Chiang Mai – the provincial powerhouse of Southeast Asia
A weekly newsletter of great travel reads and news by James Clark from Nomadic Notes.
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Chiang Mai – the provincial powerhouse of Southeast Asia
A visit Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand - digital nomad hub, also popular with Chinese tourists and retirees.
Travel Reads
Holidays in Abkhazia
“Sun, sea & Soviet architecture in the unrecognised Republic of Abkhazia.”
Schengen: A tiny village that changed European travel
“The now-renowned Schengen Agreement was signed in a tiny village in Luxembourg’s south-east, a location that was drenched in symbolism.”
A Journey into Thailand's Separatist South Part I: A Quest for Booze in the Land of Sharia Law
“I’m on my way to Thailand, to the provinces of the country’s deep south, where an ethno-nationalist separatist struggle, with a slight air of jihad, has been underway for years.”
Inside the Life-and-Death Hunts of a Mysterious Tribe of Hunter-Gatherers
“Unlike the hostile reception an American missionary received from the remote Sentinelese people last year, Doug Bock Clark was brought along on spiritual whale hunts for a view inside a fading culture.”
Travel Listicles
Best Trips 2019
“The world’s most exciting destinations for the year ahead.”
52 Places to Go in 2019 - The New York Times
“A starter kit for escaping into the world.”
Always interesting to see what the NY Times picks for the top places. This year they have picked Da Nang, which they describe as the “Miami of Vietnam”. While that is a bit of a stretch (a lot of a stretch, really), I think the point they were trying to make is that there is a skyline developing on the coast that might resemble something like the Gold Coast in Australia in the future.
How We Pick the 52 Places
“Our annual list combines destinations that are aspirational, newly intriguing and perhaps threatened. Here’s how it is put together.”
Meet the 52 Places Traveler for 2019
“I’m ready to embrace all the uncertainty that comes with an opportunity like this and see where it takes me.”
In addition to the 52 places, the NY Times also picks a writer to visit every place over the next year.
Passports
Henley Index: Japan tops 2019 list of world's most powerful passports
“The country with the world’s most powerful passport in 2019 is … Japan. Again. Find out how many countries someone with that passport can enter.”
Not only does the new year bring the annual listicles, the passport lists are also updated. The Henley website has a good interactive passport feature to see how your passport ranks: www.henleypassportindex.com/passport.
On the streets of Saigon.