Reader's Digest_Feb 2022

What’s The Point Of Table Manners?

PHOTO: BOOK COVER COUTESY PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE AUSTRALIA Malaysian, which he teaches at his out. Among the many little points to
school in country Victoria – but the be observed: “If anything unpleasant
etiquette, particularly of his Chinese is found in the food, such as a hair
heritage, has remained. in the bread or a fly in the coffee, re-
move it without remark.” (It’s hard to
He says, “You’ve got to invite your imagine anyone today keeping quiet
elders to start eating, or say, ‘We are about a fly in their macchiato.)
now eating’ so the elders can say, ‘Go
ahead’. It’s a sign of respect to peo- As Barbara Santich points out,
ple who are older than you. And so, “Sometimes you’ve got to look at the
when people don’t do that anymore, books as trying to correct a situation,
they lack manners and they lack good not necessarily reflecting [it].”
upbringing.”
Free from the strictures of Brit-
An otherwise well-mannered doctor ish deportment, colonials did relax
whose family migrated to Melbourne some of the rules. “The picnic be-
from Brunei in the 1970s says he came terribly, terribly popular in
stopped calling his elders to the table Australia,” she says, “much more so
as a teenager without even thinking than in England. The weather had
about it as he absorbed mainstream something to do with it but it was also
suburban life, but his sister still does symptomatic of an attitude: we can
so at family meals. be a little bit more free and easy, and
possibly egalitarian – we can do our
In a socially mobile colony, it is own thing. The picnic was, in a way,
manners more than a family coat of a deliberate infringement of table
arms that “reveal to us the lady and manners.” Barbecues do away with
the gentleman”, declares the Austral- some of the rules, too, says Visser.
ian Etiquette: The Rules and Usages
of the Best Society in the Australasian “Even having a table means we
Colonies in 1885. “Manners and mor- choose who we’re going to feed, so
als are indissolubly allied”, it contends, the barbie is a wonderful way of
“and no society can be good
where they are bad.” breaking that down.” They
also dissolve the hierarchy
Naturally, it is “the duty that comes with sitting at
of Australian women” to a table, although she sus-
ensure the development of pects not entirely, noting
this “moral fibre”. how it tends to be the men
who do ‘the fire’.
Colonists are advised to
practise their table etiquette This is an extract
at home, even when eating from Explain That edited
alone, lest they become by Felicity Lewis (Penguin,
“stiff and awkward” when $32.99), available now.

readersdigest.com.au 99

TELL ME WHY...

Popcorn Pops

Who knew the humble corn kernel was such a contortionist?

BY Brandon Specktor

T he big bang may still befuddle lightning-fast circus act occurs: a PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
us, but scientists have taken ‘leg’ of fluffy starch emerges from
a giant leap towards under- the fractured hull, kicking up a few
standing the smaller (and centimetres in a gymnast-like spin.
arguably more important) bang that Water vapour bursts from the hull,
happens in your microwave. Thanks to just like it does when you uncork a
a team of French researchers, we now Champagne bottle, emitting that
have the most complete picture yet of signature popcorn pop. The hull con-
popcorn’s seed-to-snack transition. tinues to bloom as it flips and cools,
finally converting that hot vapour
Inside ever y popcorn kernel’s and starch into the popcorn fluff we
shell, there’s a tiny droplet of wa- know and love.
ter surrounded by a mesh of mostly
starch. At 100°C, the water turns into At the end of the show, each in-
steam and mixes with the starch to side-out kernel is about twice as
create a hot, doughy mass. Pressure large, and one eighth as dense, as it
builds in the hull until finally, at was pre-pop. Whether you should
180°C, it bursts. cover your popcorn in butter or olive
oil is for you to decide.
In the next 15th of a second, a

100 february 2022



102 february 2022

HEALTH

6 Silent Signs
You’re Eating

Too Much

Protein
Here’s how to know when powering up

with protein has gone too far

BY Lindsay Tigar

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES P rotein is easily one of among other vital roles. “Protein is
the most important nu- made up of amino acids that are the
trients to get into your building blocks of body tissues, in-
daily diet, but it’s possi- cluding muscles, blood vessels, hair,
ble to get too much of a skin and nails. It’s also involved in
good thing, especially if you’re on a the production of enzymes and hor-
high-protein diet like Atkins or Paleo. mones that help the body to function
normally,” says dietitian and nutri-
Critical part of our diet tionist Kaleigh McMordie.

We need protein to feel full, have en- Why are these amino acids so im-
ergy, build and repair muscle, pro- portant? According to McMordie,
cess nutrients and boost immunity, there are some amino acids that the

readersdigest.com.au 103

READER’S DIGEST YOU’RE OFTEN IN PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
A BAD MOOD
body can synthesise, but others, called
essential amino acids, we need to Maybe you got into a fight with your
get through our diet. Animal protein partner or you’re anxious about a
sources, such as meat, fish, milk and presentation at work. But if you
eggs, contain all nine essential ami- keep waking up on the wrong side
no acids. Most plant-based protein of the bed, you might want to
sources don’t have the full comple- consider your protein intake.
ment of amino acids in the exact right “When we are eating too much
amounts – although there are some protein, we are often not eating
exceptions, such as soybeans. “That’s enough carbs, like in low-carb or
why it is important to include a variety high-protein diets. And our brains
of protein sources in order to get all of actually run on sugar from those
the essential amino acids, especially carbs,” Immer says.
for vegetarians,” McMordie says.
The easy solution: recognise
If you’re a regular exerciser, protein when you swap out too many
is especially important, says dietitian carbs for protein, then even out
and nutritionist Keith Akoob. “Pro- the difference. Reach for complex
tein not only builds muscle, but it carbohydrates such as fruit,
also repairs and maintains muscle,” yoghurt, brown rice and whole
he says. “Muscle cells, like all living grains. Limit overly refined carbs,
tissue, have a life. They eventually which can make you sluggish.
need to be replaced, so repair and
maintenance are critical roles for di-
etary protein.”

How much do we need?

There are many elements to consid-
er when determining just how much
protein you need on a daily basis. For
example, you need to take into ac-
count how often you exercise and how
your body’s digestion is functioning.

That said, there are some overall
guidelines. In Australia and New Zea-
land, the RDA (recommended dietary
allowances) for adult men is 52 grams
of protein per day. For adult women
it is 37 grams per day. For those aged
over 70, 65 grams of protein for men

104 february 2022

6 Silent Signs You’re Eating Too Much Protein

and 46 grams for women is recom- You’ve got brain fog
mended. These are rough estimates
and Ken Immer, president at Culinary That afternoon slump is real. Feel-
Health Solutions, notes: “Most often, ing fatigued as the day rolls on might
we hear about recommending pro- have you reaching for coffee or a
tein in specific gram amounts per day. snack. But it could be the amount of
However, that can be misleading be- protein in your system that’s causing
cause it should be closely tied to your your eyes to glaze over.
total kilojoule needs, rather than just
an arbitrary number.” “Brain fog, in general, is possible
from too much protein, as a sugar
He says that there is a wide range deficit for the brain can cause your
of recommendations when it comes brain to actually shrink,” Immer
to the ideal percentage of kilojoules explains.
from protein with ten per cent being
the absolute minimum. Overeating protein means that you
might be displacing your carbs.
Conversely, experts aren’t certain of
the maximum amount, but too much This is risk y, says McMordie,
protein is linked with kidney disease, because “carbs are t he brain’s
constipation and cancer risk. main source of energy, and without
enough, it will be hard to concen-
trate.”

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES YOU’RE GAINING WEIGHT

It’s true that having a high-protein diet
can satisfy your hunger, but if you go too
far, you might find your scales tipping over
as well. “That’s especially true if you’re
eating excess animal protein or downing
protein shakes. Meat often means extra
fat and also kilojoules. And many protein
shakes have added sugar to make them
taste better,” McMordie says.

Over time, too many excess kilojoules,
no matter from fat, sugar or protein, will
cause weight gain, she says. To shift your
meals in a healthier direction, aim for
balanced meals. As a general rule, half of
your plate should be fruit or vegetables,
one quarter should be protein, and one
quarter should be starch or whole grains.

readersdigest.com.au 105

READER’S DIGEST You’re a little backed up PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

YOU’RE ESPECIALLY Having dependable, reliable diges-
THIRSTY tion cycles will make you feel health-
ier overall and minimise any poten-
One indicator that you might be tial stomach issues. However, if your
consuming too much protein is a protein intake is too high, you might
constant desire for water. In fact, struggle to stay regular.
too much protein can cause mild
dehydration. “The dehydration is “If you replace too much of your
caused by your kidneys working diet with protein, you may be lack-
overtime to remove the excess ing fibre from grains and vegetables,”
protein as well as the nitrogen McMordie says.
waste from metabolising the
protein. So you urinate too much “Without it, you may experience di-
and eventually can wreck your gestive problems and constipation.”
kidneys altogether,” Immer says. Aim for 25 grams of fibre daily from
food like whole grains, vegetables
To the rescue? More water, of and fruit. Adding in a daily probiot-
course, and lightening up on the ic – or eating naturally probiotic-rich
protein. It’s important to pay foods – may also help keep your di-
attention to this sign, as kidney gestion on track.
stones can also be caused by a high-
protein diet. “Depending on other You’ve got dragon breath
factors, when you put your kidneys
into overdrive, the risk of kidney You’ve noticed that when you laugh,
stones increases for those who are not everyone laughs with you. And
already prone,” he says. your colleagues are pulling back
when they have to sit near you in
106 february 2022 meetings.

