Travel Newsletter: 29 September 2023
Eagle huntresses of Kazakhstan, souvenirs, secret travel Google Docs, Johnny Cash has been everywhere, Airlines are just banks now, and more travel reads
Welcome to the Nomadic Notes Travel Newsletter, where I curate the best travel reads of the week.
I returned to Vietnam last week, but I was braced to be turned away after my previous visa problem. The visa I was issued didn’t include my middle name, and the ticket staff in Chiang Mai spent some time between themselves deliberating if my visa was valid. They let me on the plane, and the immigration dude at Tan Son Nhat International Airport barely even looked at me. Good to be back!
Here are this week’s travel reads.
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Travel reads
• In search of the eagle huntresses
“In ancient times, women hunted alongside men in the nomadic Kazakh community.”
• How souvenirs became irresistible to travelers
• The Snob's Guide to Travel Google Docs
“Virtual treasure maps. Elite e-tineraries. Password-protected pushpins. How the modern nomad aristocracy wanders the globe.”
• I hiked across the Ozarks looking for adventure—and got more than I bargained for
• Burma 1995 by
• Meeting Mumbai again after a life-changing loss
“How does a place change when the person who defined it for you is now gone?”
• Forget the Emily in Paris fantasy tour, it’s not a patch on the life I live here
• A boat ride to the confluence of the two Niles
🗺️ Maps
• Johnny Cash Has Been EVERYWHERE (Man)!
Someone has mapped the locations of the Johnny Cash version of “I’ve Been Everywhere”. I would love to see a map with the original Australian version.
• MapLab: The secret history of GPS
🛏️ Accommodation
• In Nepal, homestays offer tourists food, culture, history while empowering locals and women
• Inside the Taliban's luxury hotel
“The Intercontinental in Kabul was Afghanistan's first luxury hotel. Once the site of legendary parties, the hotel is now in the hands of the Taliban, and their fighters are supposed to work with outsiders.”
• New York is breaking free of Airbnb’s clutches. This is how the rest of the world can follow suit
• Dubai to surpass Las Vegas in number of hotel rooms
• 50 times hotels surprised their guests with their creativity (new pics)
🚆Train travel
• Ukraine looks to Shinkansen to build rails to Western allies
• Japan train pass fares to surge for foreign tourists: JR
• Riding the rails: Which country travels the most by train in Europe?
✈️ Air travel
“They make more money from mileage programs than from flying planes—and it shows.”
…
[Photo via @nomadicnotes]
James Clark – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
During the 30 day visa farce I had the same middle name fiasco twice over a 90 day stay ! The really frustrating thing is that you didn’t know if the visa was acceptable until arriving at immigration. The third visa simply didn’t arrive in my inbox until 11.56pm of the day of my flight (six days after applying) ! Imagine the farce of the immigration officer demanding to see my visa that HE could see on HIS screen but hadn’t arrived in MY inbox (until 5 hours later !) . Apparently the rule was that I HAD to show a printed copy. So I had three EXTRA return flights…..And I’m always polite and formal, never attempt chatting and present documents relevant page open etc.
Dear reader I smiled…….
The middle name-problem is shared by many, I see. I'm always anxious when travelling internationally these days, as the middle name-situation can lead to many difficulties. I even advise friends having children not to give them middle names because of this (but no one listens, perhaps understandably). Thanks for a great read!