Far East Travels Podcast

Join me on a walk from The Saigon River to The Notre Dam Basilica(Cathedral), on one of Saigon's most iconic streets, Dong Khoi. During the French Colonial period it's name was Rue Catinat and even today there are still many leftover gorgeous buildings of the era from hotels like The Majestic, Grand Saigon, and The Hotel Continental Saigon, to The Opera House and more. This coincides with my YouTu...

Walk with me as I explore the latest fruit and produce offered at a traditonal non-tourist market in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The Tan My Market is located in District 7, not an area frequented by tourists but many foreigners in here. One of my favorite things always is exploring markets across Asia. The traditional markets actually whether they're frequented by tourists or not are a great way to...

Thanks to Tod Pohlmann of the San Francisco Bay Area for his question about SIM cards in Asia. I hope I've covered off everything you need to know about SIM cards in East Asia, Southeast Asia, or South Asia. If you have any more questions or suggestions for future podcasts I'd love to hear from you. Send me a message either to john@fareastravels.com or on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/FarEastA...

It's always a pleasure to have Niall join me on the podcast for chat about one of the most visited cities in Asia-Kyoto, Japan. Niall has been living in the most traditional city of Japan for over 11 years and has a very extensive understanding of Japanese culture as well as expert knowledge on Kyoto and it's fascinating sites. Niall has been a tour operator for several years and now hosts his own...

I'm sharing some more of my experiences and cost comparisons between Phnom Penh and Saigon. I was asked recently while I was in PP whether it was cheaper than Saigon. The Phnom Penh cost of living is overall 15-18% higher than Saigon. Very reflective in the cost of meals and transportation. You'll notice it almost immediately. Interesting in that Saigon by far exceeds Phnom Penh as a cosmopolitan...

At one time Cambodia was one of the easiest countries in Southeast Asia to obtain a long term visa. Just a matter of applying for an "Ordinary" visa when you arrived and renewing it to a business visa before the 30 days was up and you would have a multiple entry visa good for one year. Things are more complicated now with extensions for people working in Cambodia, retiring, or other categories. Of...

As I settled in after arriving in Phnom Penh after my last visit 4 years ago and felt a comforting sense, a wonderful gift of experiencing so many different cities in and cultures in Asia and recognizing the subtleties of each place. I actually have been trying to arrange a return visit in the last 2-3 years to Phnom Penh but the stars never seemed to line up so perhaps my appreciation for Cambodi...

Having lived in Vancouver most of my life I have lots of great memories and for sometime I couldn't imagine myself living anywhere else, so I have no ill or bad feelings about the place. But I was very surprised to see Vancouver listed as the number 1 most friendliest city in the world on Lonely Planet's Top 10 Friendliest Cities list. Especially when I saw that Taipei, Taiwan placed number 4 cons...

Far East Travels Podcast friend DaveInOsaka joins us from Ilulissat, Greenland for a beyond The Far East episode sharing his journey through this mysterious island full of ice fjords and sled dogs. Dave arrived in Nuuk, Greenland, the capital of the Danish territory via Reykjavik, Iceland before making his way to the most popular destination on the island, Ilulissat, with it's World Heritage Icefj...

Yves Chouinard, the founder of the Patagonia adventure gear and clothing company once said the adventure doesn't begin until the s*** hits the fan. In this episode I share some of my misadventures or mishaps that uncomfortable or a little terrifying at the time, made the trip much more interesting to share. Unfortunately with the advent of Instagram and other platforms too many people gauge the ex...

Demonstrations and the intensity of protests have escalated over the past couple of weeks leading to violence and unpredictability. As a result many countries have increased the degree of caution to their citizens who will be traveling to Hong Kong. Australia, USA, Canada, and others have raised the degree of caution to Level 2 or to "exercise a high risk of caution to their citizens this week. In...

Replacing a passport due to loss or theft is obviously necessary when traveling but what about just a normal renewal process? For many the only time they will ever need to visit their consulate or embassy abroad would be if they have lost their passport or had it stolen. But for those that plan on traveling for several months or longer, or just plan on living abroad indefinitely renewing a passpor...

