Heritage

Gold mining has sparked a clash between illegal diggers, artisanal mining associations and large multinationals

After decades of wars and violence, from the Vietnam War to the Killing Fields of Cambodia, peace now reigns across Southeast Asia. Even in Myanmar, war-torn for decades, peace negotiations are underway. But one war stubbornly remains: It is brutal and merciless, backed with the harshest laws and toughest police action, but is nevertheless apparently intractable and unwinnable. This is the drug war.

You have heard of Alexander the Great and Hannibal, but it’s likely that the greatest general and military strategist of all has passed you by. Subotai led the largest and most devastating horse-borne force ever seen, and conquered territories stretching from Hungary and Syria in the West, to Vladivostok and the Sea of Japan in the East.

Before Abraham and what we know as the three Abrahamic faiths, there were already those who worshipped one god: the Zoroastrians, or Parsis, as many of the modern-day adherents of the religion are known. A small community, who traditionally marry amongst themselves and have no doctrinal requirement to proselytise, their history and the tenets of their faith are poorly understood by outsiders. But the impact of their ideas over the past 3,000 years has been nothing short of revolutionary.

Petra sits at the crossroads of Arabian, Assyrian, Egyptian, Greek and Roman cultures. Here in the peace of the Jordanian desert, Justin Ong explores the routes and ruins of the Nabataean city, a civilisation ahead of its time.

In Gunkanjima, ghosts live on in the memories of former inhabitants of the fortress island. The site has since been registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site at the behest of those born there, who hope that all who henceforth visit the island can learn from Gunkanjima's rise and fall.

Muay Thaai, otherwise known as ‘The Art of Eight Limbs’, is Thailand’s form of boxing that makes lethal use of eight contact points of the body, including the hands, shins, forearms, knees and feet. It has become one of the primary reasons for martial arts devotees to visit the country – from the serious practitioner training for the next fight, to the casual tourist looking for a little physical conditioning between days on the beach.

Indian kushti is considered the predecessor of all wrestling. It is undergoing a revival despite the tug-of-war between tradition and modernity.