Couchfish: Bali to Leeds Day 28: Kazarman to Osh Some thoughts on homestays & guesthouses, mountains, cold wind, samsa, and sleeping bags. www.travelfish.org/couchfish/ne...

Bali to Leeds Day 28: Kazarman to Osh

Some thoughts on homestays & guesthouses, mountains, cold wind, samsa, and sleeping bags.

travelfish.org

On the way back to Bali and there isn’t a single jogger on the flight. Weird.

The only place to eat in Singapore I’ll queue up for. So good.

My people. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07...

Duo sails toilet to Kangaroo Island on homemade barge

When two mates "sailed" a toilet barge across Backstairs Passage to Kangaroo Island, there was more to it than just having a laugh.

abc.net.au

Couchfish: Bali to Leeds Day 27: Song Kul to Kazarman “....ridges tumble from the east & west, tapering to a plain that melts into an ambiguous fade of ochres and dust ... brought back into focus by another soaring snow-capped range marking Tajikistan beyond.” www.travelfish.org/couchfish/ne...

Bali to Leeds Day 27: Song Kul to Kazarman

Tourism growth, trash on the trail, slick yurts, and amazing mountain passes

travelfish.org

Travelfish #574 The Submerged Temples Edition A wrap on interesting stuff I’ve come across online, this week leading with a sad piece from Hard Stories about what Laos is giving up as it continues to try to turns itself into a giant AAA battery. Well worth a read. www.travelfish.org/newsletter/n...

Travelfish #574 The Submerged Temples Edition

A wrap on stuff worth reading

travelfish.org

Mad Max Jembrana style.

Couchfish: Bali to Leeds Day 26: Some shepherd’s hut to Song Kul “That our yurt had a small stove for warmth was a blessing, and that it was fuelled with yak poo didn’t bother me in the least—if there had been some fresh stuff about, I’d have buried myself in it.” www.travelfish.org/couchfish/ne...

Bali to Leeds Day 26: Some shepherd’s hut to Song Kul

Cold weather, marmots, whining, and the wisdom of helmets.

travelfish.org

Couchfish: Bali to Leeds Day 25: Kochkor to some shepherd’s hut How not to ride a horse, tourism thoughts & Thai beaches www.travelfish.org/couchfish/ne...

Bali to Leeds Day 25: Kochkor to some shepherd’s hut

How not to ride a horse, tourism thoughts & Thai beaches

travelfish.org

Couchfish: Bali to Leeds Day 24: Bishkek to Kochkor On old maps, tall towers, the Lord of the Rings, and more. www.travelfish.org/couchfish/ne...

Bali to Leeds Day 24: Bishkek to Kochkor

On old maps, tall towers, the Lord of the Rings, and more.

travelfish.org

“Organised trekking done well often presents as a seamless affair, but much like tourism as a whole, this is a façade, nothing but the front-of-stage presentation. Today we learn more about what’s actually involved in putting on a Kyrgyzstan edition of the show.” www.travelfish.org/couchfish/ne...

Bali to Leeds Day 23: Bishkek

A bit on what’s involved in back-of-stage tourism in Kyrgyzstan

travelfish.org

AI is awesome, chapter I forget. www.propublica.org/article/goog...

How Google and AI Nearly Made a Seasoned Reporter Spiral

I thought I had missed something major in my reporting. Turns out I had stumbled into an AI-fueled feedback loop that involved a real LLC’s fictional website and a search engine that’s thrusting unrel...

propublica.org

Travelfish #573 The Screen Time Edition A wrap on interesting Southeast Asia travel, sustainable tourism, environmental stuff and more, that I’ve come across over the last week. www.travelfish.org/newsletter/n...

Travelfish #573 The Screen Time Edition

A wrap on stuff worth reading

travelfish.org

Outside … and where we are …. Because World Cup.

Good morning.

Couchfish: Bali to Leeds Day 22: Bishkek Yurt resorts, horse sausage, spruce forests, and market shopping www.travelfish.org/couchfish/ne...