What’s up?
Bad breath was a common com-
plaint of those on the Atkins diet, and
for good reason.
A lot of meat doesn’t just give you
meat sweats, it gives you a stinky
mouth too.
“Your brain and body like to run on
carbs, so when you don’t eat enough
carbs, your body starts to use fat as
fuel, producing ketones. They can
make your breath smell like nail pol-
ish remover,” McMordie says.

ONLINE

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FOOD + HEALTH

12 foods naturally high
in magnesium

Reported to improve sleep
and digestion, these tasty
magnesium food sources
provide a daily dose.

CULTURE + RELATIONSHIPS

Valentine’s Day

With February 14 traditions
plus stories to make your

sweetheart giggle, there are
plenty of ways to celebrate.

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES TRAVEL

The luckiest places in
the world to visit

These lucky fountains, temples
and buildings may be your
golden ticket to your biggest
wishes being granted.

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READER’S DIGEST

ALL IN A DAY’S WORK

Humour On The Job

“Oh, but it’s fine for you to grade papers?”

Piece It Together morning around 2am that he
began fiddling with his handcuffs,
Client: I put these documents in the eventually slipping them on his
fax machine, but they didn’t come wrists. He soon discovered he’d left
back out. the keys to the cuffs at home.
Me: That’s the paper shredder.
Client: Oh! Can you set it to reverse? Suddenly, his dull night became
Those papers are important. very interesting.

From Clients from Hell After calling the police, who freed
him, he hid the cuffs from himself so
Off The Cuff he wouldn’t be tempted to pull the
same trick again.
A security guard at a Wisconsin
warehouse was so bored one WREG.COM

108 february 2022

CARTOON: PAUL NOTH/CARTOONSTOCK.CO.; ILLUSTR ATIONS: VECTEEZY.COM Rules Of The Road All In A Day’s Work

My brother-in-law, a new volunteer I HATE OFFICE LINGO
firefighter, was riding in the fire
engine for the first time when he felt – AN ODE
the need to offer the driver some
advice. When you say
ping me
“I think you should pull over,”
he said. “Don’t you hear the siren?” I want to ignore you.
It’s true.
A more experienced colleague
patiently explained, “That’s us.” Bio break too.
It makes me cringe.
SUBMITTED BY ERNEST ECHELBARGER And if I’m being honest
I don’t care about your ducks
NAME DROPPING? or the row they’re in.
I don’t know what net-net
More Like Name Breaking means unless it’s being said by
an excited tennis announcer.
I was bemoaning to a friend how Come to think of it
my last name, Loyer, is frequently let’s not circle back
changed to Lawyer by spellcheck.
or drill down
“I can top that,” said the or take a deep dive
anaesthetist named Bause. or take it off line
“Spellcheck insists on calling or level the playing field
or create action items
me Dr Abuse.” and honestly I don’t care
if this won’t scale
SUBMITTED BY MILTON LOYER and may I add that
going forward I would
Though my last name is not long, like to park this project.
it can be confusing. So when a
receptionist asked for it, I tried And this job.
simplifying matters by saying, I quit.
“It’s the first four letters of Now.
‘suggest’.” She smiled. Sorry.
“And how do you spell that?”
I have a hard stop.
SUBMITTED BY DEB SUGG
JOHN KENNEY IN LOVE POEMS
FOR WORK (PUTNAM)

readersdigest.com.au 109

From The Editors

T his month, Reader’s Digest celebrates
a remarkable milestone: its 100th
anniversary. Since starting in
February 1922, every issue has been
packed with useful information and
inspiring stories. Over ten decades, Reader’s
Digest has become a global powerhouse,
and today, with 24 editions in 47 countries,
it remains one of the world’s most-read,
best-loved publications.

Just before the founder, DeWitt Wallace,
launched this “little magazine”, he said:
“The Digest will have but one mission: to interest
and at the same time to widen one’s outlook,
to increase one’s appreciation of things and
people, to enlarge one’s capacity for enjoyable
association with fellow men, to lubricate the
process of adjustment to this world.”

This timeline highlights some of the many
historical milestones of Reader’s Digest,
including mention of the most impactful
articles we have published.

Here’s to another 100 years!

ILLUSTRATIONS BY Brian Stauffer

110 february 2022

YEARS

Highlights from a century of Reader’s Digest

1922 DeWitt and Lila 1929 Circulation reaches

Acheson Wallace publish more than 200,000, and the
5000 copies of the first magazine also becomes
issue of Reader’s Digest, available at newsstands.
“The little magazine”, in
New York. It has 64 pages 1930 Reader
and 31 articles, all
condensed from other contributions are requested
publications. for regular departments,
many focused on humour.
1924 RD’s first anti-tobacco
1933 The first original article,
article appears: ‘Does Tobacco
Injure the Human Body?’ ‘Insanity – the Modern Menace’, by
Henry Morton Robinson, is published.

readersdigest.com.au 111

READER’S DIGEST 1942 The first issue of the PHOTO OF ALEX HALEY: © BETTMANN ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES

1935 RD’s first high- Portuguese-language
edition is translated and
impact public service printed, then shipped to
original article, ‘—And
Sudden Death’, is Brazil and Portugal.
published. It’s about the
preventable carnage of car 1945 The world is still
accidents. The New Yorker
called it “the most widely read officially at war when
magazine article ever the Finnish edition
published anywhere.” launches in June. It sells
out all 50,000 copies in a
1936 Paid circulation week.

reaches two million, and 1946 Around the
editorial staff has grown
to 32. An alarming article world people are hungry
about a quickly spreading for information, and
disease is published: ‘Why Reader’s Digest’s
Don’t We Stamp Out international expansion is
Syphilis?’ speeding up. Australian,
Danish and Japanese
1938 The British edition editions are launched.

is launched. It’s the first 1947 The Norwegian,
international Reader’s Digest.
Belgian-French,
1939 Lila Wallace selects the French, Swiss-French
and French-Canadian
pegasus as the company’s editions debut.
symbol. Circulation is nearly
three million and the first two- 1948 Reader’s Digest
colour illustration is published
in November. begins to use four-
colour illustrations. Now
1940 The first the English-Canadian,
South African, German,
foreign-language Swiss-German and Italian
edition – the editions are published.
Latin American
edition – launches, marking 1950 The New Zealand
the beginning of
international expansion. edition is launched.

112 february 2022

100 Years Of Reader’s Digest

1952 The magazine begins 1956 The Lila Acheson Wallace

attracting big-name writers: James Fund is established. It invests in
Michener, who had recently won the programmes in the arts, adult
Pulitzer Prize for Tales of the South literacy and urban parks.
Pacific, joins as roving editor.
‘Cancer By the Carton’ connects 1957
smoking with lung cancer,
provoking a furore; it is the first time The Dutch
a US magazine had covered this edition is
topic in such depth. It would launched.
contribute to the largest drop in Work begins
smoking since the Depression. on a landmark
book – The
1954 A young Alex Haley joins the Longest Day,
about D-day –
Reader’s Digest staff. He would write funded by
several features – and then become Reader’s Digest
one of the world’s most famous and written by
writers when Roots was published in Cornelis Ryan.
1976, a project sponsored by Researchers in Paris, Stuttgart,
Reader’s Digest. London and New York produce
more than 16,000 interviews
1955 US circulation passes and create hundreds of detailed
maps. The book is published two
ten million a month. Its cover price years later.
is still 25 cents, as it was in 1922.

“In my long and troubled
journey to complete Roots, I owe
an undying debt to Reader’s Digest.
Without its help and encouragement,
Roots could not have been written
with the scope that it has. The
magazine’s support enabled me
to make repeated trips to Europe
and Africa. Without it, I could
not have afforded the travelling
and, consequently, could not have
explored my roots.” – ALEX HALEY

readersdigest.com.au 113

READER’S DIGEST

1965 The Chinese (Traditional) 1976 The restoration of artist PHOTO: (CROCUS CARPET) GETTY IMAGES

edition of RD launches in Hong Claude Monet’s house and garden
Kong and Taiwan, with an Asia with its famous lily pond in Giverny,
(English language) edition in South France, gets underway, thanks to
East Asia. Lila Wallace’s support.

1967 Worldwide monthly 1981 Reader’s Digest founder and

circulation totals 28 million copies. long-time editor-in-chief DeWitt
Wallace dies at age 91.
1968 RD continues its fight
1984 Lila Acheson Wallace dies at
against smoking by publishing
‘What the Cigarette Commercials age 94. An advocacy piece against
Don’t Show’ in January. It sells more drinking and driving, ‘I Still See
than nine million reprints. In 1971, Him Everywhere’, fires up a
cigarette advertising on radio and discussion about driving under the
TV is banned in the US. influence of alcohol. It’s the sixth
RD article on the subject since 1980.
1971 An anti-pornography article,
1987 RD’s first report on AIDS,
‘The Report That Shocked the Nation,’
generates requests for more than ‘The Plague That Knows No Bounds’,
25 million reprints – the most ever. is published.

