Travelfish #477: The holes in the ground edition

A wrap on stuff worth reading                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 [Open in app]( or [online]() [Travelfish #477: The holes in the ground edition]( A wrap on stuff worth reading Jul 2   [Share](   Hi! This week I lead with a story on Torbjørn ‘Thor’ Pedersen who has spent the best part of a decade visiting every country on the planet—without flying. If you find the interview interesting, do lose yourself [in his blog]( for a bit. I’m currently in a very rainy Miri in Sarawak—I mention the weather as today Will and I have a bit of an adventure planned, overlanding it to Mulu National Park. Most everyone flies, but [me being the grumpy no-domestic flights dude]( we’re overlanding it. Plan holds for a 4WD trip to Long Panai and then a trip—by pirogue I believe—upriver to Mulu. When I WhatsApped to the owner of the digs we’re staying in Mulu what we had planned, she replied: “Enjoy the rock n roll 4X4 ride,” then “Standby some motion pills.” Fun times. Anyways, it has been pelting down rain all night, so it should be fun…or character building at least. We leave at 9 am, and hope to reach Mulu by 5 pm—in case you were wondering, and as my son has mentioned eleventy million times, the flight takes 20 minutes. We will be flying out—if for no other reason than to avoid my son divorcing me. Anyways, Mulu is all about the caves, and yesterday we visited the spectacular [Niah Cave National Park]( as a taster. If you visit, watch your step—the walkways are in such bad shape they should be a fixture of national embarrassment—or perhaps they’re just part and parcel of the forever inept management of Malaysia’s national parks by the park authority. Regardless, the walkways are well dangerous in places, and I’d love to see their stats on visitor broken arms and legs—but hey, even if the walkways are falling apart, at least they have a whizz-bang electronic registration system. Priorities I tell ya. Whining aside, wow, what a place. The pics in this issue are from there. Cheers Stuart Now that’s a cave The Great Cave—note the people in the foreground (for scale) and the waterfall at right. We had the entire complex almost to ourselves. Photo: Stuart McDonald. --------------------------------------------------------------- ⭐️ Story of the week  - [3,512 Days, Zero Air Miles: Meet The Danish Man Who’s Visited Every Country In The World (Without Flying)]( from Adventure --------------------------------------------------------------- 📚 What I’m reading - [We Have Tired of Violence: A True Story of Murder, Memory, and the Fight for Justice in Indonesia]( by Matt Easton 🇲🇲 Burma - [Gambling Dens ‘Breaking The Spirit Of The Revolution’, Say Sagaing Locals]( from Frontier Myanmar ($) --------------------------------------------------------------- Looking to book your transport online when you’re on the road in Southeast Asia? For Vietnam, look [no further than Baolau](. For the rest of the region, [12Go should be your first port of call](. --------------------------------------------------------------- 🇰🇭 Cambodia - [Cambodian Pm Hun Sen Deletes Facebook Page After Criticism]( from NikkeiAsia ($) - [From Cambodia’s Killing Fields To The US Secret Service]( from The Diplomat Did someone order a beach view? [Ad: Salad Hut on Ko Pha Ngan’s beautiful west coast, from US$118 per night. Click here for the details.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 🌴 Environment - [How Will Climate Change Affect The Holiday Map?]( from The Financial Times ($) - [8 Decarbonisation Tips For Tour Operators]( from ecollective - [Indonesian Architect Presses Vision For Low-Cost Homes From Nature]( from Mongabay 🇮🇩 Indonesia - [Addicts Went In For Treatment. Instead They Were Enslaved.]( from The New York Times ($) - [Walking Jakarta, Part 1]( from Chris Arnade Walks The World ($) - [Raja Ampat Liveaboard June 2023 Trip Report]( from Dive Happy 🇱🇦 Laos - [China-Laos Railway Records 25,000 Cross-border Passenger Trips]( from China Daily - [Laos In Rainbows: Organiser Charts Gradual Progress For LGBT+ Rights]( from SEAGlobe ($) --------------------------------------------------------------- Looking for deals on organised tours **with no domestic flying**? Here are a few for Southeast Asia via Travelfish partner TourRadar. (Prices are in US$) Cambodia[Cambodia Explorer (11 days, $920)]( Indonesia[Komodo Island Hopper (9 days, $1,196)]( Laos[North Laos by motorbike (7 days, $2,062)]( Malaysia[Sabah Highlights (7 days, $1,243)]( Thailand[Bangkok to the North (9 days, $1,130]( Vietnam [North Vietnam by motorbike (7 days, $1,026)]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 🇲🇾 Malaysia - [Trans-Borneo Railway: A Train Connecting Malaysia, Brunei, And Indonesia]( from Future Southeast Asia - [Kedah Has Southeast Asia’s Oldest Civilisation And Archaeologists Barely Know Its Complete History]( from CNA - [‘Mind-Boggling’ Palm That Flowers And Fruits Underground Thrills Scientists]( from The Guardian - [Let’s Sleep Outdoors!]( from From An Equatorial Lens 🇸🇬 Singapore - [On Ridout Road: “Nothing To See Here!”]( from We, The Citizens 🇹🇭 Thailand - [A Photographer's Chronicle Of Thailand's Democracy Struggle]( from NikkeiAsia ($) - [Parliament Sits Monday, When Will The Chaos Begin?]( from Dari Mulut Ke Mulut - [Discover Nature At Its Greenest In The Monsoons]( from Bangkok Post - [Marking Halfway Through The T.I.C.D.]( from Thai Island Quest Looking for somewhere special in Penang? [Ad: Campbell House in Georgetown, Penang from US$72 per night. Click here for the details.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 🇻🇳 Vietnam - [Power To The People]( from Around The World In 80 Scrapes - [Vietnam’s Can Tho Sets Up Management Board To Preserve Floating Market]( from Tuoi Tre News - [Con Dao: Boat Trips To Outlying Islands]( from Vietnam Coracle - [Facebook Helped Bring Free Speech To Vietnam. Now It’s Helping Stifle It.]( from The Washington Post ($) Random other stuff - [How Can A Circular Tourism Economy Help Repurpose Heritage Buildings?]( from Good Tourism Blog - [How To Avoid Cultural Appropriation While Travelling]( from Honey Travel - [Remote Working: How A Surge In Digital Nomads Is Pricing Out Local Communities Around The World]( from Adventure - [Holidays, Travel, And Journeys]( from Cosmographia - [National Geographic Lays Off Its Last Remaining Staff Writers]( from The Washington Post ($) - [[11] Maps As Prompts]( from Place Writing - [When Is Travel Worth The Risk?]( from Be A Better Traveller - [We’re Just Back: Brook’s Family Trip To Southeast Asia]( from Wendy Perrin - [Are Escalators And Moving Walkways Safe?]( from The New York Times ($) - [Welcome Aboard The Aquidaban, The Floating Jungle Supermarket]( from The New York Times ($) Woah You can’t really tell the height from this photo, but this seemed to be at least one hundred metres above us, the rain falling in slow motion. Note the climbing poles for the birds nest harvesters… No thanks! Photo: Stuart McDonald. --------------------------------------------------------------- See you next week! So that’s the wrap. I hope you are all in good health, and thanks for reading. Cheers! Stuart Travelfish weekly newsletter is free today. But if you enjoyed this post, you can tell Travelfish weekly newsletter that their writing is valuable by pledging a future subscription. You won't be charged unless they enable payments. [Pledge your support](   [Like]( [Comment]( [Restack](   © 2023 Stuart McDonald Bali, Indonesia [Unsubscribe]() [Get the app]( writing]()