We have to build these ultra rapid trains anyway, so let’s start on it tomorrow.
Category: Travel
A lovely set of easter eggs hidden in Switzerland’s official maps.
Chaos at the Top of the World
A breathtaking background story of how the top of Mount Everest turned into a tourist destination.
https://www.gq.com/story/mount-everest-chaos-at-the-top-of-the-world
Languages spoken
Found this on Reddit and made my own.
Picked the countries where 50% of the people speak a language where I have at least B level of skill.
A couple of years ago, I remember seeing at IST airport advertisements for connecting flights to Erbil (أربيل). The city seems to have continued growing and by now developed a vibrant nightlife.
An interesting bit of news did the rounds last week but I’ve personally heard of multiple cases where people leaving online reviews have been faced with legal action.
Germany has a lot of lawyers and judges and the system finds work for them.
Not enough popcorn in the world to read this exposé on Booking.com.
Let’s just say that if almost everybody tells you not to write your website in Perl and you still insist on it, then you deserve all of the consequences of that decision.
But they seem to be making so much money than most of the dysfunctionality in the article does not really affect the company.
As the blisters develop and his feet start to bleed, Walton asks the right questions. What are the human and environmental costs of Singapore’s success, and are they sustainable?
His conclusions are more nuanced than either Singapore’s detractors or its cheerleaders would like. The island’s vaunted meritocracy is imperfect, especially seen from the perspective of its Malay and Indian minorities; and the pressures on citizens to perform and conform are so intense that those who do not fit in sometimes opt for voluntary exile.
Not having walked the length of the island (which sounds amazing) but talking about Singapore from afar, I came to many of the same conclusions. Still a fascinating place in so so many ways.
https://www.ft.com/content/fbbb28d2-885c-11e9-97ea-05ac2431f453
Cities like Barcelona are starting to fight back against AirBnB and tourism.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/04/29/the-airbnb-invasion-of-barcelona
I recently refused to help some local tourists to call the bike share hotline in German. We were legitimately in a hurry but my flat out refusal was not appreciated. Next time I’ll tell them I won’t be helping them because I do not support tourism.
“The economic costs Airbnb imposes likely outweigh the benefits.”
I don’t think anybody will be surprised by this study whose conclusions are that AirBnB is a drain on society and should be taxed and regulated mercilessly.