1973 The Wallaces, now both in 1988 The British edition marks

their 80s, retire. its 50th anniversary by planting

1985 RD’s art collection In October 1985 the pages of Reader’s Digest
gave a preview of its art show. Featured were
goes on its first world tour, works by Renoir, Modigliani, Degas, Braque,
followed by a second in
1988. It exhibits in Mexico Lachaise and Picasso.
City, Amsterdam, Hong
Kong, Sydney, Lisbon,
Stuttgart and Auckland.
Among the works are
those by Renoir, Cezanne,
Van Gogh, Picasso and
Modigliani.

114 february 2022

1986 British Reader’s

Digest unveils a
commissioned portrait of
Queen Elizabeth II to
celebrate her 60th birthday.
Word comes back from
Buckingham Palace: “She
likes it – very much.” The
portrait is in the permanent
collection of the National
Portrait Gallery, London.

1.5 million crocus bulbs to create a 1994 The ten-billionth copy of
Crocus Carpet at London’s Kew
Gardens, where they continue to Reader’s Digest is published in
bloom to this day. The Queen the US.
congratulates RD on “a half century
of responsible and entertaining 1996 Reader’s Digest European
journalism.”
editions launch the European of
1991 The Soviet Union is the Year award, annually
celebrating individuals who help
dissolved, and RD launches the transform the lives of others.
Russia edition, bringing the
magazine to 40 editions in 16 1998 Reader’s Digest introduces
languages. This kicks off a rapid
expansion into former Soviet its new design, which includes
countries. removing the contents from the
cover.

2001 Reader’s Digest India

publishes ‘The Good Doctors of
Sittilingi’, about a doctor couple
who set up low-cost medical care
in a rural area. Its publication
results in a major boost in
donations and improvements to
the area’s health care.

readersdigest.com.au 115

READER’S DIGEST

2004 ‘My Story’ launches in the 2007 In the first episode

Australia, New Zealand and Asia of the hit TV series Mad Men,
editions. The reader-contributed set in a 1960s New York
section continues to be one of the advertising firm, the characters
most popular parts of the magazine. are trying to solve problems
caused by Reader’s Digest
2008 Reader’s Digest launches in reporting on the tobacco and
advertising industries.
mainland China under the name
Puzhi Reader’s Digest. Later in the
year, RD launches the Asian of the
Year award to celebrate individuals
across the Asian continent who
embody the values of Asia, and who
help to shape the region’s future.

2010 The British Reader’s Digest Hong Kong, changes PHOTO: (MAD MEN) COURTESY OF AMC
its format to a
launches its 100-word-story horizontal layout,
competition to celebrate creativity. receiving praise from
The competition runs in Australia, Taiwan’s Ministry of
New Zealand and Asia in both the Education and is
English and Chinese editions, endorsed as “excellent
enjoying enormous success. reading material” for
school students.
2011 The European editions
2022 In February, Reader’s
publish a five-part advocacy
series about internet safety, Digest celebrates its centenary.
demanding stronger Reader engagement and love of the
international laws to protect brand, whether accessed via print
children and young people. or online, remains among the
strongest of any publication in
2018 In Australia, New the world.

Zealand and Asia, the RD Talks
podcast series is launched, with
articles on inspiration, drama, heart
and crime. Today the podcast has
more than 140,000 downloads.

2020 The Chinese-language

edition, published in Taiwan and

116 february 2022



TRAVEL

This page: The Danube
Express evokes the
charm and luxury of
a bygone era.
Opposite page:
Nestled in the
Carpathian Mountains
is Peleș Castle, built
near the end of
Romania’s royal era

118 february 2022

A Fairytale

TRAIN
JOURNEY

Ride along, vicariously, on a
luxury trip through the historical

former Ottoman Empire

BY Maggie Shipstead

FROM TRAVEL + LEISURE

readersdigest.com.au 119

READER’S DIGEST

rains take you behind Trabants and the latest German lux- PHOTOS: PREVIOUS SPREAD (LEFT) COURTESY OF GOLDEN EAGLE LUXURY TRAINS;
the façade of a place ury cars, I glimpsed a man driving a (RIGHT) JEREMY WOODHOUSE/GETTY IMAGES. THIS PAGE: GETTY IMAGES
and show you f leet- horse cart down a dirt lane. One per-
ing, random glimps- son’s now, I thought, is another per-
es of ordinary life, son’s then.

T sometimes beauti- For four days, the train carried me
ful, sometimes gritty. and my 17 fellow passengers across
Travelling from Istanbul to Budapest 1600 kilometres, through Turkey,
on a luxurious private train called Bulgaria, Romania and Hunga-
the Golden Eagle Danube Express in ry. And here’s what blew my mind:
2019, I looked out on storybook me- every scene we saw, every metre of
dieval villages and gloomy Commu- railroad we clacked across, fell in-
nist housing blocks; smoke-stacked side the boundaries of what was once
industrial suburbs and endless fields the Ottoman Empire. For more than
of sunflowers. Bystanders took vide- 600 years, sultans ruled a vast multi-
os of our cream-and-blue carriages, national, multilingual territory, and
which were restored in the style of a our itinerary took us from its heart to
glamorous fin de siècle sleeper train. its northern edge.

Sometimes the train’s throwback Every day the train stopped for
elegance made me feel like a visitor walking tours, and the Ottomans
from another era; sometimes the popped up constantly in the guides’
scenery gave me a sense of travelling narration. The reconstructed fortress
through another time. Once, some- we visited in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgar-
where in Romania, beside a highway ia? A bulwark against the Ottoman
humming with boxy Cold War-era Turks until 1393, when they burned it
down and took over. Budapest’s pub-
Handbags for sale at lic baths? An Ottoman legacy. The
Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar defensive towers in the 12th-century
Transylvanian citadel of Sighiúoara?
One guess who they were built to de-
fend against.

WHERE ELSE could the trip begin,
but Istanbul? Everyone describes the
city – the Ottoman capital from 1453
until the empire’s dismantling in 1922
– as amazing. But, for some reason,
I’d never felt an urge to go. As soon
as my car from the airport crested

120 february 2022

A Fairytale Train Journey

Above: The steep town of Veliko
Tarnovo, Bulgaria. Below: The Danube
Express on its journey through what was

once the Ottoman Empire

PH OTO S: TO P, G E T T Y I M AG E S; (T R A I N) CO U R T E S Y O F G O L D E N a hill, though, and the labyrinthine finds crop up pretty much every time
EAGLE LUXURY TRAINS metropolis unfolded below, minarets someone puts a shovel in the earth.
needling up like cactus spines and
the Bosporus strait reflecting a pur- After a night in a hotel, my fellow
ple-pink dusk, I got it. Amazing. Danube Express passengers and I set
out on foot for a guided tour. The Ot-
First there’s its sheer size: Istanbul toman Empire’s essential qualities of
is home to more than 15 million peo- immensity, longevity and complexity
ple. It’s a grand jumble of tiled roofs, were driven home by our first stop,
expansive waterfront promenades, Topkapi Palace. This was the sul-
and maze upon maze of narrow, Byz- tans’ dwelling place from the mid-
antine alleys. Then there’s its thrill- 15th to mid-19th century and their
ing geography, spanning Europe and seat of power over a gigantic swath
Asia with the Bosporus in between, a
location with strategic and commer-
cial advantages so irresistible that
it has been continuously inhabited
for almost 3000 years. Fortifications,
monuments and archaeological

readersdigest.com.au 121

READER’S DIGEST

of territory that stretched from pres- a video game in which, instead of
ent-day Algeria to Iraq, and Croatia to enemies, men offering deals on rugs
Saudi Arabia. popped out from all directions. All
these places were compelling and
Topkapi’s structures are long, low important, but they were also crowd-
and decoratively understated – at ed, and the day was hot. By the time
least when you consider the sultans’ we boarded the train in the early
extreme wealth. They surround gar- evening, the health app on my phone
dens now plain but once paradisai- said I’d walked at least 11 kilometres.
cal, abounding with tulips and ros-
es, peacocks and gazelles. Our guide I revelled in my glassed-in show-
pointed out the mismatched columns er stall as the Danube Express slid
outside the Imperial Council’s cham- out of Sirkeci station. In my roomy,
ber; made from granite and marble wood-panelled cabin, I could sit by
from far-flung Ottoman lands, they one picture window and drink a cap-
were intended as subtle reminders of puccino, or recline beside another
the immense power of the men meet- on a pillow-strewn sofa, which an
ing within. attendant converted to a fluffy bed
each night.
The guide then led us to the harem,
where the sultan lived with his fami- The next carriage was the bar car,
ly, female servants and, notoriously, a where white-gloved waiters circulated
fluctuating population of female con- with drinks. A man played jazz stand-
cubines. Only a small fraction of its ards on a keyboard and sometimes a
more than 300 rooms are open to the saxophone. The dining car was next,
public, but I still felt disoriented and a vision of white linens and gleaming,
claustrophobic as we walked through elaborate place settings. As I dined on
multiple tiled chambers and twisting Parma ham draped over rockmelon,
corridors. At one point we emerged mushroom Wellington, lemon cake,
into an open courtyard where lat- and then fruit and cheese, I thought
ticed windows looked out across the unavoidably of Hercule Poirot and the
water towards the city, at a wider but Orient Express. Indeed, the Danube
unreachable world. Express invokes a kind of nostalgia for
nostalgia, recalling an era of elegant
AFTER TOPKAPI, we visited three travel so bygone that the vast majority
other big attractions: Hagia Sophia, of us only know it second-hand from
a hulking sixth-century Byzantine period pieces.
church turned mosque; the Blue
Mosque, a mass of domes and min- I had imagined the trip might at-
arets; and the Grand Bazaar, an im- tract die-hard train buffs, and though
mense covered market that felt like a handful of our well-travelled group
had already taken the swanky

