The Travel Wire: Five travel rules you should always break

[The Travel Wire #54] From accidental hiker to climbing 87 mountains, a road trip to Turkey’s fairytale north-east, and more travel reads.

• Five travel rules you should always break [A Sense of Wander]
A new newsletter by Eric Weiner, author of The Geography of Bliss, among other great travel books.

• She went from accidental hiker to climbing 87 mountains and building a women’s trekking community [CNA]
“Hazleen Ahmad never planned to be a hiker. But one climb at Mount Kinabalu inspired her to start her outdoor adventure company, Amazing Trekkers Club. Since then, she says it has united women through trekking excursions that foster connection and support.”

• On the Rize: a road trip to Turkey’s fairytale north-east [The Guardian]

• The simplest, hardest way to “live like a local” [Souvenirs]

• If these walls could talk [Claire In Crete]
“The most under-rated tourist attraction in Heraklion.”

• Din Tai Fung is Taiwan’s most beloved restaurant. But is it worth a two-hour wait? [Brent and Michael Are Going Places]
“We’re in Taipei, and everyone told us we absolutely needed to eat there. But oh, that line!”

• Shipyards, nightlife and community—why Newcastle is worth a trip [National Geographic]
“Equal parts Victorian elegance and industrial grit, this northeastern UK city offers travellers neoclassical architecture, warehouse districts and a lively nightlife scene, all set beside the River Tyne.”

• How a noisy, polluted city of 30 million cleaned up its act (archive) [Traveller]
“Low pollution, moderate traffic, good public transport and clean, quiet walkable city streets: I’m in the heart of Shanghai and there’s none of the noise, pollution and general intensity I assumed would be standard in a city of more than 30 million people.”

• I saw the best of unspoilt France on a €1 train ticket [Independent]
“Flora Medford discovers little-known Occitania for less than the price of a café au lait.”

• Strange and funny signs from Thailand [Thai Island Quest]