If Manila had a metro like Tokyo
Travel Newsletter: 30 December 2022. Travel reads: Walking in Egypt, snow globes, Tokyo vending machines, Bangkok to Singapore by train, and more
Greetings from the depths of Dead Week, as it is increasingly becoming known. I thought I could power through it, and it helped by being in a country that doesn’t have Christmas or Boxing Day as a public holiday. I came unstuck yesterday though, restlessly tab-hopping on my computer before realising that I’m better off going on a long walk. Perhaps the 29th is the worst day to try and work in this week.
[A meme doing the rounds on the interweb.]
I would normally be on a beach at this time of year, but I have beach and island time booked for the first quarter of 2023. I will spend tomorrow (31st) doing a year-in-review and year-ahead plan.
One thing I know is that this travel newsletter will continue. Thanks for being a subscriber to this newsletter, and I look forward to continuing in 2023!
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Despite the brain fog brought on by this weird week, I posted some articles about the Manila mass transit system. Manila has 4 lines that make up its urban railway system. The lines are operated by different companies, so there is no official map or website. I have compiled all of the unofficial maps and other useful resources onto a single page:
Manila Mass Transit System – LRT, MRT and PNR Commuter Rail of Metro Manila
4 lines are no way near enough to serve a metropolitan area with 28 million people. Fortunately, there are new lines under construction, and more are planned as the city tries to build a 'Tokyo-style' railway for Greater Manila.
Here is a list of every future line, and a gallery of every unofficial map that map enthusiasts have made.
Future Manila mass transit system – Every urban rail line planned for Metro Manila
I was staying in Makati in Manila, and there is a metro line planned within this city.
Travel reads
• The austere beauty of Egypt’s long-distance hiking trails
• This family gave the world the snow globe
One of the most popular kitsch souvenir items in the world is the snow globe. I’ve never been much of a souvenir collector, but I had snow globe envy when I visited the old Lonely Planet head office in Melbourne. There was a wall with a custom-built shelf full of snow globes collected by the founder.
• Mumbai Is Embracing the 100,000 Flamingos That Winter on Its Coast
• Out of order: Visiting Tokyo's most unusual vending machines
• 2023—The year that tourism in the metaverse takes off
• I have traveled throughout Afghanistan and photographed its true beauty (28 pics)
• What it's like to live on Christmas Island
🚆Train travel
• The Bangkok-to-Singapore train voyage that will make you fall in love with overland travel
• Indonesia's first panoramic train starts operating
This is for the train between Jakarta and Yogyakarta, which is already the best way to travel between the two cities.
• Pan-European sleeper train to sweep Britons to Berlin from May 2023
The Nomadic Notes Travel Newsletter is a weekly newsletter of the best travel reads and interesting travel news from around the web, and random ramblings by the editor.
- James Clark