Bali’s Friendly Fire Wars
Come Nyepi, Perang Api – a traditional fiery ritual to banish old wrongs – is all the rage in remote villages
Travel Mongolia: Traditional Customs
The diverse terrain of Mongolia has wrought a unique culture born of the steppe, desert and city— we delve into some practices that have been given UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status.
Sports Heroes – Part 1
Past but not forgotten sportspeople who have left their marks
Never-Before-Seen Sports at the Asian Games
Three new extreme sports have found their way into this year’s Asiad lineup, and all of them take place outside the stadium. We take a look at what to expect from these new events
Cebu Celebrates – The Kaumahan Festival
Text & photos by Rudi Roels
When I travel to Asia, I try to choose my travel dates so that they match up with the...
Chiang Mai’s Three Traditional Handicrafts
Thailand's northern city of Thailand was once the center of knowledge, architecture and commerce. Traders and travellers alike brought with them handicrafts like silverware, parasols and woodcarvings, all of which are still made today.
The Face of Islam: In Praise of an Inimitable Creation
Text & photos by Sophie Ibbotson & Max-Lovell-Hoare
It is often said that Islam does not permit the portrayal of living things in art but,...
Pilgrims to the Centre of the Earth
They were all waiting for the same thing. When a squawking chicken tumbled over the volcano’s rim into their line of sight, nets moved in unison trying to predict the hapless fowl’s trajectory. Only one villager might have enough luck to bag the bird; while others can only wait for more to come.
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The Pyramid of Gunung Padang
Megalithic site in Indonesia could be the oldest in the world
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PeruGunung Padang is once again making headlines as the first pyramid in Southeast Asia and the oldest megalithic site in the world.Recent discoveries as deep as 90 feet found the hill-pyramid to contain...
Asia’s Sweet Success: The History of Ice Cream in Asia
by Selina Tan
The concept of a frozen dessert is one that goes back thousands of years. By pouring a mixture of salt and ice over containers of liquid syrup, the Chinese were creating a rudimentary form of ice cream as long ago as 2000 BC. The resulting frozen product...
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
(Photo: Graphicaartis/Corbis)
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon has captured the imagination of historians worldwide for centuries. Yet, its existence remains a debate as years of digging have turned up nothing about the lost Gardens.First described in a book called Babyloniaca by a Chaldean priest named Berossus in 280 BC, the...