Travelfish #342: Burma Dolphins + Khao Sok + Getting a better sense of travel

Everywhere is on the way to somewhere Hi all, Thank you to those who took the time to email in regarding the crowd situation at Angkor—if there was one common theme it was that nobody seems to be a fan of big tour groups! More generally, avoid the peak times to, well, avoid the peak groups! Another reader pointed out that one should not forsake volunteer guides in favour of the audio tours—a personal touch or story can make all the difference. Plenty of food for thought. [The lake is just spectacular. Photo: David Luekens] Khao Sok: The lake is just spectacular. Photo: David Luekens This week new on the site is [Khao Sok National Park]( in southern Thailand—a justifiably popular attraction in the country—be sure to make time for it if you are kicking around down that way. In the pipeline for this week we have Thailand’s Chiang Rai and Cambodia’s Banteay Chhmar. This week’s Soap Box on making better use of your senses while travelling—don’t get so hung up on Instagramming somewhere you forget to smell the coffee! Good travels, Stuart, Sam and the Travelfish crew Support Travelfish! If you'd like to chip in (if you haven’t already) for using the site, we'd love you to sign up for a year-long subscription for just A$35. [See more here](. Soapbox Getting a better sense of travel I tend not to listen to podcasts all that much when I'm at home because when at home I don’t have a commute (other than a flight of stairs) and I find I can't really take in a podcast while I’m working on something else. Generally I need to set aside the 30 minutes or an hour to lay back and concentrate on what the podcast is telling me. [Stairway to heaven on the Sam Yang Roi trail. Photo: David Luekens] Khao Sok: Stairway to heaven on the Sam Yang Roi trail. Photo: David Luekens This morning [I was sent a podcast titled “I Fell Down”]( and the just shy of an hour long podcast is simply the ambient noise as the author goes for a walk in the woods. It might sound boring (and I think the author walks wayyyyy too fast) but it got me thinking about travel and how people observe and record it. We’ve had images and words forever it seems. Hand written letters and diaries, paintings, photos, and postcards combining the two. More recently blogs and Instagram, email and so on, but these really concentrate on what the traveller saw (though obviously the written word can cover so much more). What about the other senses? [A slice of China in Thailand. Photo: David Luekens] Khao Sok: A slice of China in Thailand. Photo: David Luekens Food for example can really indulge the senses—go for a walk through a wet market. Pick up a funny looking rambutan, feel its hairs tickle your palms, then its firmness as you break the skin with your thumbs, twisting it and listening for the satisfying “pop” as it splits open. Raise it to your nose and smell the herby lychee–like smell then pop it into your mouth to enjoy the refreshing sweetness. Sight, Touch, Sound, Smell and Taste all in five seconds. Yum. So back to the walking podcast. Once I got over my annoyance of his version of walking being almost running, I found myself listening closely to the ambient noise—was that a car or the wind? Is he on a stone path or cement. Later it sounds like he is walking on ice or some kind of crackling gravel. It was weirdly enthralling (yes I was also procrastinating). [The outlook from Nang Prai Rafthouse. Photo: David Luekens] Khao Sok: The outlook from Nang Prai Rafthouse. Photo: David Luekens And it left me thinking about the sounds I take for granted walking around Southeast Asia. The most obvious are the religious—the call to prayer in Java, nuns singing in Flores, chanting monks in Thailand and Cambodia, temple chimes and bells in Singapore and Vietnam—but there are plenty more. Even the traffic has its own regional varieties—the screeching tuk tuk in Bangkok, the putt putt of an upcountry beat up scooter, the slowly rotating pedals on a cyclo, longtails and speedboats—who could ever forget the sound of the early morning speedboats, whining and warbling, yet unseen in the mist on the Mekong River? Other easy picks would be the wet markets, walking past a school hearing the kids alternatively playing or rote learning, walking through the countryside and the villages—the kids, the animals, the people and, of course, the sweeping—the never ending sweeping. If you do listen to the above mentioned podcast, note what you don’t hear—animals. There are no barking dogs nor crowing cocks—try to pull that off in Southeast Asia! [Go for a wander. Photo: David Luekens] Khao Sok: Go for a wander. Photo: David Luekens So when I'm away again in a couple of weeks I'm going to give this a go—perhaps not an hour—but a few soundbites here and there. If they work out ok I'll pop them online so you’ll be able to listen to a little more of Southeast Asia while you are at home. Good travels, Stuart 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 2019. Log in to the Member Centre on Travelfish now for your coupon code and [start designing your own round the world trip »]( Talking Travel Meet Paul Eshoo of the Living Irrawaddy Dolphin Project Every week we publish a Q&A, this week with chatted with Paul Eshoo of the [Living Irrawaddy Dolphin Project]( which is based in Mandalay, Burma. Can you tell our readers a little about the Living Irrawaddy Dolphin Project? My motivation