122 february 2022

A Fairytale Train Journey

Drawing on tenuous historical and literary connections, the romantic and spooky-
looking Bran Castle in Transylvania has been rebranded as Dracula’s Castle

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES Trans-Siberian Express, most seemed Yantra River that, according to our
drawn less by the train itself and guide, a local joke is that directions
more by the ease of our cruise-like are given in terms of up and down,
itinerary. Being conveyed from place not right and left. We checked out an
to place without having to repack or equestrian monument to the rulers
carry bags or manage logistics is no of the Asen dynasty, who had over-
small asset in places such as rural thrown the Byzantines in 1186, and
Romania, where tourism infrastruc- then the Tsarevets fortress, which
ture is on the rudimentary side. had failed to stop the Turks.

NEXT MORNING I woke in Bulgaria. In the nearby village of Arbanasi,
Outside the window, wispy fog and we visited the 16th-century Church of
the green Balkan Mountains had re- the Nativity, a low stone structure that
placed Istanbul’s sprawl. In the night, looked like a meeting hall for hobbits.
the train had click-clacked northwest The inside, which was densely paint-
across the shifting frontiers of former ed with saints in red, gold and green,
empires, fought over for centuries – gave me the giddy feeling of a holy
today all but forgotten. kaleidoscope. An illustration that took
up most of one wall showed a man
A little after 9am, we reached our ascending to fortune and glory before
first stop, the medieval fortress city tumbling into ruin and hell. A lesson
of Veliko Tarnovo, which is stacked for empires, perhaps.
so steeply uphill from the winding
As we reboarded the Danube

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READER’S DIGEST

a quandary. They are im-

practical dwellings and

no longer serve defensive

purposes, but letting them

decay would be a shame.

So admission must be

charged and curiosity cul-

tivated. We visit to connect

with the past, to marvel at

the idea of living in such

vast structures. Peleú Cas-

tle was built mostly in the

Budapest marks the end of the journey 1870s as a summer palace

for Carol I, who became

Express that evening, it dawned on Romania’s ruling prince in 1866 and,

me that I wouldn’t be spending much following its formal recognition as a

time on the train. I’d imagined lei- country, its first king in 1881, which

surely hours reading in my cabin, but honestly seems a little late to launch

soon learned that on journeys like a monarchy.

these, night-time and early morn- Nestled in the Southern Carpathi-

ings are when the distances are cov- an Mountains, Peleú is a 160-room

ered. Daytime was for walking tours, fantasia done in a catch-all style

which were always interesting and, known as neo-Renaissance. From the

since our visit coincided with the tail outside, it looks like an over-the-top

end of a heat wave, always character- Bavarian hunting lodge, timbered

ised by the search for shade. and spired; inside, it’s a showcase of

embellishment, with once-futuristic

HOW’S THIS for a sightseeing mara- features like a cinema and a central

thon? The next day we disembarked vacuum system. Final touches were

at 7.45am in the Transylvanian alpine added in 1914, a mere 33 years be-

town of Sinaia to visit Peleú Castle, re- fore the Communists would seize all

boarded for a quick trip to the city of royal property. Touring Peleú’s public

Braúov, took a bus to Bran Castle for rooms, I felt an odd melancholy for its PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

dinner, and returned to the train af- builders, who had been oblivious to

ter 11pm, at which point I collapsed the looming end of their gilded era.

into bed. Half a dozen passengers, all Bran Castle, too, excites the imag-

decades my senior, adjourned to the ination, but more for marketing rea-

bar car for a nightcap. Heroes. sons than for anything related to his-

Castles in modern times present torical fact. It was built in the second

124 february 2022

A Fairytale Train Journey

half of the 14th century as a fortress On the last day, I woke to find that
to defend against invaders, including Romanian cornfields had given way to
the Ottoman Turks. the Great Hungarian Plain, a vast ex-
panse of grassland that occupies the
In the 1970s, enterprising travel eastern half of Hungary. We stopped
companies promoted the castle based for one last excursion, which involved
on a tenuous connection to Vlad the sampling the local schnapps and
Impaler, a 15th-century Wallachian watching a traditional horse show. In
prince with a predilection for skewer- Budapest, we disembarked the Dan-
ing his Ottoman enemies on stakes. He ube Express for the last time.
is widely believed to be the inspiration
for Bram Stoker’s fictional vampire in THAT EVENING I sat beside the riv-
his book Dracula. Disappointingly, er drinking a vibrant orange Aper-
Stoker never came to Transylvania, ol spritz under a sunset the precise
and there is no concrete evidence he colour of an Aperol spritz. Barges
based his bloodthirsty Count Dracula passed. Young women sat chatting
on the historical Vlad the Impaler. on the embankment with their legs
dangling over the edge.
Bran is now known as Dracula’s
Castle, a tourist-trappy label re- Like Istanbul, Budapest is an an-
inforced by the stalls, clustered at cient city. The Romans, the Huns,
its foot like a feudal village, selling the Visigoths, the Magyars, the Ot-
plastic fangs and glow-in-the-dark tomans, the Hapsburgs, the Nazis,
wolf T-shirts. the Soviets – they all had a hand in
shaping it. The city’s spires darkened
Despite this, Bran is one of those to silhouettes, and it struck me how
attractions that transcend cheesi- crazy it is, really, how touching, that
ness. Perched on a rocky bluff, it’s the human belief in the permanence
arresting and romantic and genu- of cities and borders and ways of life
inely spooky-looking. Inside are ap- persists despite ever-accumulating
pealing, whitewashed living spaces. evidence to the contrary.
Squeezing up a narrow stone stair-
case, we emerged into a high room Someday, travellers might take
where a long table was waiting. trips designed to spark a sense of
French doors opened onto a balcony nostalgia for our era. Someday
overlooking the castle’s towers and people might look on our mighty
courtyard: the setting for a private projects and laugh. Someday – and
dinner. A string quartet played while this is certain – we will be the
we dined and chatted about travel, as ancient ones.
tour mates tend to do. No bats flew
off into the twilight, but sometimes a FROM TRAVEL + LEISURE (DECEMBER 11, 2019),
meal and a breeze are enough. © 2019 BY MAGGIE SHIPSTEAD

