Travelfish #496: The Crater Lake Edition
A wrap on stuff worth reading
Hi!
This week I’m leading with an old—though not as old as the dinosaurs—piece on the end of the world. With all this chit chat about global warming, madness and chaos, it’s best not to forget about some giant rock just bangin’ into us. Yes, I am the good news channel.
This week’s newsletter is supported by Ling—think of it as a new way to learn a language without picking up phrases like how to tell your neighbour there are a million cats in your house. Their coverage includes a bunch of Southeast Asian languages which I’ve outlined further down, or just click on the monkey above and find out for yourself—they’ve got both iOS and Android apps available—and a free trial.
Over on Couchfish I’ve got a piece on influencers—or should I say, influenzers—some people, I tell ya.
The pics this week are of crater lakes in the region—though they’re volcanic craters, not meteor ones.
Cheers
Stuart
Crater lakes are fun
Kids goofing off at Yak Lom in northeast Cambodia. Photo: Nicky Sullivan.
⭐️ Story of the week
The Day The Dinosaurs Died from The New Yorker ($)
📚 What I’m reading
Doppelganger by Naomi Klein
🇲🇲 Burma
A Military Jet Crashes In Eastern Myanmar, Ethnic Resistance Groups Claim They Shot It Down from The Laotian Times
Rebels Are Notching Key Wins Against The Military Junta In Myanmar from The New York Times ($)
‘1,000 Days Of Revolutionary Light’: Mobilising The Public In Sagaing from Frontier Myanmar ($)
One of the best way to get a little more out of your trip is to learn a bit of the language, and Ling helps you learn vocabulary and phrases to form meaningful relationships with people you meet along the way.
Think of it as a bit like Duolingo, but without phrases like “There are one million cats in my house,” and best of all, Ling offer a bunch of Southeast Asian languages including:
Indonesian, Khmer, Lao, Malaysian, Thai, and Vietnamese
With apps for both iOS and Android, it couldn’t be easier to grab a 7-day free trial and start learning today.
🇰🇭 Cambodia
Will Cambodia’s Private Debt Become National Debt? from The Diplomat
A Long Beach-Born Painter Captures The Surrealism Of The Cambodian American Experience from The Los Angeles Times
Did someone order a beach view?
Ad: Salad Hut on Ko Pha Ngan’s beautiful west coast, from US$118 per night. Click here for the details.
🌴 Environment
It’s Not Easy Being Green from Around The World In 80 Scrapes
The World Has Lost 14% Of Its Coral Reefs Since 2009. Investing In A Blue Economy Gives Us A Shot At Saving The Rest from World Economic Forum
‘Bluewashing’: How Ecotourism Can Be Used Against Indigenous Communities from The Conversation
Gone Wild: Is Wildlife Tourism Out Of Control? from Geographical
How Is Scuba Diving Supporting Regenerative Travel? from RoadBook
“Why Do We Take A Holiday From Our Good, Green Habits When We Travel?” from The Standard
🇮🇩 Indonesia
🇱🇦 Laos
Migration Throws Laos’ Communist Government A Lifeline from RFA
At This Oasis In Laos, You Get Your Own Plunge Pool And Butterflies from Australian Financial Review ($)
‘Cheaper Than Beer’: Laos Meth Prices Plummet As Myanmar Chaos Fuels Trade from Aljazeera
Notes On Vang Vieng: Trains And Tubing In Laos from Nomadic Notes
Yes, it’s the language monkey again.
🇲🇾 Malaysia
Malaysian Tourism - What Are We Trying To Sell To Foreign Tourists? from BFM (Audio)
Shunned By Domestic Visitors, Tourism Group Warns Langkawi Set To Become ‘Ghost Town’ Once Again from The Malay Mail
Penang’s Bridges Are Passages To Another World from This Is Southeast Asia
🇸🇬 Singapore
A Changing Of The Guard For Singapore (Eventually) from Dari Mulut Ke Mulut ($)
Singaporeans Speak On The Joy Of Deepavali from Rice Media
🇹🇭 Thailand
T.I.C.D.: Mu Ko Phuket (Part II: Ko Racha & Other Outlying Islands) from Thai Island Quest ($)
Who Really Owns A River? from The Asia Foundation
Looking for somewhere special in Penang?
Ad: Campbell House in Georgetown, Penang from US$72 per night. Click here for the details.
🇻🇳 Vietnam
Deadly Buses Under The Microscope from Vietnam Weekly
Poor Infrastructure, Services Hinder Tourism Growth In Northern Mountain Province from VietnamExpress
Vietnam’s Youth Join Chinese Trend Of ‘Lying Flat’ As Pay Stagnates Amid Booming Economy from SCMP ($)
Three Days Away: Đà Lạt Pt.2 from Around The World In 80 Scrapes ($)
Random other stuff
“Tourists Are Rethinking Their Relationship With Earth” from The BBC
B Impact Assessment As A Sustainable Tool: Analysis Of The Certification Model from Research Gate
Beyond Barriers: The Man Making Luxury Hotels Wheelchair-Accessible from CNT
Has Tourism Failed The Camels Which Made Pushkar Camel Fair A Globally Recognised Tourist Event? from Memsahib In India
Is Luddite Travel A Thing Now? The Next Iteration Of Unplugged Travel And Off-Grid Weekends Is Here from Adventure
Forget The Future: This Is The State Of Travel Writing Today from Talking Travel Writing
Crater lakes are big
Meet Sumatra’s Lake Toba. Photo: Stuart McDonald.
Wednesday Deals recap
More Wednesday Deals still:
See you next week!
So that’s the wrap. I hope you are all in good health, and thanks for reading.
Cheers!
Stuart
That article on wildlife tourism is depressing AF. I'd occassionally thought about doing an African safari one day, but after seeing those photos there is no way in hell. This kind of tourism needs to be much more tightly regulated before there is nothing left to regulate...