Cambodia: French Colonial Splendor Meets the Exotic East…Plus: Colombia Rebounds with 8% Yields; Insider’s Guide to Buying in Malaysia; HIRE Act Witholdings: The True Story; Manly Pursuits in Buenos Aires, Argentina…and Much More.
Peter’s hip first started bothering him when he fell hard during a basketball game. He ignored the slight injury and continued to jog on the beach and spike volleyballs with our grown sons (I’m their avid cheerleader). Left unattended, advanced arthritis eventually set in to create agonizing pain. Since we run adventure charters aboard our catamaran Freebird, this was a big problem. Our safety depends on Peter’s good health.
As I laze beside the infinity pool of my apartment, sipping a cool drink, it’s hard to imagine why I didn’t make the move to Malaysia, and the island of Penang, sooner. Property, health care, and the cost of living are generally a quarter of what you would pay in the U.S. The weather is great, the beaches are perfect, and there’s a lot to do. I’m not surprised an increasing number of expats are buying property here.
It’s six o’clock in the morning and I am standing at the water’s edge, a pilgrim at the ancient temple complex of Angkor Wat. Like millions of others who have ventured to this same spot in the 900 years it has been a worthy destination—I’m waiting for the sun to rise. I’m waiting in the quiet of the dawn for that moment when the outline of the five stony-gray towers comes into focus and the ancient temple begins to glow.
The euro may implode at any moment. The euro zone is deep in recession. The slow-motion debt crisis there trundles on. We still don’t know what will trigger a full-scale meltdown. All we know is that there’s now a good chance it will happen.
Is the 30% Federal withholding tax associated with the HIRE Act going to affect you if you have funds in an account overseas? Short answer: No. Misinformation around this has snowballed. Sloppy reporting and a misunderstanding of the HIRE Act means that the mainstream media has repeated common errors instead of going back to the hard facts.
As the saying goes, if you want something done right, do it yourself…When expat and coffee lover Greg Stavroudis first moved to Guanajuato, Mexico, there wasn’t a coffee shop in town that made a proper cup of java, he says. So he opened his own café. Café Tal “was born of the need for decent coffee in Guanajuato,” says the 53-year-old from Tucson, Arizona—a classic case of spotting a need and satisfying it. Today Café Tal, in operation for nearly eight years, is a fixture with both locals and expats.
Buenos Aires is a place where men can still be men. It’s the capital of a country that does macho well, as anyone who has ever had a run-in with a gaucho or a milonguero (the term for the rough-cut male dancers who populate the city tango halls) will tell you. And it still has plenty to offer the unreconstructed male.
South Koreans say that the country’s highest peak, Mount Halla, is sacred. Maybe it’s the scores of blood-red Buddhist temples trimmed in deep turquoise and scattered across the lower elevations. Or maybe it’s the 18,000 gods said to live in the mountain’s ancient trees and caves. Whatever the reason, this 6,400-foot-high mountain—as well as Jeju Island, where it’s located—are special.
Since opening to tourists in the early 1990s, Laos has become a magnet for travelers looking for unspoiled Southeast Asia. Two million people visit each year, drawn by world-class hiking, cycling, kayaking, and more in a pristine natural setting unblemished by development. Traditional village life is the norm. The countryside is dotted with Buddhist temples and ancient shrines.
Ao Nang beach on mainland Thailand is known for its white sands, crystal-clear blue waters, and the limestone cliffs that rise majestically from the sea. There, 83 different islands sit just offshore in the bay. You can hire a local boat to explore, find a deserted beach, or go rock climbing or sea kayaking at nearby Railay Beach.