John Saboe's Far East Travels

Excerpts from "Hiking Seoul, South Korea's Guardian Mountains"East Asia is such a super friendly place for foreigners with efficient subway or MRT lines throughout all major cities including Seoul, South Korea. All stations have English signs and all stops are announced in English. Namsan mountain is the most well-known of the four guardian mountains of Seoul with the famous landmark, Seoul N Tower topping the 262m peak. It’s not a challenging or particularly strenuous hike but it’s a nice break from the chaotic megalopolis below. It’s also a great way to join locals in their everyday activities and experience the fitness and hiking culture of the city. If you start your hike from the gondola station it’s extremely easy to find your way with signs in English everywhere. This is more like a vigorous walk in a park than a mountain hike. No rough trails to deal with. Stairs everywhere and there’s even rubberized sections of the trail to lessen the impact of hiking on a hard surface.When it comes to activities li

Excerpts from Kyoto-City Of 10,000 ShrinesKyoto is located in the central part of Honshu Island, Japan and was the imperial capital of the country for over a thousand years. It is also known as the City of Ten Thousand Shrines. It is an absolute must see on a visit to Japan. Because there are so many sites  I met my expat friend Niall Gibson, who is a guide and travel specialist living in Kyoto to get an expert opinion on what to see in a short time.I first set off on foot near the Yasaka Shrine To get a feel for the city. Wait a minute what the hell is this? Hari Kirshnas? In Kyoto? Well it’s an international city so anything is possible but not my idea of traditional Japanese culture. So I moved on to the Heian Shrine. It is a top ranked shrine by the Association of Shinto Shrines. I made my way to Tenru ji-the head temple of the Tenru branch of Rinzai Zen Buddhism. Construction was completed in 1345 but the temple has subsequently suffered through many fires and the buildings that currently stand here were

Excerpts from "Ultimate Trekking Adventure-Everest Base Camp, Nepal Part 2Having completed one of the toughest days of the trek it was time to move back onto the busy trail to Everest Base Camp. The trail from Lobuche to Gorakshep is only about 5 kilometers but at an average elevation of over 5000 meters it is still challenging, especially when you have a hill to traverse like this one.This is one of the most spectacular panoramas in the entire Himalaya with more up close views of Nuptse. And you’re last look at mighty  Everest in the center  before descending further down into the Khumbu Glacier.Finally you find yourself putting in the last steps to the Base Camp marker at 5360 meters. This was the year that 16 Sherpa guides lost their lives in an avalanche on the Khumbu Icefall. All Everest mountain guides had refused to work the rest of the season out of respect for the victims.  It’s power is best described though in a quote from American filmmaker, climber and 5 time Everest summiter David Brashears. “Th

It’s one of the most coveted treks in the world. Everest Base Camp, Nepal. Far East Adventure Travel is proud to present two podcasts completely devoted to the magic of trekking this region. From crossing the sometimes trecherous Chola Pass to the final steps arriving at Everest Base Camp. And an early morning ascent of Kala Patthar for one of the best views of Everest in all of Nepal. Join me John Saboe for one of Asia’s great adventures. Trekking to Everest Base Camp.Everest Base Camp, Nepal. Right from the start I was in for a hair raising experience. The flight from Kathmandu to Lukla, rated as one of the most dangerous airports in the world is often canceled in October, the busy season due to weather conditions. If it’s not cloudy or windy in Lukla, it is in Kathmandu, making it extremely tricky to complete scheduled flights. You can be stranded in Lukla for days waiting for a weather window. Same this goes in Kathmandu. Days!You can avoid the whole worry of flight delays and dangerous weather conditions