Travel Newsletter - 16 October, 2020
Future Phnom Penh - Ho Chi Minh City railway, cycling across the inland sea of Japan, Singapore's last village, and more.
Greetings from soggy Saigon, where the last full month of rainy season is doing its thing. I’m scheduled to travel to central Vietnam next week where it has been flooding, and more rain is forecast.
Here is this week’s travel reads and news.
COVID-19 and travel (or lack thereof)
When will it be safe to travel again?
Mass air travel at least two years away, Singapore says
“The global aviation industry will take at least two years to recover from the coronavirus pandemic and mass travel to return, Singapore’s Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said, stressing the importance of developing a widely available and effective vaccine to help countries open their borders.”
Cabin fever: tickets for meal onboard Singapore parked plane sell out
[Pandemic-themed guide books doing the rounds on Facebook (source unknown).]
Travel news
KLM and Lufthansa to BOTH begin Zanzibar; fast-growing from Europe
I’m in the same line of thinking as the Singapore article above, where it’s going to take years for a recovery. That doesn’t stop me from thinking about future travel though, and I am intrigued by this news of direct flights to Zanzibar from Europe.
Remains of what may be a temple where Norse gods were worshiped have been found in Norway
World's longest pedestrian suspension bridge opening in Portugal
Tourist returns stolen artifacts to Pompeii after suffering 'curse' for 15 years
Where is the Iron Maiden Boeing 747 now?
Assorted travel reads
Ho Chi Minh City – Phnom Penh Railway
The Ho Chi Minh City - Phnom Penh Railway is a proposed railway that would connect the capital of Cambodia with the largest city in Vietnam.
Exploring the Shimanami Kaido (Day 1)
A friend of mine in Japan posted this blog about riding across the Shimanami Kaido road that connects Honshu island (the main island of Japan) to Shikoku island, via islands across the Seto Inland Sea.
Providencia: An island with a ‘sea of seven colours’
“Remote, unspoilt and little-visited, the vividly coloured patchwork surrounding the tiny Colombian island is produced by the third-longest barrier reef system on Earth.”
Singapore's last village proves nostalgic tourism hit in pandemic
What we’d bid on at the historic Waldorf Astoria Hotel auction
NSW hidden gem: Atlantium is the only micro-nation in Australia
Engineer George Pullman, inventor of sleeping and eating on trains
“Things we take for granted on modern trains, such as sleeping berths, the dining car, and lounge car were all inventions of George Pullman.”
Postcard-perfect scenes, constructed from memory and scraps of paper
“The photographer Vik Muniz creates elaborate views of the world’s most famous tourist spots, building the details with thousands of pieces cut from postcards he collects.”
The American man who became a porter on Everest
Where to find the best street art in Sardinia (including Orgosolo Murals)
I saw giraffes in the wild in South Africa, but I didn’t know this was how they ate grass.
@nomadicnotes at Instagram
Follow me at @nomadicnotes for real-time updates.
The Travel Newsletter by Nomadic Notes is a weekly newsletter of the best travel reads and interesting travel news, and random ramblings by the editor.
If you're enjoying the newsletter, please forward it to friends who like reading about travel. The more who know about it, the easier it becomes for me to discover great travel reads.
If someone sent this to you, sign up for future emails at nomadicnotes.substack.com.
- James Clark