The Laos-China Railway opened on the 2nd of December 2021, making it the first railway in Laos (not counting the border shuttle at Thanaleng from Nong Khai in Thailand). The train from Vientiane to Boten takes just 3.5 hours, and its main stops include Vang Vieng, Luang Prabang, and Muang Xai. Laos was still closed […]
Notes on Sihanoukville – After the gold rush
Sihanoukville is a beach/port city on the coast of Cambodia. From an international tourism perspective, it was known as a backpacker haven and for retired expats drinking in girlie bars. In the space of about five years, Sihanoukville was transformed almost entirely into a Chinese casino resort destination. I was last in Sihanoukville in January […]
Where I’m At: June 2022 – Vientiane
Where I’m At is the monthly travel and site update for Nomadic Notes, and random ramblings from myself that don’t fit into a blog post. I also post weekly updates at the weekly travel newsletter, which includes the best travel reads from around the web. Where I’ve been An overview of where I’ve been over […]
Notes on Phnom Penh – Revisiting after the reopening
Cambodia was one of the earliest countries to reopen without quarantine in Southeast Asia, and I just so happened to need to do a visa run from Thailand. That was enough reason to pay an overdue revisit to Phnom Penh. This trip to Phnom Penh was in December 2020, and I saw in the new […]
Where I’m At: May 2022 – Saigon
Where I’m At is my monthly travel and site update, and other random ramblings from the editor (me). More regular updates can be found at the weekly travel newsletter, which includes interesting travel reads from around the web. Where I’ve been This is an overview of where I’ve been over the last month. Detailed blog […]
Notes on Ko Samet – The closest beach-break island from Bangkok
Ko Samet is an island on the Eastern Gulf Coast of Thailand, approximately 220 kilometres southeast of Bangkok. It’s technically not the closest island to Bangkok, but it’s the closest “beachy” island to Bangkok (and much nicer than the closest beach to Bangkok). It’s this proximity that has made Ko Samet synonymous with boatloads of […]
Where I’m At: April 2022 – Melbourne
Where I’m At is my monthly travel and site update, and other random ramblings from the editor (me). More regular updates can be found at the weekly travel newsletter, which includes interesting travel reads from around the web. Where I’ve been This is an overview of where I’ve been over the last month. Detailed blog […]
The desolation of Khao San Road
Khao San Road is the famous backpacker street of Bangkok. This road and surrounding streets is the budget travel hub of Southeast Asia. In normal times it is a spectacle like no other place in the world. When the Covid-19 virus reduced travel to a trickle in March 2020, Thailand closed its borders to international […]
Notes on Bangkok – Thailand’s cautious reopening
On November 1 2021 Thailand reopened international travel with the Test and Go scheme. This system offered entry for select international arrivals with one day quarantine before being allowed to travel freely in the country. I waited a month for the system to be running before returning, and these are my notes from one month […]
Notes on Dubai – Expo 2020, South Asia food paradise, Dubai Marina, Palm Jumeirah and more
Dubai is a place I’ve wanted to spend more time in to have a proper look around, so I got that chance in November 2021. I have been to Dubai twice before on brief stopovers. Both of those visits were in the summer when the city is practically uninhabitable (45c days), and a one day […]