The latest episode was inspired by a chance meeting with an expat Irishman in Saigon this week. I asked him where he was off to after Saigon. He said to me Thailand, but he had troubles with obtaining Thai visa so he might have to travel to Laos first. I summed up that he had done too many visa runs in a row on exempt entries. Thailand allows many foreigners to visit the country with either a 15 o...

I'm always eager to receive email feedback from listeners of The Far East Travels Podcast. Scott from Utah recently came back from an extensive trip covering Hong Kong, The Philippines, and Taiwan and shares his thoughts and feelings on visiting these three destinations in East Asia. Palawan has been gaining attention especially recently so it was nice to hear Scott's impressions of the paradise,...

Kuala Lumpur easily is one of my favorite food cities. The cultural mix of Chinese, Malay, and Indian cuisines as well as the various dishes that are a result of this meltling pot of cultures makes KL a must do destination for food lovers. In this episode I highlight some of the best places to go to sample food, whether it's Indian in KL Sentral/Brickfields/Little India, Malay/Chinese in Kampung B...

Having access to quality low cost dental procedures is a wonderful privilege if you live in Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam, Thailand, or Malaysia. In this episode of the podcast I discuss average cost of procedures, and realistically what kind of work you could take care of while you are traveling casually through a place like Vietnam. I neglected to mention in the podcast the cost of dental...

Budget airlines in Asia are definitely an economical way to travel with some flights as low as $25USD for a 90 minute trip, maybe even cheaper in some cases. The cheapest flight I've ever booked was an approximately 2 hour flight from Chiang Rai to Bangkok for $28 all in! In this episode I run through for those not familiar with some of the things you should expect to pay for that maybe you're use...

If you are new to trekking and are thinking of going to Nepal to trek Everest Base Camp, The Annapurna Circuit, or Annapurna Base Camp this episode should give you enough details on what to expect on the trek. I talk about accomodations, food, how much and how intense the walking will be and even how much money to bring. I hate surprises and I'm sure you do to so no matter how a place operates if...

Visiting Nepal for the first time and wondering which trek should do? The one you want to do is my straight answer. But I do understand that people sometimes have time constraints so I've offered up some interesting options for short treks as well as a little advice on the more ambitioous treks and of the course one of the most popular Everest Base Camp. Thanks so much for listening? The Far East...

My Expat series continues with Canadian expat DaveInOsaka on life in Japan. Dave has been working and living in Osaka, Japan for 18 years and shares what it's been like for a guy from Hamilton- Ontario, Canada turned English Professor to adjust, live, and work in Japan's third largest city. Dave first left for Japan 18 years ago with a plan of only staying for 6 months to a year. How did a short s...

With the recent mass demonstrations taking place in Hong Kong I thought it would be an appropriate time to review utilizing your country's travel advisory. No matter where you are planning your upcoming trip to, it's always a good idea to check out your country's travel advisory whether it's the U.S. State Department, https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories.htm...

Mark Buckton has been a Sumo commentator and expert guest on BBC and many other radio and TV outlets worldwide. Mark also wrote a column on Sumo for The Japan Times for 12 years. Most recently Mark appeared on CNN International to explain some of the nuances behind U.S. President Donald Trump's May 2019 visit to Tokyo and Tokyo Stadium for a Sumo tournament and President's Cup presentation. Mark h...

Some fantastic tips and suggestions with special guest Australian-born, Asian based pro photographer Craig Ferguson. Craig has a commercial photography business based in Taipei, Taiwan and has an impressive list of clients including, BBC, Air Asia, Lonely Planet, The Wall Street Journal. He recently had a photo shoot with the current President of The Republic of China, (Taiwan), Tsai Ing-Wen. Crai...

The Great Wall and The Forbidden City-two of the world's top sites to visit-why Beijing is on most traveler's bucket lists. I invited travelblogger Bruno Black on the podcast to share insights into visiting the capital of China, as Bruno lived in Beijing for 6 months he has some additional traveler tips and places of interest you should visit besides the top two. Bruno has also spent lots of time...

I do enjoy my visits to Malaysia as always. I've spent lots of time in Kuala Lumpur visiting all of the important sites and enjoying some of Southeast Asia's best food. This trip was no exception. KL is for the most part one of the easier cities to get around with a MRT/LRT train system that for the most part serves all the areas a tourist or visitor would need. There are exceptions but gone are t...