Travel Newsletter - 7 August, 2020
Notes on Thanh Hoa, the China-Laos railway, free funerals for frequent flyers, Nakhchivan, Baltistan, future travel dreams, and the unofficial travel chocolate.
A weekly newsletter of great travel reads and news by James Clark from Nomadic Notes.
Greetings from Saigon, where we are back to wearing masks again after the latest outbreak in Danang. There have only been a few cases recorded here, but we are erring on the side of extreme caution again. While most people started wearing masks, it became compulsory again this week. I’m cool with that.
Earlier this year there was a story of a free “rice ATM”. Now there is a free mask dispenser. I’ve also seen some restaurants giving out lunch packs for free for those in need.
I was due to visit Danang again this month, but that is now on hold until further notice. I have been researching developments of Greater Ho Chi Minh City, so I may do some trips related to that while I am limiting my travels.
Here is this week’s travel reads and other cool things I found online.
Latest posts at Nomadic Notes
Notes on Thanh Hoa – A provincial capital in the North Central Region of Vietnam
Thanh Hoa is the capital of Thanh Hoa Province, about 150 km directly south of Hanoi. This is a look at life in a provincial city that is mostly bypassed by visitors.
Where I’m At: August, 2020 – Saigon edition
Where I’ve Been
I’m in Vietnam where domestic travel has still been possible. I’m not entertaining or encouraging any thought of international travel, and as mentioned later this post it looks like there’s going to be travel restrictions in Vietnam again.
For real time updates, follow me on Instagram at @nomadicnotes.
Tam Coc
Starting the month in Thanh Hoa, I then got the train to Ninh Binh to visit the Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex. I’ve been wanting to visit Ninh Binh for years, so I have been using this time in the Vietnam travel bubble to visit new places. It’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve visited here so far, and I will have a full report for that.
Ninh Binh
When most people say they are going to Ninh Binh, they mean Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex. It’s in Ninh Binh Province so it’s technically correct, but I wanted to see what Ninh Binh (the capital city of Ninh Binh) was like as well.
The city of Ninh Binh doesn’t have much going for it from a tourism perspective. That though just made me want to go more. Never one to pass up a visit to an unassuming provincial city, I spent a day wandering around here. I actually had a railway-related story I was planning, but that fell though. I will post about that in my Ninh Binh trip report.
While I was in Ninh Binh my Samsung Galaxy S8 stopped charging. The phone had been showing its age for a while and I had been thinking about replacing it. Having my phone die while on the road expedited my new phone hunt. With a train trip scheduled the next day, I found myself in a national chain of mobile sellers on a Friday night, without having done any research on what phone to get.
I recalled an article by my friend Mark at Rusty Compass about how he “downgraded” from an iPhone to an OPPO. I was in a similar mind where I was not going to buy a top-range Samsung (or any other brand) again. I was looking at other brands, but I ended up sticking with Samsung as I didn’t want to figure out a new operating system while travelling. I got a Galaxy A21s for 5,120,000 VND (about $221 USD). I didn’t have a working phone with me so I couldn’t calculate what the price was in AUD. I knew that 5 million Dong is about 200 US dollars, but the phone seemed so cheap that I thought I might have miscalculated. By comparison the Galaxy S8 was about $750USD in 2017.
So far I have no complaints with the phone, and I’m amazed that I can get to 10pm and still have 70% battery life without having to recharge during the day.
Hanoi
It’s about two hours by train from Ninh Binh to Hanoi, so rather than backtrack to Thanh Hoa I went to Hanoi. It probably wasn’t the best time of year to go (their summer is hot and humid), but I wouldn’t pass up a chance to visit whenever there’s an opportunity.
I did a construction report for the Hanoi Metro, which took me outside of my usual old city haunts and into the suburbs. The metro will change how people travel and see Hanoi, and I look forward to seeing it in operation. Stay tuned for my Hanoi trip report.
Saigon
If all had gone to plan I would have been sending this from Phan Rang, where I was going to do some more travel along the South Central Coast of Vietnam. “Travel” and “gone to plan” are not words that are associated with 2020, so here I am in Saigon.
Vietnam went 99 days without recording any local transmissions of the virus, then on the 100th day a new case was recorded in Da Nang. After the second case was reported the city stopped domestic flights, masks became mandatory again, and large gatherings were banned. With more cases emerging, streets were locked down where positive cases were reported.
