Weekly Travel Reads: Hiking the Highlands’ Affric Kintail Way

[The Travel Wire #99] Timbuktu, Bhutan after dark, bike ride around Taiwan, and more travel reads.

Travel reads

• The Scottish explorer who fancied an adventure closer to home: hiking the Highlands’ Affric Kintail Way [The Guardian]
“Globetrotter and TV presenter Alice Morrison trades in her camels and backup team for wild camping in one of Scotland’s most beautiful glens.”

• Timbuktu – I found the edge of the world [The Candy Trail]

• Bhutan after dark: My night on the town in Thimphu with a local musician [Adventure]
“Landlocked Bhutan may be best-known for its Buddhist temples, Himalayan hikes and Gross National Happiness metric, but don’t miss out on the dynamism and nightlife of its capital city. Thimphu resident Cate Kelly joins a local musician friend for a night out on the town.”

• Why you should stop trying to live like a local while traveling [USA TODAY]

• A trek to Everest Base Camp: Joy, pain and an uncomfortable truth at the heart of every climber’s story [Independent]
“It’s an extreme adventure playground that is there for the conquering – but increasingly, there are distressing stories of overcrowding at the summit, pollution across the ranges and locals who disappear from view after helping climbers achieve their dream.”

• An epic 1,000km bike ride around Taiwan (archive) [BBC Travel]
“Each year, thousands of Taiwanese ring the island as a rite of passage. Now, a growing number of tourists are cycling it, and experiencing a side of Taiwan few outsiders see.”

• Returning to the country that changed my life [Travel Doorways]
“The Netherlands first entered my story through an unexpected marriage in Afghanistan. This visit was a chance to write a new chapter.”

• Among polar bears and ghosts in the endless night of Longyearbyen, Svalbard [Intrepid Times]
“A traveller visits Longyearbyen in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, where she adjusts to 24-hour darkness, polar bears, and haunted mines.”

• How slow can you go? Introducing Indonesia’s capital of slow living [Eastside]
“Magelang in Central Java is Indonesia’s ‘capital of slow living’.”

• The danger of Edinburgh [The Conscientious Traveller]
“Edinburgh balances out this beauty and bewildering appeal, generously giving other cities a chance to compete for the title of World’s Most Stunning Metropolis, by selling an absurd amount of tacky shite of the most debasing and shameful kind.”

• Kyushu isn’t dying. Half of it is. [KonichiValue Japan]
“After the devastating 7.1 magnitude earthquake that hit Kumamoto last week, I decided it was time to pour my heart and soul into writing about why you should care about Japan’s most underrated island.”