As expats who have lived in Asia for almost 25-years each, we recently got thinking about our proximity to famous, royal palaces. Scott is not so far from Bangkok’s Grand Palace and Trevor for many years lived very close to Cambodia’s Khemarin Palace. That got us thinking about other royal palaces we’ve been to throughout Asia, along with ones we have not yet visited. Then we wondered what constitutes a royal palace? We bumped into our friends Greg & Ed from the Bangkok Podcast, mentioned this to them, and realized we had a good episode on our hands, but it would be a heck of a lot more fun to chat about this as a foursome. So here we are, our second crossover episode together, where we’ll explore the royal palaces of Asia.
Continue readingRoad trips are one of travel’s great forms of adventures. From the Griswald’s cross-country family vacation to Wally World to my own explorations of Eastern Cambodia to design tours for international visitors, the road trip is a time-honored tradition. Nowadays, one might imagine traveling by camper-van to Mexico or Central America, or even renting a car in the north of Japan and driving it south from island to island, but who would ever imagine taking a road trip by car from Myanmar to Holland? Well, our guest Edwin Briels did just that, and today he’s going to share how it all went down. Buckle up!
Continue readingThe Mekong is one of the world’s great rivers. Covering a distance of nearly 5,000km from its source on the Tibetan Plateau in China to the Mekong Delta in Viet Nam, the river flows through six countries: China, Myanmar, Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia and Viet Nam. Its basin is home to one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world, with more than 20,000 plant species and 850 fish species discovered to date. An estimated 80% of the nearly 65 million people living in the Lower Mekong River Basin depend on the river and its rich natural resources for their livelihoods, making sustainable development crucial for the environment and communities living in the basin.
Continue readingThe Mekong is one of the world’s great rivers. Covering a distance of nearly 5,000km from its source on the Tibetan Plateau in China to the Mekong Delta in Viet Nam, the river flows through six countries: China, Myanmar, Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia and Viet Nam.
Continue readingTravel creates opportunities to try new things, learn about the world, meet inspiring people, be active, and disconnect from daily life. But travel has largely come to a standstill and the tourism industry has required novel solutions to survive. Our guest today will discuss how he’s making it possible for underprivileged young people to gain travel experiences and the benefits from travel in order to help transform their lives –and help keep tourism providers afloat. Listen to this week’s episode of Talk Travel Asia podcast to learn about how tourism can help children in Asia by Sharing the Wonder.
Continue readingExperiencing animals in Asia can be one of the most interesting parts of your travels. The animals you will encounter while traveling in Asia are often exotic: certainly different from the animals found in most visitor’s home countries. From elephants to street dogs, you’re bound to have at least a couple interesting animal encounters and experiences as you travel through Asia (and a few animal tales to take home as souvenirs). After living in the region collectively for more than four decades, Scott and Trevor have had some fun, at times unnerving, and often unique animal experiences in Asia, which they share on this week’s episode of Talk Travel Asia podcast: Animal Tales: Experiencing Animals in Asia.
Continue readingHere on Talk Travel Asia podcast, we explore a variety of destinations across Asia, including the things to do and see, where to eat and shop, and even where to stay. Sometimes these are up-and-coming places, often they are off-the-beaten-track, and once in a while well-trodden, but almost always they are worth a look and certainly deserving of conversation. And then there are the many other places that are sometimes discovered by accident, perhaps on a fourth visit, or because a friend in-the-know put us on to it. These hidden gems are often the most memorable. While risking putting some of our favorite hidden gems on travelers’ radar, we’re willing to take the risk.
Continue readingOn this episode of Talk Travel Asia podcast we explore riding Asian trains. Train travel is one of the most in-touch and connected ways to travel. Many a novel has been written around such journeys and the romance therein. With the advent of air travel and the cost of doing so dropping, train travel has become not as economical as it once was. At the same time, many countries are upgrading their rail systems, and others still rely on decrepit ones, which can be part of the appeal and charm. On this episode we’ll chat with train travel expert, Mark Smith, also known as The Man in Seat 61, who maintains the world’s top website for train travel information.
Continue readingMany countries in SE Asia have a sordid and fabled reputation. From movies about mercenaries trying to free POWs in the jungles of Vietnam to novels of colonialism and forbidden love, the region has served as a backdrop for more than a few of the world’s great tales and legends. Some true, others not so much. On this episode we’ll chat with American journalist, radio broadcaster, and documentarian, Patrick Winn about his life covering truly wild sides of life in one of the world’s most colorful corners.
Dolphins on the Irrawaddy River: Photo courtesy of Paul Eshoo – Living Irrawaddy Dolphin Project
Myanmar is a country steeped in mystery and controversy. More or less closed to the outside world for 50 years by a military government, it opened up in 2012 and looked like it would soon become SE Asia’s hottest travel destination. It did take off, but hotel prices went through the roof, many people began to question the value of the rising cost of travel there, numbers tapered off, then the Rohingya crisis kicked off, seeing tourism numbers plunge by at least 40% in 2018. Whether or not you should travel to Myanmar is something we’ll leave to you to decide, and instead focus on our travel experiences to three of the country’s hotspots: Bagan, Mandalay and Inle Lake.
Yangon, formerly Rangoon, the capital of Myanmar, formerly Burma, is an exotic sounding name. In the early 1900s, it was one of the most developed and sophisticated cities in Southeast Asia. The elite sent their children there for school, commerce was booming, British, Indians, Burmese, and people from around the world mixed and mingled. And then things changed. In 1948 Burma got independence from the British. Then in 1962 the military took power for almost 50 years, finally loosening their grip in 2011.