Asia beckons: Uncovering mystical Myanmar and whiskey sipping in tantalizing Taiwan

from the latest on Caribbean cruises to kosher safaris pilgrimages to Jewish Eastern Europe and award-winning wines and international cuisine in sundrenched Tel Aviv sit back and enjoy the trip with the travel edition of the Jerusalem Post podcast hello hello how are you feeling getting better all the time I'm ready to travel I need to go somewhere I love talking to people and talking about places all over the world which one day we hope to go to I'm feeling a bit whatever the opposite of travel sick is lack of travel sick so maybe you know what you need is actually some health tourism that would be good I could do with a really nice spa or maybe a cruise is Cruise Health tourism I guess in many ways it is it sort of can be convalescent it depends if you overdo it on the food and the drink if if you like cruising our last podcast was all about cruising so go back one episode and have a listen the last couple of months we've been interviewing people from lots of exotic places while I've recovered from my travel sickness all of these places I'd love to go to is there a place that you've been looking back somewhere a bit further a field which is a favorite of yours further a field from the point of view of sitting in sort of Europe even though Israel yeah um and not the states either so Japan was an amazing experience something I did 26 years ago going to kyot so going to Hiroshima and and seeing the aftermath of World War II and the tragedies there was absolutely fascinating so yeah Japan definitely high up on the list I was lucky I worked on and off for three years in Singapore and I love that part of the world I made one trip to Thailand as well and it was beautiful I really fell in love with Asia and one of my aims hopefully going forward is to do a bit more travel in Asia I think in that case this podcast is for you and of course although we don't think of it this way for those people on the west coast of the United States so if you're listening in in California in Seattle and so on that part of the world is not as far away as you and I think it is you know it's quite accessible so we're going to be going to two destinations in Asia southeast Asia East Asia over the next half an hour or so the first one of those is Myanmar so we'll learn more about Myanmar about how exotic and traditional it is with our first guest and then we're heading to somewhere that is almost I is a real contrast because it's such a modern Place Taiwan should we do some questions absolutely are you going first or second I'll go second is that because there's something in here that's unpronounceable well there's something in both of them probably there unpr question number one Myanmar is bordered by five canyes India and China are two can you name the other three question number two tyan means southern city in Taiwanese well it does according to google anyway so what does taipe mean the answers at the end of the PO you're listening to the Jerusalem Post podcast travel Edition find us on Facebook Instagram and Twitter at Mark davidp or mailers at Mark davidp pod gmail.com Mark David what's your idea of remote travel something that is utterly different from what you're familiar with I think remote travel for me is when I go to a gym on a cruise ship there's a remote chance of it happening is that what you meant no but I have to say you are very funny and I I know that's like the ultimate praise compliment I can give and we didn't plan that head of time so yeah that was excellent if it involves a tent again no jungles no I'm not a complete city boy but no I struggle a bit with going out in the bush or wherever it is it's funny when I posed that question I wasn't thinking of the generic answers that you gave which are very appropriate I I was thinking more you know a specific Place rather than a jungle or or the forest or a tent I was thinking Antarctica or whatever and I think I'd be be fascinated to go to some of these places maybe to Mongolia or Peru deona but I think I would only go to those types of places for a limited period of time I couldn't see myself spending 4 and a half years in Mongolia for example well our next guest went to a remote destination for 4 and A2 years her name is Jessica mudit she's the author of a book called our home in meand and we'll let her tell you more about [Music] it I have a funny story when I first wanted to go to Myanmar I went to a travel agency this was pre- internet and I said I wanted to go to Myanmar and he sort of looked at me and he went into the back room disappeared for 5 minutes and came back and said I had to look that up in an atlas so he didn't know what me he was like you mean Burma I said yes it's Burma because still probably it's more more people know it as Burma it was a British Colonial Country and that is a Corruption of buma so Burma is the corruption of buma which is the major ethnic group in 1989 the military government overnight changed the country's name to Myanmar and a lot of countries still persist in refusing to call the country Myanmar because that would be agreeing to something that you know was done in a completely undemocratic way you'll also see like Australia for example when things were going well in Myanmar politically