Travelfish #289: Bangkok’s great hostels + Volcanoes + Where to rest your head!

Everywhere is on the way to somewhere Hi everyone, This week’s theme is "Where to rest your head" because, after so much volcano stuff in the last few days, we’d really like to lay down. We’ve also got an old review of Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded, which, while a slightly old review, kind of seemed, we dunno, topical. We round out matters with a video from Thailand—which has no (active) volcanoes—do let us know if you can name an extinct one there—there are at least three. More below the fold. Exclusive for Travelfish readers: Save an additional 7% at Agoda [Use promo code Tfishpromo »]( The week that was This month, we’re running a membership drive (last week we promise!) to get more people signing up as Travelfish members. Membership costs just A$35 and includes: Two hundred and thirty five pdf guides, access to the forum, discounts for ticketing and travel with [roundtheworldflights.com]( and [All Points East]( and last but not least, a warm and fuzzy feeling inside for helping keep us in business... Not convinced? [More information here.]( Or listen to Travelfish member Rich when he says: “In a world of travel reviews with undisclosed conflicts of interest, Travelfish provides the absolute best credible and up to date information on SEAsia destinations. 10/10 would do again.” Or perhaps [the New York Times]( “On the recommendation of the indispensable Southeast Asia travel guide, Travelfish...” To the many of you who have already signed up as paid members, thank you very much! Online we’ve got a raft of new and cool places to stay in Bangkok. David wrapped up a couple of dozen great stops across the city, some of which we’ve then boiled down into our Great Bangkok Hostels piece (see FEATURED below). A bunch of other great spots include [Tavee]( [Phra Nakorn Norn Len]( and, well, take a look and see what you can find—we have plenty and they’ve all been visited, as always, in person, by a Travelfish writer. In the case of Bangkok, that would be David, so if you like your room, send the man some som tam! Don’t forget about the 7% additional discount off hotels booked with Agoda. To get your discount, [go to this page]( search for a hotel you want to book and, as long as it is marked "Promotion Eligible", the discount is good. Enter the coupon code Tfishpromo (case sensitive) and you’ll score an extra 7% off. Please forward this newsletter on to any friends, family, strangers in bars, bus drivers, som tam ladies or massage men you think might be interested to receive it. Good travels, Stuart, Sam and the Travelfish team Premium members only: Book a round the world with [roundtheworldflights.com]( (must travel from the UK via Asia, Australia, New Zealand AND the Americas) and get £30pp off your trip. Offer valid for departures to December 2018. Log in to the Member Centre on Travelfish now for your coupon code and [start designing your own round the world trip »]( Soapbox Perspective matters This week has seen Gunung Agung on Indonesia’s Bali well and truly erupt. The eruption has (once again) uprooted the lives of people who live around the slopes of the volcano. It has also severely disrupted the travel plans of tens of thousands of international and domestic travellers and, last but not least, it has made for some spectacular photos and videos. Bali, even when destructive, is still jaw-droppingly beautiful—and vulcanologists believe there is a lot more to come yet. As I write, Bali’s international airport has just been declared closed for a third day due to the risk of volcanic ash interfering with aircraft. This closure has brought up significant challenges for foreign and domestic tourists, as Bali is not just an important international gateway to Indonesia but it’s also an important hub for flight travel between the east and the west of the archipelago. It is understandable that people want to get home or wish to continue with their travels, but it is important to keep things in perspective. Yes, some of the post-eruption planning (I use that term loosely!) and communication from authorities have sometimes left something to be desired, but standing at the check-in desk screaming at an airline staffer isn’t going to result in the airline deciding to turn the eruption off. While these frustrations are annoying, it is worth keeping in mind that tens of thousands of people are in camps, without the financial means to, well, fly even when the airport is open. So rather than venting over a Bintang bottle at an airport news crew, perhaps get online and make a donation to one of the organisations doing tremendous work under challenging circumstances. I’ve listed a few below to get you started. [Kopernik]( [Bumi Sehat]( [East Bali Poverty Project]( [IDEP]( If Agung continues to erupt for a stretch of time—note that Sinabung on Sumatra has been erupting on and off since 2010—the effects on Bali’s tourism industry will be nothing short of catastrophic. This would make your donation to the above-mentioned organisations all the more warranted. Good travels Stuart Featured Great hostels in Bangkok Bangkok’s hostel scene has come a long way since the days when a “dorm” usually meant a dingy mattress, if that, on a flophouse floor. The number