Travel Newsletter - 4 September, 2020
Nomadic Notes monthly update, the proposed Phuket light rail, hover cars and futuristic cities in Africa, manhole covers in Japan, hotel hacks.
Greetings from Ho Chi Minh City. This week I posted my monthly update on Nomadic Notes, and as always there are lots of interesting travel links to get through. I’m continuing to grow the audience here, so feel free to forward this to other travel lovers.
Where I’m At: September, 2020 – Saigon edition
Where I’m At: September, 2020 – Saigon edition – my monthly summary of where I’ve been and site news.
Where I’ve been (or not)
The month began in Saigon and it was a month of no travel, again. This was the second month this year I didn’t travel, and like in April I just tried to make the most of it by working.
After the new Covid-19 outbreak in Danang I lost the desire to travel domestically. Mainly because I didn’t want to end up stranded in a place with a sudden outbreak. Part of Vietnam’s success has been due to fast lockdowns of streets where cases have been reported. Lockdown here involves guarded barriers at the end of the outbreak street. I’m all for this, and if it happens on my street then so be it. For now though I would rather not voluntarily put myself in a lockdown situation.
I’m still impressed with how Vietnam has handled this situation. On Facebook I follow @updatedcovidinfo, which is updated daily with new cases and their travel history.
Everyone started wearing masks before it became mandatory again, and those who don’t get fined.
I’ve been following the plight of other countries and wondering if any travel channels will form. Thailand has now become the leading country in Southeast Asia in containing the virus, with no local outbreaks for months.
Meanwhile New Zealand went past Vietnam’s previous 99 day record with no outbreaks, before getting it again after 102 days. In both countries the cause of the new outbreaks remain a mystery, so maybe it’s not going to be possible to make a land truly free of Covid-19.
And of course I’ve been following the plight of my official home city of Melbourne, which has been in a strict lockdown for the last month. Stay strong my Melbourne friends!
Australia is also not letting Australians out of Australia, so I’m glad I’m not stranded there.
At least this month we could still go out, unlike our friends in Danang. I visited the sites of the new metro and posted a metro construction report.
I’ve also been making a point of visiting new restaurants and cafes to add some variety while I am spending more time here.
While being grounded this month I realised that I’m usually travelling in the month of August. This is now the middle of the rainy season in Southern Vietnam, and I try to align my travels for optimal weather by going somewhere drier.
I don’t mind the rainy season, especially as someone who doesn’t have to commute. A typical day is for clear sunny skies in the morning with some rain in the afternoon. Those ordinary rainy season days are perfect.
Of course there are the those extraordinary rainy season days which have you cursing for being here. One night I went out for dinner thinking it will be ok. I brought my umbrella just in case as I wanted to go for my evening walk. It started raining heavily so I took refuge in a coconut ice cream shop (there are worse places).
After half an hour of solid rain I realised that parts of the city were going to flood. I started walking home and already there were streets that had turned into streams.
By the time I got to my alley it was already up to my calves and the ground floor of my house was flooded. I live upstairs at least, but my landlord’s family had a muddy mess to clean up the next day. It was the heaviest downpour since 1984.
By the end of August it appeared that Vietnam had contained the outbreak from spreading further from Danang, so I will plan some domestic travels again. There are worse places to be stuck.
COVID-19 and travel (or lack thereof)
Will you need an 'immunity passport’ to travel?
“Some of the earliest countries to be impacted by the virus have been quick to adopt health certificates – but can immunity passports really help us travel safely again?”
Thai Airways launches cabin-like cafe selling flight meals
You’re entitled to your opinion about mask-wearing, but not at 30,000 feet
Inside the lavish, secret vacations celebrities are taking during COVID-19
“Luxury travel agents told us just how opulent – and expensive – their ultra high-profile clients' trips have been during the pandemic.”
Travel news
Japan’s ‘flying car’ gets off ground, with a person aboard
“Japan’s SkyDrive Inc., among the myriads of “flying car” projects around the world, has carried out a successful though modest test flight with one person aboard.”
When I visited Shanghai Expo 2010 I wondered where are the jetpacks and hovercars that we were promised in the future? We are now a little bit closer to personal hovercars.
Music mogul Akon going ahead with futuristic 'Akon City' in Senegal
“US-Senegalese star says smart city will be built in mould of fictional nation Wakanda.”
And what better place to fly your new hovercar than this proposed Wakanda-inspired city in Senegal.
New passport design that highlights 'Taiwan' released
“Taiwan's government has released a new design for the country's passport highlighting the English word for "Taiwan" in the hope of drawing a clearer distinction between Taiwan and China.”
I liked some of the other design entries, from bubble tea to braised pork.
Airbnb and the National Park Foundation want you to explore lesser-traveled parks in new partnership
To rebuild or restore Notre Dame
“France gets the spire it seems to want.”
UAD completes the world's longest glass-bottomed bridge in lianzhou, china
Assorted travel reads
The Phuket Light Rail is a proposed light rail transit system for the island of Phuket in Thailand, connecting the airport to Phuket Town and Chalong.
I have been to North Korea almost 30 times & counting…why do I keep going back?
The Templar town with a hidden underground 'twin'
“Under the hill town of Osimo in Italy, lies a hidden network of tunnels and chambers that connect the city's palaces in a mysterious maze.”
Philippine surfing paradise Siargao has no desire to be another ‘cesspool’ like Boracay
Welcome to the world’s oldest hotel
“Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan in Japan is the oldest hotel in the world.”
Flight attendant shares what hotel hacks she knows, goes viral on TikTok
Why doesn’t the US use the metric system?
The rise and fall of Cambodia’s Pub Street, the most notorious party strip in the country
Japan’s quest to create beautiful places to pee
One of the things I like about Japan is making ordinary things beautiful. Japanese manhole covers are a great example.
Vintage travel
Amazing then-and-now photos show how London has changed from between the 1920s and 2010s
“Between 1939 and 1941, the Works Progress Administration collaborated with the New York City Tax Department to collect photographs of every building in the five boroughs of New York City. In 2018, the NYC Municipal Archives completed the digitization and tagging of these photos. This website places them on a map.”
Wuppertal Schwebebahn 1902 & 2015 side by side video
In the August 21 newsletter I posted a vintage video of the Wuppertal Schwebebahn. Now someone has made a side-by-side video of it.
Maps
The highest point in each state
In Scotland there is a challenge known as Munro Bagging, where you climb all the mountains in Scotland over 3000 feet. In Indonesia you can go Gunning Bagging (gunnung being mountain in Indonesian). It never occurred to me that you could climb the highest points in every state in the US.
A map of the sounds from forests and woodlands around the world
“A site called Sounds of the Forest is collecting sounds from forests and woodland areas around the world and presenting them on a world map.”
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