our national broadcaster would swap to call in the country Myanmar and then revert to Burma so actually people in Myanmar don't really mind what we call the country they call the country Myanmar it's very complicated and very interesting but they always have done because for example when anang sui speaks in bures she calls the country Myanmar when she speaks in English she calls the country Burma but technically the the country is called Myanmar but you'll even see So Lonely Planet I think it's the only country in the world for the Lonely Planet guide books on its spine it has Myanmar brackets Burma so I like to say Myanmar is such a complicated country the complications begin with its name it's sort of squashed I guess between India and China it's in the Southeast Asian area I wasn't going to bring up politics at this point but you've kind of touched on it and this is a travel podcast so we don't get into the ins and outs and Rights and Wrongs and so on but from the perspective of a listener is it a safe country to visit if you were to visit Yangon which is a cultural capital and you took precautions and you would definitely take out travel insurance you would probably be okay but you are actually prohibited from traveling to much of the rest of the country you could also go to inlan Lake which is a very beautiful up north in Shan State very pristine environment however tourism has been decimated since Co and the coup however I have friends in Yangon they're still working there as expats and tourists are beginning to return Western tourists throughout myanmar's turbulent times there have been tourists going to Myanmar so you would just take precautions in Yangon I would say you you know you'd probably be okay there the book name is a bit of a giveaway but what's your connection to myar why did you end up there I was living in Bangladesh where I was working as a journalist and there was some good news stories coming out of Myanmar and it looks like change was on the horizon and it looked so beautiful in all the photos I'd seen and I had a friend the AFP bureau chief in Ducker who had worked for an Australian publisher who owned the memar times so I emailed him out of the blue and I said please you know can I come across he said I'll give you a one-month trial as a editor at the newspaper and if you pass that you can stay so my cat my husband my Bangladeshi husband at the time we jumped on a plane and uh arrived in Yangon in 2012 and we ended up staying for four and a half years and it was the most remarkable optimistic historic period leading up to these general elections of 2015 the pace of change was unbelievable and it was and it was exciting you know tourism was really taking off then as well and you could go to parts of the country that had not been seen possibly ever really by Western tourists so I've bought two tickets to Myanmar what are the must do things in the country the Musto sites the first Musto is Schon Pagoda and that's in Yangon this is the most beautiful enormous glittering golden Pagoda and you can see it because it's on a hill and because it's enormous from most parts of the city it's an active place of worship and Buddhists from all over the world go towe on Pagoda not to mention the tens of thousands of monks in Yangon who will go there from dawn to make offerings couples will go there and light incense people go on their birthday like a lucky day so it's always amazing and vibrant to go and watch people it changes color throughout the day at Sunset it's crimson and in the middle of the day it's bright gold and at dawn it's sort of a soft yellowy color and it's just very very beautiful and then at night it's lit up so you might be having a beer at a rooftop bar one of my favorite you know memories of Yangon is just and looking at Theon Pagoda and it's quite dazzling and it just makes you think it's incredible what we're capable of building you know 2,000 years ago so you've talked about Yang gon as being the cultural capital but there is actually another Capital you're going to pronounce it for me I think na to nap napy to so what's the difference can people visit the actual capital is it somewhere that tourists would go the question is would you want to go the answer is probably mostly no it's quirky I give it that but it's soulless this Capital was built in secret relocated overnight all the government workers suddenly you know the nation has a new capital it was built on top of a swamp and it's divided into Hotel zones retail zones residental zones it's not a case of build it and they'll come no one came even the embassies haven't moved some embassies have bought plots of land but they're still sitting without an embassy on it I've been to Parliament and it's extraordinary it's enormous but people just they drive up and they drive back so they're really only there for the time but like I've worked for the UN and different agencies and I went and did some training there for the state run newspapers there are some people but it's because it's so massive it's bigger than New York it's just feels really spread out and really really quiet but it's the only place where you have 24-hour electricity and the internet is a good speed and there's like 20 Lane highways that you can play baseball on it's it's odd and it's perfectly