Travelfish #499: The Solastalgia Edition

A wrap on stuff worth reading

Hi!

This week I’m leading with a piece out of Condé Nast Traveler (yeah I know), but I thought it was a good read and it taught me two new words—solastalgia and fernweh—so there you go, CNT isn’t a complete waste of space.

Also this week gone The United States’ most famous war criminal finally kicked the bucket—don’t let the door hit you on the way out dude. It seemed fitting to put Rolling Stone’s good riddance post in the Cambodia section below, but it could just as easily have gone in Indonesia or Laos—or any number of other countries for that matter. Why is it the worst of humanity last so goddam long?

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.

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Over on Couchfish I have two new pieces—War Stories (nothing to do with aforementioned dead dude), and Bingin Time—both are free to read for all.

In other news, a few weeks ago a reader got in touch asking how on earth I have the time to read all the stuff I stick in this newsletter. Their query prompted me to spruce up one of the tools I use to find news related to the region, so if you’d prefer to be getting this newsletter every day—hopefully not, as there is no way I’m writing it every day—the Southeast Asia Travel News page I made may be of interest. It updates through the day pulling headlines from over 100 outlets, every few hours, and surfaces news that might be of interest to travellers. It is a bit rough around the edges, but it does work—add it to your bookmarks!

As I have no photos of solastalgia and fernweh, I’m instead running with some Thai food pics as I head there this Saturday and plan to eat everything. Both pics are by David Luekens, as he takes better food pics, and I’m always stuffing face when I should be taking pics.

Cheers

Stuart

Skip the ABF

Khanom Jeen Pa Khiao on Ko Samui. Photo: David Luekens.

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⭐️ Story of the week 

• There’s A Word For How We’re Feeling As Travelers—and This Is It from CNT

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📚 What I’m reading

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

🇲🇲 Burma

• Travel Risk Warning For Parts Of Myanmar from Bangkok Post

• Back To The Dark Ages: Development Interrupted In Ayeyarwady 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

• Henry Kissinger, War Criminal Beloved By America’s Ruling Class, Finally Dies from Rolling Stone

• The Mekong Is Slowly Dying. From The BBC

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

• An Update From The Wilderness from NE Where

• Climate Adaptation And Tourism: A Closer Link Than We Might Think? from SEADS

• COP28 Sucks. Pay Attention Anyway. from HEATED

🇮🇩 Indonesia

• 11 Climbers Killed After Indonesia Volcano Erupts, Spewing Ash 3km Into Sky from SCMP ($)

• ‘A Bus Is Open To Everyone Regardless Of Class’: Riding The World’s Biggest Network from The Guardian

• Revenge Of The Jungle – Indonesia’s New Capital Unloved And Unfunded from Michael West Media

🇱🇦 Laos

• Laos Requires Cell Phone Registration By Mid-December from RFA

• Lazy Confluence In Laos from One Hundred Years Of Family Food Memories

• The Invisible Killer Haunting Laos 50 Years After The Vietnam War from The Telegraph ($)

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Yes, it’s the language monkey again.

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🇲🇾 Malaysia

• Foreigners Entering Malaysia Required To Submit Digital Arrival Cards From December from CNA

• Malaysian State’s Gay ‘Rehab’ Centre Plan ‘Amounts To Torture’, LGBTQ Activists Say from SCMP ($)

🇸🇬 Singapore

• Covid-19 Cases In S’pore Double, MOH Advises Public To Stay Vigilant from The Straits Times ($)

• A “Long Island” For Our Sunny Island By The Sea? from We, The Citizens

🇹🇭 Thailand

• T.I.C.D.: Intro To The Deep Southern Gulf Of Thailand from Thai Island Quest ($)

• History Fades As Rising Sea Levels Slowly Destroy Thailand’s Temple Murals from The Guardian

• Frenchman’s Body Found At Koh Samui Waterfall from Bangkok Post

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

• A Voice For The Voiceless: Thich Tue Sy And His Struggle For Religious Freedom In Postwar Vietnam from The Vietnamese

• Foreign Tourists Complain About Trash, Overcrowding In Ha Long Bay from VNExpress

• Inside The Bình Thạnh Depot Where Retro Military Knick-Knacks Live from Saigoneer

• Traversing Ha Giang Loop: A Photographic Journey from VNExpress

Random other stuff

• Reflections On A Hectic Year Of Travel In South East Asia And Beyond, With Vincent Vichit-Vadakan from The South East Asia Travel Show

• Around SE Asia In 80 Days from Around The World In 80 Scrapes

• What We Can Learn From The Ancient Art Of Wayfinding from The BBC

• Travel Companies Warned To Expect Scrutiny Of ‘Green Claims’ from Travel Weekly

• How Is Influencer Marketing Transforming The Tourism Industry? from Roadbook

• New Guidebook Draws On Real-World Experiences For Running Private Nature Reserves from Mongabay

Damn.

Grazing at Bao Pradit, Mukdahan. Photo: David Luekens.

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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