Hamba Travel Magazine
Stories
From a detour close to home to a long road through East Africa. Pick a part of the world, or read them in order.
All stories
Stories about Asia
42 stories from our editors. Filter by part of the world, or page back in time.
Europe · Plaça Reial · Piazza Santo Spirito
Ten Squares That Change After Dark
At sunset, restaurant stalls fill Jemaa el-Fna and listeners close around storytellers who adjust each performance to the crowd. Elsewhere, evening brings aperitivo tables, commuter tides, street food, ceremonies and concert audiences to public ground.
South America · Europe · Middle East
Eight mineral landscapes shaped by salt, iron and hot water
On Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni, a hard white crust runs towards an empty horizon. Elsewhere, iron colours whole mountains red, hot springs build terraces, and Roman miners have left cliffs behind.
Europe · Asia · Netherlands
Eight islands for taking the long way round
On Schiermonnikoog, low tide exposes the mudflats. On Yakushima, rain feeds cedar forest above the ferry ports. These eight islands suit travellers who would rather follow a path, a shore or a working harbour than race between sights.
Europe · Asia · North America
Eight deltas shaped by water and work
From Botswana’s inland floodplains to Argentina’s tidal islands, eight deltas show rivers at work in very different ways: feeding fields, carrying boats, building marshes and supporting communities at the water’s edge.
Myrdal · Flåm · Bernina Pass
Eight Journeys Where the Way There Is the Point
At Myrdal, the Flåm Railway leaves Norway’s main line and begins an 866-metre descent towards the fjord. Tunnels, ledges and tight curves make the movement downhill more compelling than the arrival.
Europe · Asia · Central America
Eight cultivated landscapes, from Douro vines to Kericho tea
A dry-stone wall in Portugal holds vines to a schist slope. On Bali, water runs from mountain channels through temples and down a chain of rice fields. Below the Andes, old irrigation ditches carry meltwater to Malbec vines. These eight regions show farming not as a backdrop but in the walls, canals, food and daily work that give each landscape its form.
Asia · Europe · Middle East
Eight cities where cultures still share the street
A Hindu temple and a mosque stand among the shophouses of Singapore’s Chinatown. In Sarajevo, a short walk runs from an Ottoman bazaar to Habsburg-era façades. In these eight cities, history still shapes worship, trade, food and ordinary street life.
South America · Ecuador · Azores
Eight archipelagos where the boat still matters
A ferry from Bodø reaches Lofoten beneath granite ridges that rise almost straight from the Norwegian Sea. Across these eight archipelagos, ferries, island flights, small launches and expedition ships make arrival part of the place.
Asia · Thar Desert · Gobi, Mongolia
The world’s 10 most remarkable deserts, ranked
In Egypt’s White Desert, wind-blown sand has carved snow-white chalk into mushrooms, cones and solitary towers. This deliberately subjective ranking weighs access alongside landscape and distinctive character, so a spectacular place can fall when reaching it requires a serious expedition.
Brazil · India · Pantanal, Brazil
Top 5 wildlife encounters that keep animals wild
These five encounters differ in more than their headline animals: one unfolds from a riverboat, another from a jeep, snorkel, tundra vehicle or ranger-led walk. Each depends on a habitat that concentrates wildlife at certain times, but none offers a guaranteed sighting.
Middle East · Asia · Oman
The Carved Doors of Mombasa Old Town
In Mombasa Old Town, carved timber marks the boundary between the street and the rooms beyond. Teak, brass, floral carving and geometric grids show how a Swahili port absorbed ideas and materials from across the Indian Ocean.
Asia · Philippines · Indonesia
Asia’s five most exceptional beaches, ranked
Natural beauty alone does not settle this ranking. These five beaches are judged equally on scenery, swimming or snorkelling, access, crowd levels and the season in which each one is at its best.