neat and it's not like the rest of the country they've built a replica of the shwon Pagoda in Yangon and there's like a zoo where there were penguins that had like you know icy conditions that cost a fortune but it's just no one really wanted to play ball there you've given us a bit of a feel of the modern experience of Myanmar first world question here is a trip to me and I like going back in time do you feel you're in a bygone era it's underdeveloped or is is it something we've not experienced before yeah it is beautiful in that way it does feel like it's been frozen in time and it was essentially Frozen in time so 50 years of self-imposed isolation it has the highest number of colonial buildings in Asia not necessarily the best preserved but in terms of quantity and it does also add a really sort of romantic look to them because there's moss growing on them and there's pigeons nesting in enormous High archways and things when I arrived in 2012 there was no mobile phone there was virtually no internet to speak of all the cars on the road were extremely old beautiful vintage cars kind of like Cuba I imagine you could get a pizza like at one place and then over time like SIM cards came down to a couple of dollars from a few thousand do Service delivery companies like grab came I got a smartphone for the first time you know newspapers were going daily instead of weekly but you still have like the look of everywhere in in Myanmar is people wear traditional dress so men wear lunges which is like a song women also wear the the female equivalent men and women wear Tanica on their face which is a dried back paste which is traditionally a cosmetic but it's also used as like a sunscreen so it's this pale yellow sort of dried clay smeared it can be very beautiful but very unusual very very unusual traveling around mymar you have some amazing experiences like I went to mamine which is where George allwell was posted um in the Imperial police force and I got off the bus and a horse and cart took me to my hotel which was called Cinderella hotel and I thought okay this is something they do for tourists but as we're going there another horse and cart passes us carrying tomatoes and garlic and stuff and I was like this is actually a form of transport and bulck and cart is well you can get around like that's how people still get around it is otherworldly in that way and then of course the cultural Traditions as well these are thousand year old traditions that haven't changed so you hear the chanting in monasteries at night and people walking around with candles and things in like processions it's very special it's a very very special place Are there specific times that are recommended for the brave visitor who's going to come to have the best experience both from the perspective of the seeing that life that you're talking about and then also from the weather perspective in a sense you need to choose between the the Burmese New Year which comes in summer so that's just passed which is called the Water festival because it's incredibly hot and so for a week the streets are closed off and everyone's dunked in water whether it's just buckets or there sort of stages set up everywhere and you go around on your bicycle or on the back of a car or something and you could not go to work without getting wet if you were tempted to go to work but a lot of organizations just they surrender and close for a week because nothing much is going to get done so that's the Water festival called tingon because it's the end of the year and a new year begins you give everyone like a month salary pay you also settle all your outstanding debts if you can to kind of cleanse the bank account and the soul and that kind of thing and it's a family time as well but it's really hot so you may for tourism the high tourist season is the equivalent of a winter and that begins things begin to cool down in November and they're heating up again by February it's diverse in terms of its climate you there's snow in the north which is amazing but much of the country is the PLS and the there's a monsoon season and the monsoon season begins in May and it runs for 2 or 3 months and gets progressively heavier and I would not ad advis to travel during that time because it's rain like you've never seen before you could get 14 hours straight with no break just like Manchester I going to say same I'm from Manchester and Mark moved to Manchester many years ago final question how did people find out more details about visiting Myanmar and more importantly how do they find out about your book I guess I'm a traditionalist I love guide books so I would be going and getting you know the most recent upto-date guide book but that's how I love to see a country and the equivalent you know online I would also check the government travel advisories and you want to do that at the time you book and then just before you go because the situation can change like it can in any country so you want to check out that travel advice and then in terms of my book you can just go online to any online retailer or jessica.com has I also sell the book from my website and there's links to reviews and things like that and that's the same on Amazon and all your big retailers you missed a chance to mention the name of your book again the name of my