Bali to Leeds Day 22: Bishkek

Yurt resorts, horse sausage, spruce forests, and market shopping

travelfish.org

Couchfish: Bali to Leeds Day 21: Almaty to Bishkek Major logistical issues, Peter the Russian, and a Canadian a long way from home. www.travelfish.org/couchfish/ne...

Bali to Leeds Day 21: Almaty to Bishkek

Major logistical issues, Peter the Russian, and a Canadian a long way from home

travelfish.org

Couchfish: Bali to Leeds Day 20: Almaty A day on the metro “When Almaty’s metro opened on 18 April 2015, the first commuters were greeted with the almost century-old aesthetics, values, ideals and aspirations of a colonial power that no longer existed.” www.travelfish.org/couchfish/ne...

Bali to Leeds Day 20: Almaty

A day on the metro

travelfish.org

Bali to Leeds Day 19: Almaty Famine, cemeteries, traveller tales www.travelfish.org/couchfish/ne...

Bali to Leeds Day 19: Almaty

Famine, cemeteries, traveller tales

travelfish.org

Bali to Leeds Day 18: Alashankou to Almaty Part 2 “Regardless of the cause, I wake with a start, properly this time, & while still laying down, I open my eyes & see my couchette door is wide open. Sitting opposite me is a complete stranger, staring at me intently.” www.travelfish.org/couchfish/ne...

Bali to Leeds Day 18: Alashankou to Almaty Part 2

Border towns, cosmonauts, griffins, and a robbery attempt

travelfish.org

Couchfish: Bali to Leeds Day 17: Alashankou to Almaty Fun times with immigration. www.travelfish.org/couchfish/ne...

Bali to Leeds Day 17: Alashankou to Almaty

Fun times with immigration

travelfish.org

Bali to Leeds Day 16: Turpan to Alashankou “... the centuries of desert winds since its cessation have sculpted the remains into an eerily beautiful tableau—Yarghul’s slate is one never to be wiped clean, even if the ever-depositing loess will one day bury it.” www.travelfish.org/couchfish/ne...

Bali to Leeds Day 16: Turpan to Alashankou

Desert, destruction, yummy fruit, icy water

travelfish.org

Couchfish: Bali to Leeds Day 15: Xi’an to Turpan “Further west still the earth turns to black sand—and the landscape is death.” www.travelfish.org/couchfish/ne...

Bali to Leeds Day 15: Xi’an to Turpan

The wonders and horrors of the desolate

travelfish.org

Bali to Leeds Day 14: Kunming to Xi’an “My father, he never flew, and my daughter, when she grows up, unless she goes outside China, neither will she.” www.travelfish.org/couchfish/ne...

Bali to Leeds Day 14: Kunming to Xi’an

First fast train, first chat, first tourist trap

travelfish.org

Great piece by @marisakabas.bsky.social “You may not like AI, they preach, but because of choices we are making for you, life will be increasingly unlivable without it.” www.thehandbasket.co/p/hating-ai-...

Hating AI is good, actually

LinkedIn may be awash with boosters, but shunning AI is the human choice.

thehandbasket.co

Couchfish: Bali to Leeds Day 13: Luang Prabang to Kunming Thought on boat trips, food, and how not to buy a metro ticket in Kunming www.travelfish.org/couchfish/ne...

Travelfish #570 The Bears And Caves Edition A wrap on interesting travel, Southeast Asia, and other random stuff I’ve come across over the last week, plus a few brief thoughts on the changes afoot online. www.travelfish.org/newsletter/n...

Travelfish #570 The Bears And Caves Edition

A wrap on stuff worth reading

travelfish.org

Bali to Leeds Day 12: Luang Prabang Some thoughts of temples and alms giving www.travelfish.org/couchfish/ne...

Bali to Leeds Day 12: Luang Prabang

Some thoughts of temples and alms giving

travelfish.org

Bali to Leeds Day 11: Luang Prabang A few hours chatting with a hotelier in Luang Prabang, Laos. www.travelfish.org/couchfish/ne...

Bali to Leeds Day 11: Luang Prabang

A chat about tourism in Luang Prabang

travelfish.org

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