Weekly travel reads: The train between Tanzania and Zambia

[The Travel Wire #69] Skiing through a winter wonderland in Norway, Finland’s European Capital of Culture, notes on Taiwan, and more travel reads.

Travel reads

• The TAZARA turns 50 [Al Jazeera]
“Riding the troubled railway line between Tanzania and Zambia as China moves to rebuild it.”

• In Norway, skiing through a winter wonderland (archive) [NY Times Travel]
“A 100-mile journey along the country’s Troll Trail includes stunning vistas, snowbound mountain hotels and waffles.”

• Saunas, electronica and air guitar: Oulu, Finland’s tech city, is European Capital of Culture 2026 [The Guardian]
“This Nordic city and digital hub is having its moment in the (midnight) sun, offering cultural, arty events and pleasingly eclectic silliness.”

• Hiking the old Tibetan village and potato picking – the Chinese way [Crossing the River by Feeling the Stones]

• Discovering Cempedak Island – and an antidote to city life [Eastside]
“Before I set foot on the wooden jetty that bridges the real world and the Robinson Crusoe-like realm of Cempedak Island, I had no idea what to expect.”

• Notes on Taiwan [The Fitzwilliam]
“Semiconductors, sunsets and hot springs.”

• How a 475-year-old book market in the center of Paris is surviving in a digital world [CNN Travel]

• In Rub’ al Khali, world’s largest sand desert, see dreamlike dunes and meet modern nomads (archive) [SCMP]
“In the Omani part of Rub’ al Khali, tourists can explore a constantly changing landscape with all the comforts of the present.”

• Cold plunging into the Irish Sea changed me [Get Lost with Lonely Planet]

• UK man’s 15,000-km walk to Vietnam reshaped by love, a rescued dog and flood relief mission [VnExpress]