of hostels began to increase at an incredible rate starting around 2010, and you’ll now find hundreds of choices ranging [from bare bones to downright swanky](. What we’re watching Memories of Thailand "[My two week trip around Thailand]( in (mostly) chronological order. Highlights: Bangkok, Ayutthaya, Kanchanaburi, Erawan and Chiang Mai." Film by Preet Katta. What we’ve read Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded [Seemed ... topical](. Notes from the road BURMA: Starlight Guesthouse [BURMA: Starlight Guesthouse]( This small lakeside spot has set good standards with clean, comfortable rooms, reasonable prices, helpful service, plenty of local information, motorbike hire [and a friendly, cosy vibe](. CAMBODIA: Monkey Maya [CAMBODIA: Monkey Maya]( Monkey Maya, [a delightful, secluded retreat]( on the edge of Ream National Park, lies a 45-minute journey but world away from the hustle and bustle of Ochheuteal or Otres. INDONESIA: Adhistana Hotel [INDONESIA: Adhistana Hotel]( Stylish, serene and tasteful, Adhistana Hotel offers excellent value from backpacker dorms to flashpacker and midrange rooms. The minute you see the facade constructed from old wooden shutters and doors of this well located hotel, you know you’re in for a visual treat, and Adhistana Hotel [pulls off a fresh modern look without being too hipster](. ISLANDS: V Mala Lao House [ISLANDS: V Mala Lao House]( V Mala Lao House is not on the river but if you’ve ever wanted to know what it’s like to live in a traditional Lao wooden house, here is the chance—[it’s also cheap, clean and tasteful](. LAOS: Sabaidee Guesthouse and Restaurant [LAOS: Sabaidee Guesthouse and Restaurant]( Sabaidee Guesthouse, its lovely owner and his nightly barbecue feast has achieved legendary status, [mostly spread by word of mouth alone](. MALAYSIA: Coffee Atelier [MALAYSIA: Coffee Atelier]( Big on space and big on character, the enchanting rooms at Coffee Atelier offer a counterpoint for the oh so lovely but sometimes almost too refined restorations at heritage hotels elsewhere in Georgetown, [here it’s rustic and authentic, warts and all](. SINGAPORE: Daulat [SINGAPORE: Daulat]( An unusual hotel with an unusual name, you’ll find the decidedly comfortable Daulat tucked down towards the end of Madras Street, yet still in the centre of Little India. With good sized rooms, a lap pool and a boutique-y feel, this is the only hotel in this style in Little India and [will appeal to those looking for something a little different](. THAILAND: Phra Nakorn Norn Len [THAILAND: Phra Nakorn Norn Len]( The Phra Nakorn Norn Len experience takes you straight into the artistic soul of Thailand. Imaginative murals, vintage displays, soothing common areas and comfortable rooms combine [to create a hotel that’s hard to forget](. VIETNAM: Phong Nha Farmstay [VIETNAM: Phong Nha Farmstay]( Phong Nha Farmstay is the child of Aussie Ben and Vietnamese Bich who have worked tirelessly to put Phong Nha on the tourist trail. As the national park has grown in popularity and the town has prospered, so too has their farmstay, the first foreign-run guesthouse in a region [that was once off-the-radar](. Travelfish partners We work with a number of partners on a commission basis and this helps keep us in business. Please consider using the following links to make any reservations as a commission may end up being paid to us, with no impact on what you pay. Thank you! Flights: [roundtheworldflights.com]( Places to stay: [Agoda]( [Booking]( Tours and activities: [TourRadar]( [GetYourGuide]( Ground transport: [12Go Asia]( Travel insurance: [World Nomads]( News from the region BURMA I: Myanmar accused of wiping out secret network of Rohingya reporters “ ‘We used to [hide ourselves the moment the security forces approached our villages](. After they left the villages following their raids we would appear on the scenes with our mobile phones, gather on-the-spot information of abuses, violence and other related incidents and send them out through the internet immediately,’ he said.” BURMA II: Between Burma and Bangladesh “The UN High Commissioner for Refugees [slammed the plan]( there are already internment camps elsewhere in the state; more than 100,000 Rohingya live in them. There are no schools, and access to healthcare depends on the whim of local administrators.” CAMBODIA: From pet project to problem child “Now, roughly 25 years after the United Nations took over the administration of Cambodia – organising the country’s first democratic elections in 1993 – the ruling party has finally succeeded in what many analysts and international observers have called [the complete dismantling of the country’s democracy]( INDONESIA I: Evacuation centres, hotels fill up as Bali eruption looms ‘“Volcanic ash is [still spewing](. It’s thick and rising very high – up to three or four kilometres from the crater,” said I Gede Suantika, an official at Indonesia’s volcanology agency.’ INDONESIA II: ’All we do is sleep’: The crushing boredom of life in one of Bali’s evacuation centres “The volcanology centre recommended the evacuation of all villages within a 9-12 km danger zone. But once the alarms went out, villagers outside the danger zone also fled, [doubling the expected amount of evacuees]( INDONESIA III: Indonesia, where smoking is widespread, just placed tough restrictions on e-cigarettes ‘“They can just “become regular smokers,” he told local newspaper Kompas, a seemingly puzzling statement for a government official in a country where [over 200,000 people already die of tobacco-related causes each year]( INDONESIA IV: Sinabung devastation highlights Indonesia volcano risk “When Mount Sinabung suddenly started erupting in September, spewing vast quantities of rock, toxic gas and ash on to nearby villages and farms, cocoa and coffee grower Nande Manta Beru Ginting feared for her life.” [A cautionary tale](. LAOS I: Nam Ou 3 dam eliminates river cruises “Navigation limitations between Nong Khiaw and Luang Prabang [will also reduce other cruise options](. It will disrupt trips that pass near Done Nguen on the downstream journey to Luang Prabang via the Pak Ou caves. The caves are on the banks of the Mekong River almost directly opposite the mouth of the Nam Ou.” LAOS II: Tourists complain of construction blocking Vang Vieng view ‘ “One Australian tourist commented, ‘I’ve been to Laos many times and always visited Vang Vieng. I brought my friends with me this trip and was [saddened to see]( this new building blocking the view, which is normally spectacular.’” ’ THAILAND I: New tourism aims to revive Bangkok’s dying communities “But the main drive behind her business, she said, is the phenomenon of [a vanishing Bangkok]( the eviction of old neighbourhoods in recent years. Citing the need to clear traffic flow, the iconic Flower Market was moved to an indoor building in 2016. A crackdown on once-bustling street food scene in the name of orderliness is also ongoing.” THAILAND II: Star elephant beats mahout to death at Chiang Mai Zoo “Mrs Jampa, 50, the mahout’s wife, said Phlai Ekasit was usually a loveable and kind animal that had appeared in several films. He was [popular among tourists]( who like to feed and take pictures with him.” THAILAND III: China seeks green light to get rolling on Thai ‘train to nowhere’ “But the railway’s critics have slammed the project as the “train to nowhere” for its slow start and have questioned its [high costs and lack of transparency]( VIETNAM I: Freelance tour guides claim Vietnam’s new tourism law railroads them into trap ‘ “Nguyen Nam, a tour guide, told VnExpress that [not many]( travel companies are willing to hire tour guides as permanent employees because it means they have to pay them monthly salaries and cover compensation and benefits packages.” ’ VIETNAM II: Defiant map-hunter stakes Vietnam’s claims in the South China Sea ‘ “Interest in territorial sovereignty has long been “in the heart” of the Vietnamese people, said a senior Vietnamese legal expert in Hanoi, who insisted on anonymity to discuss a sensitive political matter. But the [oil rig crisis]( has greatly magnified the interest.’ Travel writing CAMBODIA I: Farewell to Battambang’s famous “bamboo railway” Cambodia’s Bamboo Railway [finally runs out of track](. CAMBODIA II: Angkor temples found ‘ “We found two broken pedestals, each one with two holes on each side to set a statue. We also found jar fragments,” Mr Vanchan said. “According to ethnic minorities in the area, wine jars were richly valued items in the past, which were [exchanged against cattle when a family member died]( ’ INDONESIA I: ’Real Bali’ as Western construct: Rethinking tourism’s ’ruination’ of Bali “The Western artists who flocked to the island following the advent of Dutch rule promoted the Netherlands’ Balinese narrative. Brush stroke by brush stroke, these artists not only constructed Bali as a “living museum”, but also added their own paradisiacal impressions of Bali, based on Edenic and Orientalist themes that were foreign to the Balinese, [to create the image still widely accepted today]( INDONESIA II: One man’s weed “As they forsake fishing for weed-pulling, [the new farmers must also practise restraint]( (Old story). THAILAND: A salute to 50 years of late nights at Bangkok’s Malaysia Hotel “Mayuree’s family was among those [to seize the opportunity](. They built a 120-room hotel with six floors and called it Malaysia.” TRAVEL: Ganja and “S.H.I.T.” (Suspected Hippie In Transit): Backpacking Southeast Asia in the 70s [You should have been here yesterday](. VOLUNTEERING: Volunteering abroad? Read this before you post that selfie ‘These can give the viewer the impression that such small gestures can change a child’s life when “[in reality it has no impact](. A lot of these people make empty promises and never come back to the community,” says Worrall, who has worked in Uganda as a development consultant for seven years. She recreated the image for Barbie Savior in August 2016.’ Interesting site Skyvector For your [inner aeronautical nerd](. Travel shot [Escape the heat. Photo: David Luekens] Escape the heat. Photo: David Luekens Till next time [Sam and Stuart.] That’s it from us for now. As usual, enjoy the site’s new additions and drop us a line if there’s something in particular you’d like us to cover in Southeast Asia. Travel light! Stuart, Sam & the Travelfish team [( You're receiving the Travelfish newsletter because you signed up at Travelfish.org. Not interested anymore? [Unsubscribe Instantly](. Make sure you're getting our emails! 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