Travelfish #452: Train trips are fun

Two great train trips—and plenty more.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 [Open in app]( or [online]() [Travelfish #452: Train trips are fun]( Two great train trips—and plenty more. [Stuart McDonald]( Nov 29   [Save]() [▷  Listen](   Hi all, This week I lead with an epic A to Z on climate change—to be honest, I’ve only made it to L so far and found it fascinating. Elsewhere, there are two more pieces in the Couchfish series on “rethinking travel,” one looking at tour companies and another on where a traveller’s money really goes. There are two more pieces in the series to come (plus a conclusion), and I plan to have it all wrapped up by the coming weekend. I hope you’ve found it of interest so far, and sorry it has taken so long to get through them all—I am looking forward to getting back to the itinerary pieces! [Subscribe]() In other news, I’ve added a new section, on whatever I’m reading at the moment. So if, like me, you’re finding flipping pages a handy refuge from everything else, I hope you find my suggestions of use. Lastly, if you’re a social media person and have been following the never-ending drama on Twitter, I’ve left the platform and have moved to Mastodon. It isn’t the same as Twitter, but it is similar, sort of. If you’re floating around there, [you can find me on Mastodon here](. The photos this week are from Malaysia’s Perhentian Kecil—thanks to the Washington Post story listed below for the inspiration. Cheers Stuart Rethinking Travel - [Couchfish: National Chocolate Milk Day]( (World Tourism Day) - [Couchfish: Nice Tourism]( (Sustainable Tourism) - [Couchfish: The Benevolent Lie]( (Responsible Tourism) - [Couchfish: The Year Is 2006. The Town Is Luang Prabang]( (Pro-Poor Tourism) - [Couchfish: Zoom in to the Red Plastic Chairs]( (Slow travel) - [Couchfish: The Petro-bourgeoisie]( (On flying) - [Couchfish: Reality Check]( (On tour companies) - [Couchfish: Follow The Money]( (On where the money goes) A shack with a view A nice find on one of Perhentian Kecil’s back beaches. Photo: Stuart McDonald --------------------------------------------------------------- ⭐️ Story of the week  - [Climate Change From A To Z]( from The New Yorker --------------------------------------------------------------- 📚 What I’m reading - [Tourists: How The British Went Abroad To Find Themselves]( by Lucy Lethbridge 🇲🇲 Burma - [The Military Tried To Burn It Down: How An Underdog Myanmar Township Became A Resistance Stronghold]( from Time - [Uncovering Myanmar’s Rare Earth: The Hidden Side Of Clean Energy]( from Kontinentalist 🇰🇭 Cambodia - [The Precarious State Of The Mekong]( from The Diplomat - [“Why Do We Have No Rights?”: Phnom Penh Lake Community Make a Last Stand Against Developers]( from The Guardian [Ad: Phnom Penh’s Penh House, from US$70 per night. Click here for the details.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 🌴 Environment - [When It Becomes Too Hot To Work]( from Noema - [Elderly Fleeing Mekong Delta As Climate Change Hits]( from Mekong Eye 🇮🇩 Indonesia - [Why Indonesia Matters]( from The Economist ($) - [Dispute Over Java Man Raises A Question: Who Owns Prehistory?]( from The New York Times ($) 🇱🇦 Laos - [The New Long Distance Train Journey Through The Spectacular Countryside]( from The Times ($) - [What’s Driving Laos’ Debt Crisis?]( from The Diplomat 🇲🇾 Malaysia - [A Long-awaited Journey On Malaysia’s “Jungle” Railway]( from The National News - [One Man’s Lonely Quest To Save The World’s Corals Draws A Following]( from The Washington Post ($) 🇸🇬 Singapore - [Singapore’s Hell Museum Demystifies Death—With A Smile]( from CNN Travel - [The Ex-Journalist Who Turned His Sengkang Home Into Boutique Bar Section D]( from Rice Media 🇹🇭 Thailand - [Stories From The Streets Of Bangkok]( from The Footpath Files - [Khao San Road Calls Out For Help]( from The Bangkok Post [Ad: Bangkok’s Sala Arun from US$73 per night. Click here for the details.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 🇻🇳 Vietnam - [The Quiet Evolution Of Vietnam’s Digital Authoritarianism]( from The Diplomat - [Đồng Dương: The Cham Buddhist Monastery Of Ancient Indrapura]( from Paths Unwritten Random other stuff - [What I’ve Learned: Ewa Wojkowska, Cofounder COO Of Ngo Kopernik]( from The Jakarta Post - [Spaghetti Whiplash]( from LRB - [Should The Australian Museum Return Papuan Artefacts?]( from The Monthly ($) - [Asia’s Scamdemic: How Covid-19 Supercharged Online Crime]( from Nikkei Asia ($) - [Just Like The Satire In The White Lotus, Tourism Campaigns Often Perpetuate Colonial Stereotypes About The Countries They Are Selling]( from The Conversation - [Tales From My Grandfather: Hoa Huynh’s Vietnam—Photo Essay]( from The Guardian - [Digital Nomads Push Southeast Asia’s Boundaries]( from Nikkei Asia ($) - [Thinking Allowed: Tourism & Travel]( from BBC Sounds (Podcast) - [How Ethical Is Your Vacation]( from Low Season Traveller (Podcast) This will do nicely The worst thing to find while researching: A beach you’d happily spend the rest of the day on. Photo: Stuart McDonald --------------------------------------------------------------- See you next week! So that’s the wrap. I hope you are all in good health, and thanks for reading. See you next week, Stuart   [Like]( [Comment]( [Share](   © 2022 Stuart McDonald Bali, Indonesia [Unsubscribe]() [Get the app]( writing](