readersdigest.com.au 125

THE BOYS

In The

CAVE

For the soccer team trapped deep in a
Thailand cave, rescue seemed impossible

BY Matt Gutman

FROM THE BOOK THE BOYS IN THE CAVE

126 february 2022

BONUS READ

TITAN, 11 PONG, 13
DOM, 13 NOTE, 15
MARK, 13
MIX, 13 BEW, 14
TEE, 15

ADUL, 14
NIGHT, 17

TERN, 14
COACH EK, 25

NICK, 15

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aturday, June 23, the cave’s channels hadn’t started PHOTOS, PREVIOUS SPREAD:(CAVE) PONGMANAT TASIRI/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK. (BOYS) ALL COURTESY OF FACEBOOK
2018. The 32°C air in yet. Behind him were Night; 15-year- OPPOSITE PAGE: THIERRY FALISE/LIGHTROCKET VIA GETTY IMAGES
Mae Sai, Thailand’s olds Note, Nick and Tee; Bew, Adul
northernmost town, and Tern, all age 14; and 13-year-olds
was like a hot damp Dom, Pong, Mark and Mix. Giggling
among them was the littlest guy, iron-
Stowel w r apped ically nicknamed Titan, aged 11. With
around the Moo Pa Ek, they were 13 in all.
(‘Wild Boars’) soccer team, but they
cycled to the pitch anyway – they al- The mouth of the cave was large
ways did. enough to fit the Taj Mahal. Mud
stains some six metres up showed
If head coach Nopparat Khan- the high-water mark of previous
thavong was the team’s general, as- years’ floods. About 1.6 kilometres in
sistant coach Ekapol Chantawong they turned left at a T-junction. They
– ‘Ek’ – was his friendly lieutenant. wanted to reach Pattaya Beach – a
With his smiling eyes and chirpy sandbar named after a Thai resort
voice, at age 25 he was more like a town – more than half a kilometre
big brother to the kids. Having spent further in. The boys, marching fast,
much of his childhood in a monas- encountered small passages they had
tery, he had learned Buddhist disci- to stoop down and squeeze through.
pline, meditation and kindness. Titan, who was also experiencing the
cave for the first time, found himself
Ek often took his players to Tham afraid of the dark and the creepy
Luang cave at the base of Doi Nang shadows cast by their torches. But he
Non mountain after practice. A half- didn’t dare tell anyone.
hour bike ride away, it was a refuge
from the heat and, especially ap- There wasn’t much to see at Pattaya
pealing to Ek, the phone signals Beach, but the Wild Boars were hap-
upon which the boys were hooked. py to have an adventure to celebrate
So at noon the group headed there. It Night’s birthday. Coach Ek checked
was the first time for Peerapat Som- his watch; they’d been in the cave
piangjai, nicknamed, as many Thais about an hour. They headed back.
are, with a shorter name: ‘Night’. He
planned to be home by 5pm for his But before they reached the T-junc-
17th-birthday celebration. tion, instead of the stagnant water
they had crossed on the way in, they
Entering the cave they passed a sign found deep, fast-moving water. Ek
that read, in Thai and English, ‘DAN- pulled a rope from his bag, tied it
GER! From July to November the cave around his waist and instructed three
can flood.’ Coach Ek, who led the way, of the bigger boys: “If I yank twice, pull
wasn’t worried; it was still June and me back. If I don’t, you can come too.”
the monsoon rains that would flood

128 february 2022

The Boys In The Cave

Ek dove down, but

the darkness, depth and

current defeated him.

He yanked twice. Night

felt a surge of panic as he

helped haul in his coach.

It was now about 5pm.

The scared boys hadn’t

eaten in hours. Worried

they would panic, Ek

told them something he

didn’t believe himself

– that the water would Beneath Doi Nang Non mountain are a number of

p r o b a b l y r e c e d e b y underground water courses, including Tham Luang cave

morning. “You’ll see,”

he said. “Why don’t we find a place The only answer came from the

to sleep?” cave: echoes bouncing the names

They retreated to the high sand- back.

bar of Pattaya Beach, which typi- At 7am on Sunday, June 24, rescu-

cally remained above water during ers entered the cave. Among them

the floods. Ek gathered the boys for was Vern Unsworth, a 63-year-old

their usual Buddhist prayers, chants British caver who lived in Chiang Rai,

he hoped would soothe them, before who came to the cave after receiv-

they clumped together for sleep. But ing many phone calls overnight. He

the boys’ sobs echoed off the walls. knew this place better than anyone.

The Rains Arrive Early Over several expeditions, he and his
friend Rob Harper had created a new,

Though the Wild Boars didn’t know extended survey of the cave system,

it, the monsoon rains had arrived replacing one from the 1980s.

early. And parents grew alarmed At t he T-ju nc t ion, Un s wor t h

when their sons didn’t return home. stopped in his tracks. The bowl that

At 10pm, a local team of rescuers he’d seen so many times was now

was called in and a few parents completely under water. He’d been

made their way through the deepen- told there was water, but didn’t ex-

ing mud to the cave entrance, near pect this much. There was nothing he

where the boys’ bikes stood parked. could do so he returned to the mouth

The ranger wouldn’t allow them to go of the cave.

in, so they shouted into the entrance: That second night, the boys were

“Night! Bew! Titan!” pushed further into the cave system

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READER’S DIGEST

T-JUNCTION

DIVE BASE ENTRANCE

PATTAYA BEACH DISTANCE:
2.3 KILOMETRES
BOYS FOUND
DIVES
WADING
DRY

Bird’s-eye view of the cave tunnel

by rising water. In what would later elite force – had failed to find them. MAP: COURTESY OF MATT GUTMAN/HARPER COLLINS
be called Chamber Nine, about 2.3 A thousand troops and helpers gath-
kilometres from the entrance, the ered outside the cave, and the world
muddy ground slanted sharply up watched news reports, hoping for a
towards the cave wall. A flatter area miracle. But as waters rose, the mili-
served as living and sleeping quar- tary suspended rescue attempts. On
ters. Whenever a boy started to cry, June 28, the fifth day after the boys
the others would hold him and try to entered the cave, an expert in water
cheer him up. They were cold, hun- management, 32-year-old Thanet
gry and scared, and Ek helped them Natisri, began an operation to divert
stay calm with regular prayer and water on the mountain above the cave
meditation. They had no food but with pipes and pumps so that it didn’t
the stream below gave them water. seep into the cave. It made the differ-
Tee held his mouth open under a sta- ence; the tunnel became navigable.
lactite and swallowed drop after drop
until he felt full. On day ten, Monday, July 2, a pair
of the world’s best cave divers would
This was only the start of a more attempt to find the boys. Vern Un-
than two-week ordeal. sworth had drawn a map of where he
thought the boys could be, and the
Where Were The Boys? newly arrived Brits – Rick Stanton, 57,
and John Volanthen, 48 – committed it
Days went by and still nobody knew to memory. Then, for three hours they
where the boys were, or if any had finned against the current, breath-
survived starvation, hypothermia or ing heavily into their regulators and
drowning. Thai SEALs – the navy’s

130 february 2022

The Boys In The Cave

carefully unspooling a thin guide line when the men had noticed air spaces

behind them. Basic diving protocol, above, they would bob up and take a

the line was their link to the outside sniff, their noses supplying informa-

world. They were further into the cave tion their eyes couldn’t. This time,

than any of the rescuers before them there was the distinct smell of either

could get. human excrement – or decaying bod-

Stanton checked his air gauge; he ies. “Hey, John,” he said in the dark.

had consumed about a third of his “We’ve got something.”

supply, which meant they had to turn Then, voices. As they drifted to-

back soon. Cave divers use a third of wards the sound, they saw a beam of

a tank on the journey in and a third light flick on and scan the water.

on the journey out, and reserve a third

in case of trouble, like getting lost or “When Will You Be Back?”

stuck. Death can result Moments earlier,

from equipment fail- THE RESCUE Coach Ek had heard
ure, flash floods, slam- somet hing: men’s

ming headfirst into DIVERS FIGURED voices. The boys
rock and panicking. stopped cold as Ek
They passed Pat- THAT, SADLY, asked everyone to
WHEREVER hush. Silence. Then
taya Beach, which THESE BOYS the voices again.
water had swallowed WERE, THEY
up. Unsworth’s guess WEREN’T ALIVE The boys were
had been that the boys unsure if what they

had taken refuge a were hearing was

few hundred metres real. They so zeal-

beyond in a room that offered high ously conserved their torch batteries

ground. that they’d mostly been in complete

Stanton and Volanthen were vet- darkness. They knew by their digital

erans of multiple cave rescues; some watches that ten days had gone by.

were successful, but more often they Oxygen was dwindling, and sleep

found corpses. To their knowledge came fitfully; they longed for food,

nobody with zero provisions had sur- their parents, their beds.

vived this deep into a cave for this Too tired to move, Ek whispered

long. They figured that, sadly, wherev- to 13-year-old Mix to go to the wa-

er these boys were, they weren’t alive. ter’s edge with a torch to check it out.

Stanton made a mental note to tell “Hurry. If it’s a rescuer they might

Volanthen they need to turn around pass us.” Now the boys saw two crea-

soon. Then he surfaced, took off his tures that looked like spacemen with

mask and sniffed. Along the way, hoses attached to their mouths, and

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READER’S DIGEST

helmets bristling with lights. The desperation when they’d be back, the

semi-submerged figures were talk- men responded, “We hope tomorrow.”

ing. Mix froze with fear. Adul, 14, took “We are hungry,” said the boys, lift-

the torch from Mix, and called out in ing their soccer jerseys to reveal bony

Thai, “Officer! Officer, hello! Over ribs. The divers hadn’t expected to find

here!” The voices didn’t answer. them alive and had no food for them.

Adul, stupefied that they had been Stanton took stock of the group. The

found, was doubly confused when he little ones and the coach seemed le-

realised the men were speaking Eng- thargic and frail, but some of the big-

lish. He crept to the water’s edge. He ger boys looked surprisingly energetic.

could speak some English, but right As the men prepared to leave, each

now could only muster a “Hello!” boy came over and wrapped skin-

The divers first surfaced about 45 ny arms around them. In a country

metres away. By 20 or where physical con-

so metres out, their THE BOYS tact among strangers
headlights illumi- is unusual, where

nated a couple of the HUDDLED hands pressed togeth-
Boars. “How many are TOGETHER ON er in front of one’s
you?” shouted Volan- THE SANDBAR face takes the place
then. “13!” came the TO SLEEP, THEIR of a handshake, the
reply. “Brilliant,” said SOBS ECHOING embraces showed the
Volanthen. They were OFF THE WALLS enormity of the boys’
all alive. relief and gratitude.

He added: “Many As news spread that

people are coming” the Boars had been

– though that promise would later found, cheers rang out at the camps

haunt Stanton and Volanthen with of soldiers and volunteers that had

the sting of guilt. The more they came sprung up around Mae Sai. In the

to understand the boys’ predicament, park-ranger hut the boys’ parents

the less optimistic they felt. high-fived and hugged.

