One of the world’s most exotic islands, Sri Lanka boasts diverse culture and religious beliefs, as well as considerable natural beauty. After five decades of civil war, peace in Sri Lanka opened the island to international travel in 2009; a decade later, a burgeoning tourism was nipped in the bud by COVID. Today, we’ll have a guest with great knowledge about the island – from a tourism perspective, in particular – who will share some of his top tips for visitors looking to explore this exotic island off the southeast coast of India, particularly Sri Lanka’s Tamil-majority provinces.

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Vietnam is a fascinating country that continues to get busier by the year as more and more travelers become intrigued and visit this country on the move. With a coastline of more than 3,000km, a varied landscape, and incredible food, it’s hot on many levels. Two destinations in the middle of the country, Hoi An and Hue are mainstays of a full Vietnam travel experience and have been famous for decades. Scott recently visited and today we’ll dive into what a trip to these neighboring cities has to offer and what you can expect on this week’s episode: Exploring Hoi An and Hue, Vietnam.

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French Polynesia is made up of four archipelagos in the South Pacific, spanning more than 2,000 km. Perhaps most famous of the islands, Tahiti, conjures images of a postcard-perfect tropical paradise with coral-fringed lagoons and over-the-water bungalow hotels. But with more 100 islands, French Polynesia is certain to harbor a few travel surprises.

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The Republic of Maldives, is a collection of 1,200 small coral islands in the north-central Indian Ocean, with only 200 of them being inhabited. Famous for luxury bungalows on stilts over stunning clear water, no natural point is higher than 1.8 meters, and there’s a population of less than 600,000. The country stretches 820 km from north to south, and more than and 130 km from east to west, covering a large swath of ocean. Put on a tropical shirt and let’s discover the Maldives with travel writer Tom Masters.

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Welcome travel lovers. On this episode of Talk Travel Asia podcast we’re getting seriously tropical with what we believe are the Best Beaches in Southeast Asia. We’ve done other episodes about beaches in Asia, including Episode 11 – Asia’s Somewhat Secret Beaches, but this time we’re going to touch on some of our favorites we’ve been to in the region. Many listeners in the west are going into winter and no doubt getting cabin fever so we thought this would provide a nice tropical escape. 

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