This second wave was such a shock to the system that it made the news in the NY Times. There are now cases in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh that can be traced back to the Da Nang case. Then sadly Vietnam recorded its first Covid-related death, with two deaths at the end of the month.
As another precaution, anyone who had been in Da Nang during the month has to get tested. Bars are now closed in Saigon, and I suspect another month of travel restrictions and closed businesses is on the horizon.
I had two trips planned which are now cancelled. I didn’t want to run the risk of being on the road during a sudden lockdown. At this point it’s better that I stay in one place rather than risk having to go into a self-quarantine.
I had a trip to Da Nang planned for next month, which is not in the current time frame of the current travel ban, but I suspect that the flight is going to be cancelled. Oh well, I had a good taste of freedom for the last three months.
During this period of no local cases. everyone was watching the progress of Patient 91, who had been described as the most famous case in Asia. Fortunately he has recovered enough to be repatriated to the UK.
Another story I was following was the case of the Vietnamese workers in Equatorial Guinea. This flight required delicate planning as half of the passengers had the virus. I remarked last month about all the unusual flights that were repatriating citizens back to their home country. I never would have guessed that there were so many Vietnamese in Central Africa. Travel around the world enough and you become familiar with Filipinos working everywhere. They are more visible though as they have English fluency as an advantage. Thus I found Filipinos working in cafes in Sharjah and Dubai. Those frontline workers are just the tip of the iceberg compared to the workers that you don’t see.
There is also another repatriation flight planned for Uzbekistan, and more flights for other countries are planned.
I’ve been fortunate to be based in a safe location that is also somewhere I like living, though like most of us I have been wondering when things will kind of get back to normal.
My home city of Melbourne is experiencing an infection surge, so there is no prospect of returning there in 2020. For all the talk of travel bubbles, normal travel isn’t going to happen any time soon.
COVID-19 and travel (or lack thereof)
I took the safest, most contactless vacation I could think of. And it was incredible
Maybe if you travel first class you will get dancing pallbearers.
Longer, slower, farther: savoring the prospects of future travels
“In the travel lull induced by the pandemic, many people are planning ambitious, once-in-a-lifetime trips. Optimists are targeting 2021. For others, their next big trip will be in 2022.”
As a curator of travel news and reads, my mission is to present interesting travel articles that inspire future travel. I’m not advocating inessential international travel, but it’s good to keep the dream alive.
Singapore to make incoming travellers wear electronic tags to enforce quarantine
What it’s like to go on holiday in Dubai during a pandemic
Travel news
Virgin Galactic unveils supersonic jet that will fly from London to New York in 90 minutes
EVA Air introduces special flight to nowhere on a Hello Kitty plane
Live abroad
A tiny remote island in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides is looking for new residents
And if you don’t want neighbours in Scotland, how about a whole island?
Struggling tourist destinations pitch themselves to new digital nomads as remote work locales
Assorted travel reads
Nakhchivan: The world’s most sustainable ‘nation’?
“Chances are you’ve never heard of Nakhchivan. Jammed between Armenia, Iran and Turkey on the Transcaucasian plateau, this autonomous republic of Azerbaijan is one of the most isolated outposts of the former Soviet Union and a place few travellers ever visit.”
China-Laos railway – a guide to the Boten-Vientiane railway in Laos
The port of Beirut: vital, historic centre of a complex city
Dead and Breakfast: the scariest vacation settings in horror movie history
“If you’re feeling nostalgic for the quintessential summer vacation, pick up one of these books.”
How Toblerone chocolate became connected with air travel
9 sites on the River Thames that tell the story of Charles Dickens
(Hat tip to Harry for sharing this one).
30 maps so terrible they’re good
I don’t about this title, I though they were so good they were great. Here’s one for my Kiwi friends who often find that New Zealand has been left off the map.
After stumbling upon this image I’m now adding Baltistan to my future travel list.
I saw some enviable bicycle parks in Kyoto last year, but the Netherlands is the gold standard for cycling infrastructure.
And speaking of cycling, I leave you with this. Warning: ⚠️ Cute Alert ⚠️
From Dongguan to Lhasa: Father and daughter go on 71-day bicycle road trip
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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.
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- James Clark