When we travel, many of us hope to experience an exotic culture or visit a spectacular natural attraction. Often these are chosen based on recommendations from family and friends or may be long-awaited bucket list destinations. Little do many of us know, however, that the United Nations has already selected more than 1000 such sites, hundreds of which are in Asia. These World Heritage Sites are some of the most impressive destinations on Earth, and we’ll discuss some today that you may wish to consider adding to your next Asian adventure, on our second episode about UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Asia.
Continue readingLong after we’ve returned home from our holiday, perhaps even after our memories of a trip begin to fade, our homes may be decorated by a selection of souvenirs we gathered from our travels around the world. Many are tied to memories of a small artisanal village in the mountains or a local friend’s relative who specializes in making cultural curios. These souvenirs can be some of the most special experiences of travel: meeting local people and bringing home a small piece of their culture. Today we’re going to speak to a man helping preserve such traditions and make them available to visitors to Cambodia.
Continue readingHappy New Year – it’s 2017 and our gift to you is a celebratory episode of Talk Travel Asia. Today we’ll revel in our very favorite things about Asia in a multitude of categories from how to get around to where to imbibe and a whole lot in between. We take on a variety of categories from best transport, to airports, best movies theaters and a whole lot in between. This is our Best of Asia from more than 33 collective years living and traveling in the region. Ring in the New Year by celebrating travel and get planning your trip to Asia for 2017!
For Episode 59 we’re running an encore episode from the early days of the show, Episode 12: Phare, The Cambodian Circus with Craig Dodge. For those heading to Cambodia, this is one of the top cultural attractions; for those interested in grass-roots social enterprises, this is a wonderful story. Have a listen and learn about this troupe of performers consisting of disadvantaged Cambodian children.
Ta Keo temple at Angkor Archaeological Park