“I am so happy,” Adul told them. The next day, seven Thai SEALs

“We are happy, too,” replied Volan- made the perilous journey, bringing

then. They went onto the sloping space blankets, medical supplies and

mud bank and stayed about 20 min- energy gels to the boys; four of the

utes. Stanton inspected their living men stayed behind with them. A day

quarters, the three-metre-long ‘escape later, Volanthen and Stanton delivered

tunnel’ they had been digging, and the military ration packs. It was the first

sleeping area they had levelled out. food the boys had seen in 12 days.

When one boy asked with a hint of With food in their bellies, the boys’

132 february 2022

The Boys In The Cave

vigour returned. To pass

the time, they played

checkers with the SEALs

using clods of dirt and

rocks as pieces.

An American mili-

tary pararescue team,

called in from their base

in Okinawa, Japan, was

placed in charge of res-

cue-plan logistics. One

option – leaving the boys

in the cave for months, This photo captures the moment when cave divers
until after the monsoon discovered that the group was alive

season – was dismissed

when an oxygen reading in the boys’ Jewell. On Friday, July 6, the pair de-

chamber showed just 15.5 per cent; livered food and wet suits to the boys.

it meant there was no way the boys Hours later they arrived back at camp

could survive that long. with notes from the boys to their

Volanthen and Stanton knew that families, possibly their last commu-

only a handful of cave divers in the nication. Eleven-year-old Titan had

world could survive the round-trip written, “Mum, Dad, don’t worry, I’m

journey as they had; they suspected OK, please tell Yod to prepare to take

bringing the boys out could be im- me to eat fried chicken. Love you.”

possible. A plan was then decided:

the Boars would be sedated. Other- A High-Risk Mission

wise, if a boy panicked, he and his Before the rescue could begin, hun-

rescuers could die. The linchpins dreds of air tanks had to be hauled

of this effort would be two Austral- to points along the extraction route.

ian divers who were also medical Flexible plastic stretchers called

experts, veterinarian Craig Challen Skeds, which wrap around a casualty

PHOTO: AP/SHUT TERS TOCK and anaesthetist Richard Harris. In like a taco, were dropped off in

all, about a dozen divers, working Chamber Three; the boys would be

in shifts over three days, would be put on them for the last treacherous

needed to swim the 13 out: four on stretch before the cave entrance.

each of the first two days, and five on On July 6, Saman Gunan, a square-

day three. jawed ex-Thai SEAL, was ferrying air

Two of the lead divers flew in from tanks in the sump between Cham-

Britain: Jason Mallinson and Chris bers Three and Four, his last dive

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READER’S DIGEST

of the day. His dive buddy turned July 8, the lead divers – Challen, Har-
around to find him unconscious. He ris, Stanton, Volanthen, Mallinson
couldn’t be saved. No one knows ex- and Jewell – slipped into the water at
actly why, but he had run out of air. Chamber Three, spaced a few minutes
Gunan’s death unnerved everyone. apart. Harris would stay in Chamber
Nine all day. Mallinson had volun-
On Saturday, July 7, the day before teered to be the first to lead a boy out.
the rescue was to start – and two
weeks since the boys had entered the When they reached Chamber Nine,
cave – Harris and Challen made their Note was readied for the trip. Harris
way to Chamber Nine to examine the administered the shots, and after
boys and calculate how much seda- Note lost consciousness, Harris and
tive each one would need. Some had Mallinson zip-tied his limbs to pre-
symptoms of chest infection, but they vent them from getting injured or
and their coach seemed relatively entangled, and strapped on a pos-
healthy, if rail thin. The doctors also itive-pressure face mask. It would
brought letters from the boys’ fami- feed air continuously to ensure the
lies. “Dad and Mum are waiting to boy kept breathing while comatose.
arrange your birthday party,” Night’s Harris tested the mask seal by dunk-
parents wrote. “Please get out soon, ing the boy’s head into the water. But
and stay healthy.” Note had stopped breathing. Then,
an eternal 30 seconds later, bubbles
Harris would administer a sedative flowed from the side of his mask, in-
so each boy would be calm before dicating exhalations.
setting off. Then at dive time they
would get two injections: ketamine With an oxygen tank now secured
to knock them out and atropine to around Note’s waist, Mallinson
dry up their mouths and lungs so gripped the two straps on the back
they wouldn’t choke on saliva. It was of the boy’s inflatable vest and start-
likely that each boy would wake up a ed kicking, following the guide line.
few times during the three-hour ex- The first section was the longest – a
traction as the medication wore off, 20-minute, 320-metre swim. Towards
and would need to be re-sedated by the end was a choke point; Mallinson
their diver. So each diver was given a had to contort Note’s body to get him
crash course on how to administer a through it.
new shot of anaesthetic.
Note’s head, facing down, inevita-
Despite the meticulous planning, bly struck unseen rocks. His bare feet
the rescuers knew that some casual- dangled low and scraped the sharp
ties were likely. There were just too rocks and gravel on the tunnel floor.
many things that could go wrong. But Mallinson’s mission wasn’t neces-
sarily to bring the boy out uninjured;
Without fanfare, at 10am on Sunday,

134 february 2022

The Boys In The Cave

it was to bring him out alive. His sole soon his breathing stabilised – in fact,

focus was the mask’s seal. If it became he was coming to. Harris knocked him

dislodged, Note could drown. Soon out with another ketamine jab, and

after the two emerged in Chamber Stanton resumed their journey.

Eight, Volanthen, who had been be- Ahead, Mallinson, the first diver,

hind them, arrived with Tern. They was leaving Chamber Seven when he

were followed 20 minutes later by felt Note twitch – he was coming to.

Jewell with Nick. Then one by one In neck-deep water, he pinned Note

each diver and boy entered the sump against a wall while trying to get the

at Chamber Seven and kept going. ketamine from his bag, but when he

found it, the syringes popped out,

“There’s Nothing We Can Do” slowly floating away. Mallinson man-

Back at Chamber Nine, Harris dosed aged to grab one, and injected Note.

the day’s last boy, The last and most

Night, with ketamine. HARRIS challenging choke
For a few moments point was a narrow

he stopped breathing CRADLED THE vertical squeeze from

– then came a slow UNCONSCIOUS Chamber Four to
breath. Stanton nosed BOY’S HEAD, Chamber Three. Vis-
into the canal with the THINKING: THIS ibility was poor, and
boy, watching careful- feeling their way was
ly for the bubbles that IS GOING even more difficult
indicated breathing. REALLY BADLY when holding both the

Some 50 metres out, line and a boy.

he shouted back to Mallinson had

the doctor: “He doesn’t seem to be memorised the squeeze. He pulled

breathing much!” Night was taking Note upright, stuffed him through the

maybe three breaths a minute. narrow opening and slid in behind,

Harris shouted back, “There’s noth- careful not to let go of the boy. It was

ing we can do, keep going!” one of the darkest parts of the dive,

With four boys on their way out, and Mallinson hoped his battered

Harris now set off. Arriving in Cham- ward was still alive.

ber Eight just after Stanton, he saw When they arrived at Chamber

that Night was blue and cold, barely Three, the second-last one before the

breathing. Harris lay cheek-to-sand entrance, Note was unresponsive. A

and cradled the boy’s head, trying to Thai doctor stationed there assessed

keep his airway open. This is going re- his vitals.

ally badly, he thought. But then Night “He’s a l i v e! ” c a me t he c a l l .

began to take sporadic breaths and There was a burst of cheers from

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surrounding rescue-team members. dive, when they’d try to bring four

Now some 1000 metres more had more boys to safety. Nobody could

to be covered to get Note out. First he stop yet – there were dozens of empty

was strapped into a Sked, which was tanks to refill and ropes to tension.

harnessed to a newly built rope-and-

pulley system that would enable the An Unlikely Feat

boys to be lifted over a series of boul- The human shuttle continued for two

ders. After that, the Sked was carried more days. On the second day, Nick,

by another team for more than 60 Adul, Bew and Dom were brought

metres around stalagmites and boul- out without a single incident or scare.

ders. Then, Thai SEALs manoeuvred Harris told a rescue planner, “Man,

the stretcher via another rope system this has never been done before.

down a 45-degree slope to a para-res- We’re actually succeeding at mission

cuer, who carried the impossible.”

boy to Chamber Two. THE But they all knew
On the final stretch, they couldn’t be com-

another Thai SEAL INTERNATIONAL placent. There was a
team hauled Note new threat: the fore-
through 365 metres of RESCUE TEAM cast was for more rain
chest-high water, and HAD WORKED on the third and final
then ran him to the TOGETHER TO day, possibly five cen-
cave entrance. There, ACHIEVE THE timetres. The rescue
he was exposed to his IMPOSSIBLE would be suspended if

first rays of natural there was too much; it

light in more than two could overwhelm the

weeks. pumps that were continuously extract-

As the boys – first Note, then Tern, ing water. But if that happened there

Nick and Night – emerged, ambulanc- was no telling how long they’d have to

es moved them away from the Tham leave the remaining boys, Ek and the

Luang cave and they were helicop- four Thai SEALs in Chamber Nine.

tered to a hospital in Chiang Rai. At Next morning – Tuesday, July 10 –

that point, even their parents weren’t there was a break in the rain. It was

aware of the rescue. But it wasn’t long now or never. They started an hour

before the news leaked: four of the boys ahead of schedule. When the divers

were out, and they were all alive. passed the T-junction they were re-

While the world was learning about lieved to see no clear water in the

the divers’ incredible feat, Mallinson current – Thanet’s diversion system

and the rest of the exhausted team outside was still working.

were busy preparing for the next day’s Later that day, the last boy, Pong,

136 february 2022

The Boys In The Cave

was carried from the cave

and taken to hospital,

where he, his teammates,

and their coach would

remain under observa-

tion for a week. Then, the

four SEALS made their

way out.

