuff

• How Demographics, Loneliness, Work And Climate Will Define The Future Of Travel from Skift

• South Africa’s Missing Sharks Have Been Found from Hakai

• When Travel Writing Isn’t Travel Writing from Jack Montgomery

• Degrowth: No, Let's Not Call It Something Else from Protecting The Future

My “No Tiger Shark Crew”

On my last dive, we crossed fingers and went looking for Tiger Sharks—no luck sadly. As you can see, the crew, including my dive guide Jay (far right), were devastated lol—an all-round top crew. If you’re looking for a dive shop on Malapascua, I found Devocean to be a solid operation. Photo: Stuart McDonald.

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Wednesday Deals recap

See you next week!

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

Cheers!

Stuart