Istanbul trip report
The airport that could open up this surfers paradise, Cairo’s revival, airline route maps, and more travel reads.
TRANG - My Thailand island-hopping adventure has come to an end and I’m back on the mainland. I don’t have any plans beyond the next two weeks, as I am waiting to see what my options are. The Philippines reopened this week, and Malaysia and Vietnam are considering opening soon as well.
I will have some guides about the islands of Thailand coming out, and if you can travel soon, then now is a good time to go as there are still so few visitors.
Latest posts at Nomadic Notes
Notes and observations during my visit to Istanbul, including neighbourhoods, cats and dogs, and baklava. Also, if you’re thinking of visiting Türkiye (as it is now known), the depreciating Lira has made it a good time to visit.
Assorted travel reads
• Southeast Asia Airport Review 2022
This is a report I put together about airports that are planned and under construction in Southeast Asia. The new airport of 2022 that I am most looking forward to is Mentawai. This island chain is popular with surfers, but I have not read anything about the islands themselves. I will include this in a planned Sumatra trip when travel to Indonesia resumes.
• Ireland's loneliest wilderness, Wild Nephin National Park
• The Tynan Gear Post for 2022 is out. This annual gear post was first published in 2008, and it is included in the digital nomad history timeline.
• How Cairo’s revival blends Ancient Egypt with modern tastes
“Egypt’s capital is tapping into its cultural heritage as part of the city’s biggest makeover in decades.”
• Why airline route maps look the way they do
One of the main reasons I read inflight magazines is to check out the route map.
• Speaking of maps of interest, what3words divides the world into 3-metre squares and gives each square a unique combination of three words.
For example, here is where I went for breakfast in Trang:
what3words.com/sliders.diary.tumble, and here is the map on Google.
I couldn’t find this famous place on Google Maps because there are different transliterations and it is not listed in English on Google (my hotel helped find it). Here is what it looked like:
• Retired Boeing 747 bought for $1.30 begins new life as party plane
• The long, slow death of the hotel minibar
• Tallinn’s got talent: Why Estonia’s capital is the best city in the world for digital nomads
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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
Glad I'm not the only one who loves looking at airline route maps...