As the rescue teams

emerged from Tham

Luang cave to huge

crowds, cheering and Members of the Royal Thai Navy and international
shouts of “Heroes!” and volunteers heading into the cave
“Thank you!” drowned

out the rain. The boys’ parents cried In 2019, the King of Thailand granted

tears of joy. It was over. royal honours on 75 Thai and more

Just hours later, the monsoon rains than 100 foreign rescuers who took

totally sealed off Tham Luang cave. part in this remarkable feat. The

Only the divers and doctors really King honoured SEAL Saman Gunan

understood how unlikely this res- with a posthumous promotion

cue was. They had done something and sponsored his funeral. Craig

unprecedented: extracted 13 un- Challen and Richard Harris were

conscious human beings through jointly named 2019 Australian of

more than two kilometres of jagged, the Year. The four British divers

f looded tunnels without a fatality. – John Volanthen, Rick Stanton,

Military and civilian, Thai and in- Chris Jewell and Jason Mallinson –

ternational, the rescue teams had received gallantry medals from Queen

achieved the impossible. The mis- Elizabeth II and Vern Unsworth

sion had met its objective: the Wild was appointed an MBE (Member of

Boars were going home. the Order of the British Empire). A

Several weeks later, the boys rode Hollywood film called Thirteen Lives

their bikes up the hill to Coach Ek’s (directed by Ron Howard and starring

small temple dormitory to celebrate Colin Farrell as John Volanthen and

Titan’s 12th birthday. It was nearly Joel Edgerton as Dr Richard Harris) is

PHOTO: ALAMY 9pm when the boys cheerily bid Ek set to be released in 2022.

goodbye and pointed their bikes

downhill towards home – betraying EXCERPTED FROM THE BOOK THE BOYS IN THE
not a speck of fear. They were, after CAVE BY MATT GUTMAN, © 2018 BY MATT GUTMAN.
all, the Moo Pa. REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF HARPERCOLLINS
PUBLISHERS.

readersdigest.com.au 137

SELECT EDITIONS

Club

MYSTERIES, DRAMAS, THRILLERS & ROMANCES.
TODAY’S BEST-SELLING AUTHORS

WE SELECT THE BEST, SO YOU RECEIVE THE MOST!
FOUR BOOKS IN EACH VOLUME.

TO JOIN THE SELECT EDITIONS CLUB

PHONE: 1300 300 030
OR GO TO: readersdigest.com.au/selecteditions

PHOTO: ©2021 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Movies

Nightmare Alley Psychological Thriller

I s he beast or man? asks dangerous than he is, and
carnival worker Stan Carlisle together the pair swindle people
(Bradley Cooper) to the out of their money.
gathered audience. With a talent
for manipulating people with a Based on the novel by William
few well-chosen words, the Lindsay Gresham, Nightmare
ambitious carny [carnival worker] Alley delves into the shadowy
hooks up with Dr Lilith Ritter, a world of a shoddy carnival filled
corrupt psychiatrist (Cate with confident tricksters. Also
Blanchett). She is even more starring Toni Collette, Rooney
Mara and Willem Dafoe.

COMPILED BY DIANE GODLEY

readersdigest.com.au 139

READER’S DIGEST

CYRANO Musical/Romance/Drama PHOTOS: (CYRANO) PETER MOUNTAIN ©2021 METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER PICTURES INC;
(AMBULANCE) ©2021 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
T his is an epic reimagining of the 1897 play about a tragic love triangle.
Cyrano de Bergerac, a brilliant poet and swordsman, is played by
Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister from Game Of Thrones). Bergerac falls
in love with his beautiful cousin and good friend Roxanne (Haley Bennett).
Although he dazzles his audience with his wit and swordplay, he believes
his appearance renders him unworthy of Roxanne’s affections.
In the meantime, she falls in love with Christian (Kelvin Harrison, Jr.) who
uses Bergerac’s romantic poetry to woo her.

Ambulance Action/Thriller

A n American adaptation of the
2005 Danish thriller, Ambulance
dishes up plenty of car chases
and shooting action. Decorated war
veteran Will Sharp (Yahya Abdul-
Mateen II) is desperate for money to
cover his wife’s medical bills – who
is in a life-or-death situation. When
he asks his adoptive brother Danny
(Jake Gyllenhaal) for help, the career
criminal offers him a job in LA’s
biggest bank heist. The getaway goes
spectacularly wrong and the brothers
hijack an ambulance with two people
on board. The ambulance is tailed by
police on the ground and from the air
in a high-speed pursuit across the city.

140 february 2022

RD Recommends

PHOTOS: NLA PUBLISHING; TUTTLE; PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE Non Ganbatte! Entangled Life
Fiction The Japanese
Art Of Always Merlin Sheldrake
Flight Of The Moving Forward
Budgerigar PENGUIN RANDOM
Albert Liebermann HOUSE
Penny Olsen
TUTTLE Fungi are everywhere,
NLA PUBLISHING but they are easy to
So many self-help miss. Without fungi,
The budgerigar is one books come across we would not exist.
of the world’s best- my desk promising to They eat rock, make
known and loved birds, make you more resilient soil, digest pollutants,
but many Australians and live a happier produce food, make
don’t even realise it is life. Then I received a medicines and can also
native to their country. little hardback called induce hallucinogenic
In the 1800s, the little Ganbatte! (pronounced visions. Fungi – which
bird went from curio Gan-ba-tay), which is can survive in frozen
to beloved pet after a Japanese word that landscapes, scorching
ornithologist John loosely translates to deserts, on ocean floors
Gould took living ‘do your best with what and even radioactive
specimens to London. you have’. This book environments – give
From that day people comprises 50 short us an insight into
from all walks of life and gentle chapters understanding our
– including royalty, which will help you tap planet, yet they live
heads of state and into your own Ganbatte largely hidden from
Hollywood stars – have and encourage you view. This reader-
had a pet budgie. This to stay motivated in friendly book explores
illustrated history is difficult times. the fascinating world
packed with historical of our most important
artworks, drawings specimen.
and photographs of our
feathered friend.

readersdigest.com.au 141

The Dawn The Best Australian Fiction PHOTOS: MACLEHOSE PRESS; NEWSOUTH, TUTTLE PUBLISHING
Of Languages Science Writing
2021 Strange Tales
Sverker Johansson From Japan
Dyani Lewis
MACLEHOSE PRESS (Retold by) Keisuke
NEWSOUTH Nishimoto
Have you ever
contemplated why If you enjoy reading TUTTLE PUBLISHING
we speak the way about science, then
we do? Or why we this is a great book to Friendly ghosts,
speak at all? Scientist dive into. This easily shape-shifting cats,
Sverker Johansson accessible volume man-eating demons
has. He left his career provides 30 short and cursed people are
as a particle physicist articles from scientists just some of the subject
when he discovered who can communicate matter collected in
the exciting world of in plain English. this book of Japanese
language. Drawing on Australia’s Chief folklore. Complete with
evidence from fields as Scientist Cathy Foley 33 colour traditional
diverse as archaeology, provides a foreword, woodblock prints and
anthropology, and even she, with 30- over 55 black-and-
neurology and plus years immersed white illustrations,
linguistics, Johansson in the world of science, Strange Tales presents
shows us how our was surprised by the 99 spine-tingling
ancestors evolved into inspirational stories she stories about ghosts,
language users, and read, such as how the yokai (apparitions),
the differences and pitch of some whales demons and trickster
similarities between species has dropped animals who inhabit the
languages spoken several tones. Be awed Japanese countryside
around the world. by the mysteries and and have haunted
wonders of science. generations of its
142 february 2022 people.

Podcasts RD Recommends

RD Talks: Case Of The Paint-Spot Murders

Sometimes the smallest remnants of forensic
evidence and tiny clues left behind can help solve
crimes. In this case, detectives were baffled by
two vicious killings until they found minute
specks of grey.

PHOTOS: FROM TOP; SOUND CLOUD.COM; ABC NEWS.GO.COM; MAINTENANCEPHASE.COM; GETTY IMAGES The Dropout: Elizabeth Holmes On Trial

How did the world’s youngest self-made female
billionaire lose it all in the blink of an eye and
face criminal charges and gaol time? And why was
her ‘revolutionary’ medical testing technology
allowed to put patients at risk?