book is our home in Myanmar four years in yangong h Jessica M you have brought to life something that sounds incred I shouldn't say incredibly unique because it's either unique or it's not but something that just sounds remarkable it sounds like you had a phenomenal experience for four and a half years and I've had a quick dip into the book it's fascinating it's well worth a look and thank you for sharing your EXP experiences with us thanks a lot for having me on your show thank you Jessica Myanmar fact file the main airport is Yangon International other international airports are at Mandalay and napador however there are far fewer flights available in 2023 so flying into Yangon will be the most convenient way to arrive there are no direct flights from Europe and the US to Myanmar you need to fly via Bang Co or Singapore with tight Airways Bangkok Airways Myanmar International Airlines or Air Asia take taxes wherever you need to go there's no meter so agree the price before you set off you can also take a rickshaw for short distances it takes around 45 minutes to travel from Yangon airport to the downtown area the public transport system is avoided by locals unless there's no alternative as it's overcrowded and unrel iable there are no five-star hotels in Myanmar in Yangon you can stay at the Park Royal Inya Lake hotel and panp Pacific Yangon myanmar's currency is the kiat and US dollars are also accepted for higher value purchases from around $20 us notes must be in perfect condition and can't be marked or folded so keep them flat $1 us equals 2100 kiat as of May 20 23 Myanmar has a tropical Monsoon climate with three seasons the hot dry inter monsoonal lasts from mid-February to mid-may it's followed by a rainy Southwest Monsoon from mid-may to late October and then comes a cooler relatively dry Northeast Monsoon from late October to mid February bur's Cuisine is unique its traditional Burmese curries are rich and rather oily and feature prawns fish chicken and pork bures salads soups and curries are eaten with white rice noodles are also popular where dried and crispy soft and thick or tossed through salads a popular dish is fermented tea leaf Salad called lafto which actually contains caffeine it includes fermented tea leaves peanuts crispy noodles and tomato among other things mingia is a fish broth typically eaten for breakfast and is served with noodles and boiled eggs myanmar's ethnic minority groups also have distinct Cuisines such as Shan tomato salad which is available at most Burmese tea houses try a chain called lucky s tea houses or rangon tea house in yangang gun [Music] and now the latest news from the Jerusalem Post podcast travel Edition it's Pride week in Tel Aviv the city is hosting hundreds of thousands of visitors who flock to the Mediterranean Coast for days of parties concerts and the showpiece pride parade the main concert is headlined by Adam Lambert who fronts legendary rock band Queen meanwhile if you're looking for a great concert on the road in North America this year acclaimed rock and roll band aosmith announced details of their farewell tour some 50 years after their formation they'll start in Philly on September 2 and unplug their guitars one last time in Montreal on January 26th I'm looking forward to their next farewell tour after 60 years big news for YZ Island in Abu Dhabi after this podcast chose YZ as our first ever overseas destination SeaWorld have followed suit opening its first marine life theme park outside the us you can sample more than 100 animal experiences 35 rides and performances and 17 dining options Yas also hosts Ferrari World Warner Brothers World climb and the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 circuit there'll soon be more competition on the transatlantic routes between London and New York and Los Angeles new Airline Global announced the purchase of the first of four a380s the company plans on flying from spring of 2024 and for those of you looking to cut waiting times at benguan airport departures you'll be pleased to know there are new self-checking machines including luggage tags you can use them if you are flying with LL Turkish United cath Pacific Lanza Austrian Swiss and Air Canada but remember folks there's still the security line to overcome [Music] this is Mark Gordon from the Jerusalem Post podcast travel Edition find us on Facebook Instagram and Twitter at Mark davidp pod or mail us at Mark davidp pod [Music] gmail.com about 3 months ago you and I went on a wander around a travel Fair and we were able to sort of travel the world in a day mhm one of our stops was in Taiwan where we sat with the representative of Taiwan in Israel and had a fascinating conversation predominantly as is our want about traveling to Taiwan and when we finished our conversation we said now there is somebody that we have to get onto the podcast so we asked all the same questions again it's our pleasure to introduce you to yapping also known as [Music] Abby arrive e about a year ago I'm three old and honored to serve in this ancient country and modern State and promote the bilateral relations of our two countries which have so much in common and thank you for having me today in the show excuse my ignorance and also to help our listeners is there a difference between Taiwan and taipe I