Travelfish #361: Riding northern Vietnam + Where are the travellers?

Everywhere is on the way to somewhere Hi everyone, So it is fair to so that taking a scooter trip towards the end of wet season is always a bit of a gamble. It is also fair to say there is only so much rain a poncho will protect you from. If you’d like to follow my travails, please take a look at my [Twitter]( or [Instagram]( accounts where I’m putting out pics daily. Nothing new on the site this week, primarily due to rain tiring me out. Next week maybe! [More hardship. Photo: Stuart McDonald] More hardship. Photo: Stuart McDonald In the meantime, if you’re heading to Thailand for the first time, you may enjoy another newsletter we have called “Welcome to Thailand”. It starts with a series of daily emails, each covering an introductory aspect of Thailand. Then it switches to a weekly (Tuesday) instalment, each recommending a destination or attraction in Thailand that you may not have heard of. The newsletter is very much aimed at people new to Thailand, so if that is you, you can sign up here. All subscribers also get a complimentary PDF itinerary for Southern Thailand. [Sign up here](. Good travels, Stuart, Sam and the Travelfish crew Support Travelfish! If you'd like to chip in (if you haven’t already) for using the site, we'd love you to sign up for a year-long subscription for just A$35. [See more here](. Destination 25 years makes a difference or does it? Your newsletter this week is being dispatched from Son La in northwest Vietnam. I was last here in late 1994 when a Canadian friend and I hitched what it now known as the Dien Bien Loop, primarily on concrete trucks. Back then, the roads were ... bad, real bad. Today I rode from Mai Chau to Son La (a little under 200km) in about four and a half hours. Back then it took us most of a day just to get to Moc Chau, roughly the half way point. The Son La I arrived in was completely unrecognisable. Sure, my memories from that far ago are somewhat foggy, but I remember the dirt roads and a weir in the centre of town we had to drive over to reach the accommodation. I spent an hour riding around town today trying to find it, could I? No. I’m staying in a very smart and new hotel which for $20 a night gives me everything I want. I have my diary with me from 1994 and for Son La it reads: “If you continue a bit further up the road and then take a left you’ll find a small greenish building with about four or five rooms which take three people, have shower and toilet, though the people speak no English and insist it is not a hotel after a few teas and cigarettes, will let you stay for $2 a night per person.” Yes, my diaries from back then were well fascinating. The thing is, back then there were a bunch of foreigners in town. It was a bit later in the year, so not as wet it is now, but with all my riding around town, I saw not one obviously foreign tourist. Sure there are plenty of domestic tourists here, but where is everyone else? The roads are way better, the creature comforts all come standard, the buses, well some of them at least, are considerably more comfortable than what was trundling the routes back in the day, but nobody is here. To be fair, Son La isn’t exactly awash in top tier attractions (though the colonial prison is excellent), but it is one of those “the journey is the experience” kind of places. Hanoi was of course heaving with foreign tourists, but I wonder where everyone goes. I expected to see a bunch of other foreigners riding the route as I am, but I have seen not one on the road. Not one. All things being equal, you’d expect better services, and way way way better infrastructure to boost tourism, but according to the hotel receptionist, people don’t stop in Son La anymore because the roads are so much better they can do Hanoi to Dien Bien Phu in a day, so tend just to slow down here for lunch and a run through the prison. That’s not how to do the loop. Slow down. Smell the coffee. Drive or ride yourself (though if riding, [be sure to read our piece on the travel insurance implications]( of riding in Vietnam without a local license). Break the trip at Mai Chau, Pu Luong and Son La. I’ll let you know where else to next week. Oh, and if doing the trip in early September, pack a poncho. Take my word for it. Good travels Stuart Premium members only: Book a round the world with [roundtheworldflights.com]( (must travel from the UK via Asia, Australia, New Zealand AND the Americas) and get £30pp off your trip. Offer valid for departures to December 2019. Log in to the Member Centre on Travelfish now for your coupon code and [start designing your own round the world trip »]( Ten things worth reading Uncle Ho's minders: The protectors of Vietnam's embalmed leader “Protecting him is the ultimate patriotic service for men in stiff white uniforms at Ho's towering tomb in Hanoi, a monolithic shrine to a man who still pervades public life [despite his fading relevance among the youth]( Something is stinking in Vietnam’s heritage sites “The town [Hoi An]does not have adequate solid and liquid waste management systems for its population of just over 150,000, let alone for the 5 million tourists who visited in 2017. Households, markets, restaurants and hotels produced approximately 75 tonnes of solid waste per day in 2018, according to the Global Environment Facility.” Into the wild: take a slow boat to see Borneo's orangutans “[Or maybe they’re just monkeying around]( Story by me who had to insert just one Dad joke. 'An earthquake': racism, rage and rising calls for freedom in Papua “Describing the situation as a “crisis of history”, Giay urged parishioners in church to educate their children so they could “become like Moses”, [leading their people out of slavery]( Into Myanmar’s special region 2 “However, many Wa have been actively striving to project new imaginaries of what it means to be “Wa” amidst [a set of extreme changes in their society]( where many features of Chinese modernity have been assimilated locally, if not becoming central to modern “Wa-ness”. ” Old maps [Our new favourite site](. Explore Cambodia’s ancient stone city [A handy wrap piece](. Indonesia is moving its capital to … where, exactly? “[Like rats leaving a sinking city]( the politicians and civil servants will swarm toward the dream of a new, problem-free capital, while shuttling back to Jakarta for their business dealings. ” Rising sea levels leave Bangkok seeking ways to keep water at bay “In one dystopian passage describing a waterlogged future Bangkok, Mr Sudbanthad describes “the unnerving tilt of distant towers, perceptibly angled toward and away from each other [like wild shoots of bamboo]( Indonesian court cancels dam project in last stronghold of tigers, rhinos “The project was [widely opposed by residents]( on these grounds, while environmentalists have criticized the lack of nature protection and conservation. They note that the required environmental impact assessment carried out by the developer failed to evaluate natural risks, such as earthquakes and flash floods.” Something to read The rouser People This is [our go-to recommended read]( for those heading to Burma (Myanmar). Travel shot [Village under the clouds. Photo: Stuart McDonald] Village under the clouds. Photo: Stuart McDonald Till next time [Sam and Stuart.] That’s it from us for now. As usual, enjoy the site’s new additions and drop us a line if there’s something in particular you’d like us to cover in Southeast Asia. Travel light! Stuart, Sam & the Travelfish team [( You're receiving the Travelfish newsletter because you signed up at Travelfish.org. Not interested anymore? [Unsubscribe Instantly](. Make sure you're getting our emails! 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