Maintenance Phase

We are bombarded with health information,
often from dubious sources. This well-researched
programme by Audrey Gordan and Michael
Hobbes analyses everything from popular diets
to health scams and exposes junk science behind
health fads.

Sherlock Holmes Audio
Book
Sit back and immerse yourself in
some exciting mystery investigations.
Featuring the brilliant detective Sherlock
Holmes and partner Dr Watson, this
collection introduces listeners to classic
tales such as A Scandal in Bohemia. Search
for Sherlock Holmes on www.youtube.com.

HOW TO GET PODCASTS To listen on the web: In a search engine, look up
‘The Dropout’, for example, and click on the play button. To download: Download an
app such as Podcatchers or iTunes on your phone or tablet and simply search by title.

TO LISTEN TO RD TALKS GO TO
www.readersdigest.com.au/podcasts and click on the play button.

readersdigest.com.au 143

THE
GENIUS
SECTION

Sharpen Your

Mind

Are You A

TINGLEHEAD?

Up to 60 per cent of people experience an intriguing tingly

feeling in their head in reaction to certain sights and

sounds. We investigate the phenomenon of ASMR

BY Helen Foster

144 february 2022

The Genius Section

t feels like tiny bursting stars catch up with people’s experiences,
that begin at the base of my neck and we still don’t know exactly what’s
and then move up and over my going on, but we do know it’s real as
head,” says Judy Bennett. “At it shows up during brain scans,” says
Professor Alais.
“Ifirst, I thought there was some-
thing medical going on – like ASMR expert Professor Craig Rich-

a nerve problem – but then I heard ard from Shenadoah University in the

about ASMR and had a major OMG US is the scientist behind many of

that’s what happens to me. Now I use those brain scans. “The specific areas

it all the time to help me fall asleep of the brain that activate when some-

as it leaves me feeling really relaxed.” one is experiencing ASMR highlight a

ASMR stands for Autonomous Sen- likely involvement of reward chemi-

sory Meridian Response SOUNDS cals like dopamine and
“and it’s a pleasant feel- oxytocin,” he says. Pro-

ing some people experi- INCLUDE fessor Richard say ox-
ence down the spine or WHISPERING OR ytocin is known as the
across the head upon love hormone, and the
behaviours that trigger
exposure to certain trig- SOFT TALKING
gers,” explains Professor its release – touching,
bonding and close per-
AND CRUNCHINGDavid Alais who studies

audiovisual perception sonal connection – are

at the University of Sydney. “It first similar to those that trigger ASMR.

started being talked about around “Oxytocin is known to stimulate

ten years ago, after a single internet feelings of relaxation and comfort,”

poster asked if anyone else felt the he says.

same warm, fuzzy feelings they did Alpha wave activity in the brain

– and hundreds of people replied.” also increases during an ASMR reac-

Next thing someone came up with tion and heart rate falls – by an aver-

a name for it and a new global phe- age of 3.14 beats per minute, accord-

nomenon was born. ing to research at the UK’s University

What sets off the ASMR reaction of Sheffield. Levels of skin conduc-

varies between individuals, but the tivity which measures psychological

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES most common sounds include whis- and physical arousal in the body also

pering or soft talking, gentle tapping, drop. These responses are similar to

crisp kind of crunching sounds and what happens during meditation

crinkling paper. Some people also ex- which could explain why so many

perience tingles from rhythmic sights people feel calmer after watching

like folding laundry or hair being ASMR, and why it might help trigger

brushed. “It’s taken science a while to people to sleep.

readersdigest.com.au 145

READER’S DIGEST

However, not everyone who watch- in the way that people’s brains re-

es an ASMR video gets these reac- spond to ASMR stimulus, experts say

tions so researchers are working hard that it’s unlikely that non-responders

at building a picture of those who can learn to experience it. “You might

do. Professor Richard estimates that find the videos relax you or that you

20 per cent of people experience it enjoy them, but you won’t get the tin-

strongly, and another 40 per cent have gles which are the clear signifier of a

a milder response. true ASMR experiencer,” says Roberts.

A study from teams at James Cook This hasn’t stopped millions of

University in Singapore and Gold- people giving it a go, though. ASMR

smith’s University in London, for ex- is now the fifth most searched for

ample, found that ASMR experiencers term on YouTube (of all time) – to

tend to score highly on feelings of em- compare, singer Justin Beiber is only

pathy, concern and fantasising. “We at number 24 – and you’ll find over

know it’s also likely to af- 13 million ASMR videos
fect those who are better IT’S UNLIKELY on the platform to pick

at monitoring their in- THAT NON- from. And it’s also mov-
ternal feelings and who RESPONDERS ing offline too: in the US,
find it easy to get very CAN LEARN TO you can physically visit
absorbed into a task,” Whisperlodge, an ASMR

says Professor Alais. EXPERIENCE IT live-experience run by

“But we also think Singaporean Melinda

there’s actually a slight- Lauw who says she had

ly different connection pattern in the a “weird liking for certain sounds”

brain of those who experience ASMR,” from childhood. Even Tourism Aus-

says psychologist Natalie Roberts from tralia has harnessed the trend with

Sydney’s Macquarie University. “The its Australia 8D advertising campaign

parts of their brain involved with em- using locally generated ASMR sounds

pathy and emotional connection are such as wombats crunching in snow

just a little more active and they have to promote the country. The cam-

a more blended response to a trigger paign, which ran in countries includ-

than other people do,” she says. ing Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore

In other words, when an ASMR ex- and South Korea, was seen by over

periencer hears their ‘special’ sound, 200 million people.

more parts of the brain switch on in However, if you do discover it works

response than normal and this leads for you, don’t abuse your power. “Our

to reactions that spread far beyond preliminary data shows that about

just hearing the sound. 30 per cent of people who experience

Because of this potential difference ASMR lose the ability for a brief period

146 february 2022

The Genius Section

of time,” says Professor Richard. “And sensation might be your brain’s way
loss was most commonly associat- of saying ‘psst, take a break and do
ed with watching too many videos.” something else for a while.’”
Most people regained their tingles af-
ter a 1-2 week break, leading Professor Hmm, if only that worked for the
Richard to speculate that “the loss of rest of the internet, we’d probably all
get a lot more done!

ASMR ACCOUNTS THAT MAY SOOTHE YOU

If you’re intrigued to discover whether you respond made by people, like
to ASMR, here are a few accounts to try the chewing:
experience. Note that even if you are an ASMR youtube.com/c/
experiencer, not every video or presenter will work Janeasmrr
for you. And, even if you don’t get the tingles you
might feel more relaxed or find it easier to sleep Jimmy Hazelwood
after watching – which can’t be bad. New Zealand is the
tenth biggest searcher
Sleep Whispers then join the 167,000 for ASMR content, and
This podcast is run by people who subscribe Jimmy’s calming Kiwi
Professor Craig Richard to this Melbournian’s accent will make you
and he says people channel at: feel right at home. Pick
using it usually fall youtube.com/c/ from guided
asleep within five LaurenOstrowskiFenton meditations or quirky
minutes: unboxing videos:
Sleepwhispers.com Jane ASMR youtube.com/c/
South Koreans JimmyHazelwoodNZ
Gentle Whispering currently come second
Russian expat Maria is in the worldwide table Dong ASMR
one of the biggest for people searching for Singapore-based
ASMR stars on YouTube ASMR videos and Jane YouTuber Dong Li
with over 2.1 million ASMR is one of the discovered ASMR when
subscribers. Find her at: most popular Korean he couldn’t sleep and
youtube.com/user/ creators with over now combines ASMR
GentleWhispering 15 million subscribers. with comedy. It must
Her videos focus on work as he has over
Lauren Ostrowski chewing sounds which 422,000 subscribers on
Fenton is interesting as many his channel:
If you want calming ASMR experiencers youtube.com/c/
meditation alongside also have misophonia – DongASMR
your ASMR triggers, a dislike of the sounds

readersdigest.com.au 147

READER’S DIGEST

PUZZLES

Challenge yourself by solving these puzzles and mind
stretchers, then check your answers on page 154.

Crossword

Test your general
knowledge.

ACROSS 14 Career golfers (4) DOWN CROSSWORD: CROSSWORDSITE.COM
17 Six-legged 1 Dam across the
9 Strangle (9)
10 ‘Steady state’ creatures (7) Nile (5)
20 Superficial area (7) 2 Second-largest
astronomer 21 Short death notice (4)
Sir Fred H---- (5) 22 Not here (9) continent (6)
11 Creatures (7) 27 Makes sorrowful (7) 3 Timidity (9)
12 A member of the 28 Regulate (7) 4 Old word for a
Senate (7) 29 Essentials (5)
13 Deliberate destruction 30 Genuine (9) young woman (6)
of property (9) 5 Continues

obstinately (8)
6 Telecommuni-

cations device (5)
7 Emotional

outburst (8)
8 Downcast (9)
15 Luxurious car (9)
16 Northern Russian

city (9)
18 Superficial (4-4)
19 Rep (8)
23 Stir to action (6)
24 Something

unusual (6)
25 Animal (5)
26 Absence of

light (5)

148 february 2022