always get the two of them confused Taiwan is the country name also known as a Republic China taipe is the capital of Taiwan located in the northern part of this island country don't think this is the reason that we've asked you here but I read an article recently and the article was headlined Taiwan is paying tourists to travel there is is that actually true and when do I get my money isn't that exciting taian welcomes International tourist to come and now we really off the about ENT dolls 5,000 n dolls approximately $65 us this is a lucky draw prices for international Travelers who stay in Taiwan from 3 to 90 days tourists have to apply to join the Lucky Draw before entering Taiwan the Lucky Draw takes place in the arrival hole of the airport so as soon as you arrive Taiwan you can try how you is and if you don't win you can fly back or we still welcome you with our open arms so one of the highlights from a tourism perspective of of Taiwan would you say that it's a place that you go just for a couple of days City break or is it a place that you can spend a lot more time Taiwan is well known for it safe convenient public transportation very developed hospitality industry sey food and exide night life including a lot of bars so it's surely an ideal destination for City bre however Taiwan has much more to over Taiwan is a beautiful island country filled with a beautiful National Park WIS Sun beaches and lot of history and tradition there's never a down moment when you visit Taiwan for the first time visitors best things to do in Taiwan includes visit the Buddhist temples a tour in the National Palace Museum with the largest collection of ancient Chinese artifacts in the world check out the view from the iconic building in taipe 101 which is the tallest building in Taiwan eating at the bastl N Market having amazing food with M prices show hike to Elephant Mountain in Tye City for a pites sunset launching a Latin sky in jofen and visit the waterfall enjoying the H spring and tracking in tyo Gorge biking around the Romantic Salon Lake in general Taiwan suits every type of Travelers you can go to Taiwan for food for culture Hospitality nature and much more you're going to enjoy taipe 101 David I know how you love really we we were in Dubai and we didn't make it up the birs KE for that in fact that was both of us but taipe 101 is the second tallest building in the world isn't it D is more like a city boy Taiwan I believe is about the same size as Maryland in the United States but does size really matter when it comes to tourism Taiwan may be small in terms of size but it doesn't really matter when it comes to tourism we receive about uh 12 million tourists around the world before covid and our tourism Market revive rapidly post pandemic Taiwan is DED as a hidden gen in Asia with diverse culture friendly people delicious food and beautiful nature we are ready to embrace more Travelers uh to experience the vitality and the warmth of the Taiwan and the warms of a Taiwanese people as you can see I don't shy away from food um and I I do love food from that part of the world are there some traditional Taiwanese dishes do they vary from what we would see as Chinese dishes that we can get in Israel and in North America what are the traditional Taiwanese Foods Taiwan is a paradise for Foodies they are diverse food from conditional to Wern froml Market to miching Star restaurants the most ionic traditional Taiwanese uh dishes are beef noodles steaming buns dumplings rice cake Hot Pot Scar and pancake stinky tofu and bubble tea did you say stinky tofu yes I really encourage you to try the stinky tofu at the night market they will be amazing unique experience it's a deep fried fermented tofu and you eat with a tofu with a kimchi very delicious I just love the marketing there of stink even though the the name of itself doesn't sound very attractive however the food itself is very attractive and tasty so a lot of our listeners as you know are Jewish either from Israel from North America from around the world who are listening to you right now is there much of Jewish interest what about kosha food what you know what's the experience like for somebody who's traveling and is interested in getting that Jewish experience at the same time just I mentioned Taiwanese people are friendly and welcoming even though the Jewish community in Taiwan is around 1,000 people relatively smaller Taiwan is the least anti-semitic country naturally Taiwanese hold very positive views of a Jewish people we Embrace Jewish culture and tradition with open arms so far there are three cagon habah house and Jewish cultural center with nice modern cultural restaurant what about yourself when you go home what's the first thing that you do to sort of relax after the you know the busy work that you're doing in in the Middle East with all that it's you know the pressures of here so when you go home what's the first fun thing that you do to relax maybe tourists would also enjoy first thing thing I would do is to take off my high heels lie down on sofa with a glass of calan whiskey which is produced in Taiwan okay that's a fantastic answer not one that I was expecting good for you so how do people find out more if they are interested in sampling the whiskey and all the other wonderful things that you've