Hanoi Rocks, and other destination headline cliches

Travel Newsletter: The Sphere of Las Vegas and other architecturally interesting buildings, The Spice Islands, cheap(er) Singapore, Goa nomads, and my long-distance train request

Hello from Hanoi. November is a great time to visit Hanoi, and the cold has been a novelty for me. The cold weather even made the news, though the following sentence will be comical for readers in the Northern latitudes:

“Residents of Hà Nội started the week facing the season's first severe cold snap, with temperatures predicted to drop to 17-19 degrees Celsius.” (That’s 62-66 F for my C-challenged friends. Severe, right?!)

I’m here to write about transport and urban development, so I will have some rail articles for Nomadic Notes. and urban development stories for

Future Southeast Asia

.

[A rare photo of me wearing two layers of clothing in this severe weather.]

Travel reads

• Sphere and Loathing in Las Vegas (archive)

“My night in front of the world’s largest LED screen” by Charlie Warzel.

I haven’t been to Vegas since 1997, and I haven’t felt the need to go back, but I would go back to look at this. I also wanted to write this article headline, so congrats to Charlie Warzel for writing an article worthy of the title. (Sphere of a Wack Planet is also an excellent title that I wish I had the chance to write first.)

This article title will now be overused by countless blogs, just as “One night in Bangkok”, “Holiday in Cambodia”, and “Good morning, Vietnam” are overused in Southeast Asia blog posts. I’m going with the cliched “Hanoi Rocks” for this newsletter title, but a) not many people will get that reference*, and b) Hanoi does indeed rock.

• World's 85 best buildings shortlisted for Dezeen Awards 2023

I wasn’t joking when I said I wanted to see the Sphere. I like visiting architectural curiosities around the world, and I bookmark places I would like to see if I am in the area. One time I was travelling around Germany on a Eurail pass and I made a detour to see the Green Citadel of Magdeburg by the Austrian artist and architect Hundertwasser.

• The wild business of desert island tourism

“Have you ever dreamed of being a castaway? There’s an industry to cater to your desire.”

• The Spice Islands by

The Lombok Diaries

“My journey across Wallacea ends in the fabled Spice Islands of North Maluku.”

• Singapore *can* be cheap

“And I'm going to tell you how”, by

Around the World in 80 Scrapes

• A two-hour walking tour with ChatGPT: ‘I’d not suggest that to my worst enemy’

🛏️ Accommodation

• The ‘world’s skinniest hotel’ measures nine feet across

I’m amazed that this isn’t in Vietnam, the land of ridiculously tall and skinny buildings.

💻 Nomad news

• Sea hubs and high-speed internet in the villages: How Goa is pushing to become a digital nomad haven

I love Goa, but they are marching down the same path as Bali by letting anything get built anywhere without any thought for urban planning.

• ‘Work to live, not live to work’: Why Americans are leaving to become digital nomads in Mexico

🚆Train travel

• New train route connects Beijing to Vientiane

This is a tour train that takes 15 days to do the round trip. I would like to see regular long-distance passenger services in the future. I could imagine seeing BEIJING on the departure board at Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal when the high-speed railway in Thailand is completed. Perhaps a weekly Transiberian-style railway for East/Southeast Asia, from Beijing to Singapore.

I will look for more details of this train and post it in the

Southeast Asia Railways

newsletter.

• The night train revolution has been hailed as an alternative to airplanes. Here’s how that’s going

• New Eurostar rival set to launch linking UK to France

…

[Hanoi via @nomadicnotes.]

James Clark – Hanoi, Vietnam.

* Hanoi Rocks were a Finnish hard rock band that formed in the 70s and gained new-found popularity in the 80s when they were cited as an influence of Guns N’ Roses. Start with this song.