for setting up the [Living Irrawaddy Dolphin Project]( was the responsibility I feel we have to do the right thing when and where we can for the planet. My previous work with [Wildlife Conservation Society]( had taken me to Myanmar, where I was working as a tourism advisor on a project to protect Irrawaddy dolphins. It’s amazing that there are still dolphins in the Ayeyawaddy River (72 at last count in February 2019), and it would be extremely sad if they were lost. What’s extra special about Myanmar’s Irrawaddy dolphin population though is that they fish together with fishermen, a phenomenon called [“cooperative fishing”](. Dolphins and fishermen communicate together to trap fish, the fishermen using nets and the dolphins eating the fish escaping the nets, allowing both of them to get greater catches! The fishermen use special calls to tell the dolphins when they are ready to throw their nets and the dolphins use their tails to signal to the fishermen make the throw. It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. Myanmar is one of perhaps three places in the world that this phenomenon is known, the other places being in Brazil and Mauritania. It’s a dying practice though, with less dolphins in the river and [more lucrative, illegal fishing techniques available](. The Living Irrawaddy Dolphin Project is a social business created for the purpose of helping fishing communities in the Ayeyawaddy Dolphin Protected Area to promote tourism for the sake of Irrawaddy dolphin conservation and the continued practice of cooperative fishing. I realised over years of experience working with various NGOs in the region that community-based ecotourism is probably best done as a social business, rather than through an NGO. This is because tourism is not an easy business for villagers to do on their own and is something that takes extra care from the business to do in a way that balances benefits for communities, the environment and wildlife, and profit. We are trying to balance these important things, including creating a rewarding and educational experience for visitors that doesn’t completely rely on seeing a dolphin; generating as much income for villagers as possible by including fishermen's boats, food, handicrafts, village walks and local accommodation in our tour package and helping them to improve their tourism skills; generating revenue for dolphin conservation through a percentage of our fee; and reducing potential impacts on dolphins and the environment through sustainability measures. We are trying to make the benefits of tourism a reality, not just a concept discussed in donor-funded meetings and workshops. At least in Southeast Asia the dolphins near Kratie in Cambodia enjoy a higher profile in the awareness of most travellers than the Irrawaddy dolphins. Why do you think that is? Cambodia has been open for tourism quite a bit longer than Myanmar, which is probably the main reason why the population in [Kratie]( has had a higher profile. Another reason might be that WWF has been active in dolphin conservation in Cambodia, and so the population has benefited from WWF's high profile and strengths in marketing and awareness raising. In contrast, WCS has been working on dolphin conservation in Myanmar, but is not as strong at raising the profile of the sites it works in because it is a smaller organisation. Cambodia is also a country that is much easier for foreigners to create NGOs and volunteer, and so Cambodia’s dolphins have received a lot of attention in that way. You mention guests are able to participate in local livelihood activities—can you give our readers a bit more information regarding what that entails? Here are some examples. When visiting the village that makes hats, visitors can try to weave a hat themselves. Fishermen teach visitors how to throw a castanets on our [2-day tour](. Villagers show visitors how to cut grass to feed the livestock. On the [3-day tour]( we visit a village that makes pottery and visitors get their hands dirty trying to make their own clay pot. Depending on the season and time, villagers might take visitors to the fields to plant or pick peanuts. Our program isn’t more than 1-3 days though, so we don’t have time to learn any of these livelihoods in depth. Generally have the local communities been supportive of the programme? Did you encounter unforseen challenges along the way getting it up and running? Overall the communities have been supportive of the programme. Of course, they are happy that they finally have regular tour groups and more visitors and income. The rates that we are paying for fishing boats, food and other village services are quite good, too, and they are able to sell handicrafts to the visitors as well. We’ve been able to help about 50 families, which is quite a lot for our first year. But, there have been some issues with how the work is shared within the community and between communities. Our intention from the start has been to support all communities involved in tourism and all of the village tourism and dolphin conservation groups for maximum participation. We are currently conducting household interviews to better understand what all of the community members want so that we can help them decide how they want to share the work and improve tourism. I think also there is a need for better coordination and cooperation between the different organisations and businesses involved in Ayeyawaddy Dolphin