Travelfish #497: The Hostel Edition

A wrap on stuff worth reading

Hi!

This week I’m leading with an interesting wrap on hostels by backpacker academic Michael O’Regan. I have to say, after staying at twenty different hostels across four weeks in Singapore a few years ago, I swore I’d never stay in another, but O’Regan’s piece had me almost missing them. If you’re a hostel fan, give the story a read.

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 had two pieces last week—one looking at temples and higher powers in Pemuteran, and another thinking about just what “local” means. They’re both free to read.

The pics this week are of hostels and love.

Cheers

Stuart

Love is a beautiful thing

Everything is fine until people start having sex above you. Photo: Stuart McDonald.

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⭐️ Story of the week 

• Youth Hostels Face Tough Times—But They Are Perfect For Authentic, Spontaneous Experiences from Adventure

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📚 What I’m reading

• Six Days: How The 1967 War Shaped The Middle East by Jeremy Bowen

🇲🇲 Burma

• Interview: Myanmar Insurgent Groups Key To Forest And Climate Protection from The Third Pole

• ‘We Can’t Choose What We Eat’: Malnutrition Wracks Myanmar from Frontier Myanmar ($)

• Northern Shan State Fighting Displaces Almost 50,000 Civilians: UN from Frontier Myanmar ($)

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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.

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🇰🇭 Cambodia

• China’s Belt And Road-Funded Airport Launches In Cambodia To Serve Tourists Heading To Angkor Wat from SCMP ($)

• Fears Asia’s Mekong River Is In Crisis from BBC (Video)

• UNESCO Under Fire For Failing To Prevent Evictions At Angkor Wat Temple Site from The Guardian

• For Renewable Energy, Cambodia Risks ‘Final Frontier’ Virachey National Park from Southeast Asia Globe

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

• Hoi An, Hue Flood Amid Heavy Rains, Boats Replace Cars from VietnamExpress

• The Devastating Trail Supertrawlers Leave Behind from Blue Planet Society

• Denmark Is Proposing A ‘Green Tax’ On All Flights from The Washington Post ($)

• The Instagram Wellness Influencers Spreading Climate Misinformation from Heated

🇮🇩 Indonesia

• Carbon Financing In Action: Restoring Peatlands In Indonesia from McKinsey & Company

• Plunging Popularity Of Bahasa Among Australian Students Could Hurt Future Ties With Indonesia from The Straits Times ($)

• The Spice Islands from The Lombok Diaries

🇱🇦 Laos

• China Remains Top Investor In Laos, Minister Reveals from The Laotian Times

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Yes, it’s the language monkey again.

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🇲🇾 Malaysia

• A Murder Case Reawakens In Malaysia from Asia Sentinel

• Malaysia’s Penang Hopes To Hook Chinese Medical Tourists With Healing Holidays from SCMP ($)

🇸🇬 Singapore

• Singapore *Can* Be Cheap from Around The World In 80 Scrapes

• Feeding The Future from AP

• Salted Egg-Stuffed Squid from Singapore Noodles ($)

🇹🇭 Thailand

• I Can’t Help But Feel Like Thailand Just Came Very Close To Doing Something Bonkers? from Dari Mulut Ke Mulut

• ‘Lost Its Soul’: Campaigners Decry Renovation Of Thailand’s Iconic ‘Robot Building’ from CNN

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

• Controversial Project In Vietnam Threatens Paradise Of Popular Tourist Destination Ha Long Bay from The Telegraph ($)

• Let Foreigners Buy Resort Property, Says Developer from VietnamExpress

• Vietnam’s Waste Sorting Plan Goes Unsupported from VietnamExpress

• Three Days Away: Đà Lạt Pt.3 from Around The World In 80 Scrapes ($)

• Paving Over Paradise from Vietnam Weekly

Random other stuff

• The Secret Decision-Making Behind ‘Best-Of’ Travel Lists – And Why They Always Seem To Get It Wrong from The Independent

• A Two-Hour Walking Tour With ChatGPT: ‘I’d Not Suggest That To My Worst Enemy’ from The Guardian

• Fake Reviews Are Rampant Online. Can A Crackdown End Them? from The New York Times ($)

• At Home With Asia’s Shopping Influencers from Rest Of World

• Who Has The Best International Health Insurance: Safetywing Or Genki — Or Someone Else Entirely? from Brent and Michael Are Going Places

• Keeping Stuff Safe On The Road: You’re Probably Doing It All Wrong from Talking Travel Writing ($)

No the lighting is not “romantic”

Everything is fine until people start having sex right beside your head. Photo: Stuart McDonald.

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Wednesday Deals recap

More Wednesday Deals still:

Penang

Huế

Phnom Penh

Bangkok

See you next week!

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

Cheers!

Stuart