Weekly travel reads: Helsinki’s subterranean city

[The Travel Wire #107] Why 2009 was the greatest year in travel history, Norway’s Gudbrandsdalsleden Pilgrimage, déjà vu travel, and more travel reads.

Travel reads

• Taking a deep dive in Helsinki’s subterranean city [The Guardian]
“Under the Finnish capital lies a world of swimming pools, go-karting tracks, playgrounds – and even an art gallery.”

• Why 2009 was the greatest year in travel history (archive) [Traveller]

• Walking Norway’s Gudbrandsdalsleden Pilgrimage [Craig Mod]

• Déjà vu travel [A Sense of Wander]
“You’ve been here before–hallelujah.”

• If you aren’t in the picture, were you even there? [The Travel Paradox]
“On showing up, being real, and celebrating the main character in my journey.”

• Go ahead, try the tourist-trap restaurant [The Fast Track by Travel + Leisure]
“You don’t have to eat like a local to be a good traveler—you just have to be a respectful one.”

• I went to Syria. Here is what I found. [Let’s Address This with Qasim Rashid]

• How a nomadic tent network opened the untamed ‘Mountains of Heaven’ to hikers [CNN Travel]
“Walking yurt-to-yurt across the Tian-Shan mountains of Kyrgyzstan opens up a wild, beautiful landscape previously accessed only by hardcore hikers.”

• 20 travel opinions I’ve been afraid to say out loud [The Nomad Dossier]
“Some of these will make you nod. Some will make you close the tab. Some things are worth saying anyway.”

• Elbows out with a fistful of rupees [Between The Dots]
“Channelling Sister Bernadette on Indian Railways.”

• Vietnamese student rides 6,000km across the country on $540 [VietNamnet]
“Dao Hoang Long, 22, spent around six weeks riding across Vietnam, reaching its four geographical extremes, seeing the northwest’s golden rice terraces and exploring the Truong Son route on a budget of about $540.”