Protected Area tourism and conservation as some of the misunderstandings by villagers stem from not enough coordination between the organisations working on tourism. In the past you were involved in the Nam Nern Night Safari in northern Laos, while the environment is obviously very different, do you see similarities in the challenges faced by local communities across the two projects? There are similar challenges with both projects. Both are trying to support species that are critically endangered, which are important to protect but also a little bit difficult for visitors to see, especially for tigers in Laos. Both tours have so much more than just the tigers and dolphins, and the challenge is in broadening the experience for visitors. Visitors are naturally drawn towards those iconic species, but there are many other species and things that can be seen during the tour, which is ultimately a much richer and sustainable experience. Both projects require including many families and multiple communities in tourism benefit sharing, as both areas are more or less large open access, a forest in Nam Et-Phou Louey and a river in Myanmar. For both areas, it’s quite difficult to know if there is illegal hunting or fishing and who exactly is doing it because the government agencies responsible for the areas have too few boots on the ground. So, both areas are extremely complex and equally important. Given the isolation of Nam Nern, travellers needed to be somewhat determined to get up there, as Burma Dolphins is ex-Mandalay, have you found it easier to generate interest among travellers? Yes, getting to the [Nam Nern Night Safari]( takes some time and commitment. However, I think that the lack of a private sector partner for the Night Safari and a weak private sector in general in Hua Phan Province adds to the difficulty. Distances are much more forgiving when you have a nice lodge and good restaurant at the end of the road and better transportation and more information on the way. That can only be done by the private sector. WCS has continued managing the Night Safari on their own, which I think makes it more difficult for the project to grow and attract visitors, potentially having a lower impact as result. (At any rate, I would still like to make pitch to your readers: the most interesting way to travel to Laos is from Hanoi overland through Mai Chau and Pu Luong into Houaphan Province, stopping at the [Viengxay (Pathet) Lao Caves]( most impressive historical attraction in the country—on to Nam Et-Phou Louey National Protected Area and the Night Safari and before going to the [Plain of Jars]( or [Nong Khiaw]( and finally [Luang Prabang]( [Mandalay]( is definitely a much easier place to attract visitors, with hundreds of thousands of people passing through. But, as in the case of the Night Safari in Laos, you need to have a business or storefront that can turn those passer-bys into visitors to your site. The previous year before starting the Living Irrawaddy Dolphin Project, the Ayeyawaddy Dolphin Protected Area received only about 200 people. We’ve been able to add significantly to that number in a short time. Mandalay isn’t the easiest place to market a tour though, since it doesn’t have a city centre and hotels, guesthouses and restaurants are scattered around the town. So our marketing channels are mainly online, word-of-mouth and tour companies. For people travelling to Burma who are interested in participating in similar programmes elsewhere in the country (not necessarily with dolphins!), what organisations would be on your recommendation shortlist? There are many excellent projects in Myanmar. A couple that I recommend visiting are the [star turtle project]( near Bagan, I believe managed by Beyond Boundaries, and the ITC project in Kayah State. Thank you Paul for taking the time to answer our questions! For more information on the project please see their website: [Living Irrawaddy Dolphin Project]( Travelfish partners [Browse the internet safely]( When we travel we always use TunnelBear VPN to secure our browsing. This reduces the risk from dodgy WiFi networks and idiotic ISPs who inject ads into our browsers. Use the internet safely with TunnelBear. TunnelBear offer a free 7-day trial or use it selectively and enjoy [500meg of data per month for free](. Ten things worth reading How To Pack A Suitcase With Marie Kondo Suffice to say [we don’t pack this way](. A motorcycle mama in Bangkok The subtitles are hard to read, but worth persevering with. An interesting and amusing insight into [a day in the life of a motorcycle mama in Bangkok](. A history of Singapore in ten dishes We clearly need to head back to Singapore for [some remedial Singapore history classes]( as we have not eaten all of these dishes ... yet. Why do baths incubate ideas? [Plan your next trip in the tub](. 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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! If you're a Gmail user and would prefer your Travelfish newsletter in your Primary in-box rather than Promotions, just drag this email from the Promotions tab to the Primary tab, and click "yes" when it asks if you want to do that for all of our emails. Better still, [read this newsletter online.]( [Disclosure]( | [Privacy]( | [Unsubscribe]( We want travellers to love Southeast Asia as much as we do. 9 robinson close, hornsby heights, nsw 2077, AUSTRALIA [Unsubscribe]( | [Change Subscriber Options](