Where I’m At: April, 2019 – Bangkok edition
A weekly newsletter of great travel reads and news by James Clark from Nomadic Notes.
Where I’m At: April, 2019 – Bangkok edition
Greetings from Bangkok and another edition of Where I’m At – my monthly summary of where I’ve been and other site news.
Where I’ve Been
Da Nang
[Da Nang sunset]
The month began in Da Nang where I met up with a fellow blogger. He is an avid walker, so it was good to have someone around who thinks nothing of walking for two hours over getting a taxi.
[Dave in Danang.]
I have a few projects related to Da Nang so it was a good excuse to go again. While I was there I visited as many cafes as my body could handle, and I have put together a list of the best cafes in Da Nang.
[43 Factory Coffee – Da Nang.]
Saigon
I spent most of the month in Saigon getting work done. I had considered another domestic trip, but the combination of work and a steady stream of visitors kept me in town. April and May is looking busy for me as well, so I was happy to have a relatively productive month.
I had a friend visiting from Australia for a few days who wanted to see the Cu Chi Tunnels. This is one of those popular tourist attractions that I’ve never been to, so having a visitor in town was a good excuse to go. The Cu Chi Tunnels are north of the city centre and were used by Viet Cong soldiers during the war. I’ve never felt the urge to visit, partly because I’m not keen on going in tunnels. It turns out though that most of the tour is above ground. I’ll post about visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels soon.
[Bomb shells at Cu Chi Tunnels.]
Also caught up with an old-school travel blogger friend, who is backpacking in Vietnam.
I’ve been working on more urban development stories in Ho Chi Minh City. Following on from the guide to the new urban area of District 2, I’ve created a Ho Chi Minh City Metro Concept Map – If Saigon had a subway like Shanghai.
[Ho Chi Minh City Metro Concept Map. View the full size map here.]
If you’re in Saigon check out if there are any talks happening at The Old Compass Cafe. In March I went to a talk by Elizabeth Becker, who was a journalist covering Cambodia in the 70’s. She was part of a group of journalists who covered the first and last interview with Pol Pot, just before the Khmer Rouge fell. This is covered in her book, When The War Was Over: Cambodia And The Khmer Rouge Revolution.
Bangkok
After three months in Vietnam it was time for a visa run, and that happened to coincide with the Rail Asia Expo in Bangkok. These rail conferences are mainly industry talks, so there is nothing there of use from a travellers perspective. It was useful to go to get contacts regarding future rail expansion.
The main reason I was interested in going was for the pre-event tour of the new Bang Sue Grand Station. This is going to change travel in Thailand, and in the future neighbourhoods in Bangkok will change as well. It is open for travel next year so I will be there to review it.
Travel News
Meet 'Vishnu Da Gama', the Man Who Circumnavigated the Earth on Foot in 3 Years!
“Interestingly, when Vishnudas Chapke had initially conceived his trip, the plan never included a trail that could take him around the world.”
New 36km Coast-to-Coast Trail stretches from Jurong Lake Gardens to Coney Island Park
“On March 30, 2019, NParks launched a new Coast-to-Coast (C2C) Trail spanning 36km across Singapore.”
I have covered the north-south Green Corridor in Singapore, and now there is an east-west version.
Sweden Wants to Revive Europe’s Overnight Trains
The Swedish government sees this low-cost, environmentally friendly travel option as key to “becoming the world’s fossil-free welfare country.”
Denmark To Build Western Europe's Tallest Building
“The town of Brande is headquarters of clothing brand Bestseller, which wants to construct the spire in its tiny hometown.”
This man was the only passenger on a Boeing 737 plane to Italy
“Skirmantas Strimaitis was shocked to discover he was the only passenger on a flight from the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, to the northern Italian city of Bergamo.”
Photography
[Photos] Digging Into Hanoi's Emerging Street Art Scene
“Street art in the Vietnamese capital remains a nascent scene, yet it is growing swiftly, with both Vietnamese and foreign artists in the mix.”
Photographing the New York City Subway Cars That Retired as Artificial Reefs
“How Stephen Mallon captured this unusual voyage to the bottom of the ocean.”
Beach break at Koh Kradan, Thailand.