described to find out more powerful information about Taiwan you always can visit the official weite site of uh Taiwan tourism Bureau which is uh taiwan. net. PW or the Facebook page of the representative office my office uh which is Taiwan at Israel and of course we hope uh David Mark will have more travel episode on Taiwan so the audience will know more about Taiwan and also hope you can come visit this beautiful island soon we will awaiting your invite and we would be more than happy to come and produce a podcast in Taiwan it would be a pleasure yeah they will be wonderful and you can guarantee that on that podcast we will be eating stinky [Laughter] tofy whiskey and maybe even climbing taipe 101 representative ABY Lee from The taipe Economic and cultural office in Tel Aviv thank you very much for being on our podcast thank you so much Taiwan fact file currently there are no direct flights from Israel but you can connect via Turkish Airlines Emirates cath Pacific and Korean Air or with l through Bangkok and Tokyo connecting with Eva and China Airlines there are direct flights from Europe and the USA to Taiwan with taiwan's National Airlines with China Airlines from London Frankfurt Vienna Amsterdam San Francisco Los Angeles and New York ether air from Paris Seattle and Houston and starlux Airlines from Los Angeles there are a few ways to travel to downtown Taipei from Tower airport it takes around 35 minutes from tan by Metro to taipe Metro station there are two buses that stop at both terminals 1 and two and take you to the city center one to taipe main station and the other to taipe City Hall bus station a single ticket costs around $4.50 taxes take 50 minutes and cost around $40 for a luxurious stay try the Grand Hotel Taipei a 14 story Palace likee building that faces the keyong river or for a contemporary option the esite hotel run by a famous bookstore chain and located in the cultural and creative Park in taipe $1 us will buy you 30 Taiwanese dollars as of May 2023 taiwan's weather is warm all year round and the further south you go the warmer it will be there is no severe cold in Winter the weather in summer is hot and humid light rainfall can occur throughout the year for food a must visit is ding Tha Fong founded in Taiwan in 1958 it has grown from a mom and pop restaurant into an internationally recognized brand bubble tea originated in Taiwan in the early 1980s it contains milk tea and flavored tapioca balls taiwan's Street Markets offer a wide variety of cheap delicious food look out for the shillin night market in taipe there are some 6,000 vegan or vegetarian restaurants across Taiwan and kosher food is available in The JCC I know I say this after most of the podcast but there's two more added to my to-do list of places to go as I said at the beginning I do love Asia and I haven't been to Asia enough I now have two more targets to aim at and as I said at the beginning incredible contrast between those two destinations there is a big distance between them but from us sitting in sort of our European North American vantage point it's kind of we Club them kind of together because it's oh it's over there somewhere far away but they are so different and like like you said both sound absolutely fascinating massive thanks to Jessica for bringing Myanmar to life just a really really interesting story and a special thank you to representative yapping or Abby for bringing Taiwan to us if you would like to hear about another destination in Asia or somewhere else in the world that we haven't covered or that you'd like us to return to do let us know either atmark davidp pod across social media or mail us Mark davidp pod gmail.com if you enjoyed this episode and you did I don't know there were bits where you were talking if you want to listen to any of our 59 previous episodes please go back through our library you can listen to us on Apple podcast Google podcast Spotify or whatever podcast provider you use give us a fstar rating and say how much you like the Pod even if you didn't and if you would like to hear our next 59 or 60 episodes then hit the Subscribe button and you won't need to go searching they'll come straight into your podcast box time for the quiz answers sure Myanmar is bordered by five countries India and China are two can you name the other three mark um Thailand yes yeah that's me done no I want you to pronounce the middle one Mark's reading the answers okay are you ready yeah Bangladesh well done and the third one la ah now that's the question is it LA or is it Lao I don't know but you've got an s on the end so I so we're going to have to have somebody on the Pod or we're going to have to go to LA or La us to figure out how to say the name is it thailan or Thailand why don't you get on with question number two my friend tyan tyan means southern city in Taiwanese so what does type mean I'll give you a clue taipe is towards the north of taian at least you know where you are when you're in Taiwan as long as you speak Taiwanese that's it folks enough of our nonsense we hope you've enjoyed this pod and that you'll join us again in two weeks time or if you're from Britain in a fortnite for the next edition of the jerus post podcast travel Edition it's going to be a good one as well cuz it involves food folks take care bye-bye [Music]