![Conserving The Last Frontier](https://cdn.magzter.com/1334720108/1689931267/articles/pxFsS6hkR1689933359034/Rehabilitation.jpg)
We are told that the furthest reaches from civilisation are untouched and pristine. That days are spent under blue skies and swaying palm trees. That gentle waves lap the shore hypnotically. That birds sing to the rising sun and owls whoop to the rising moon. This is the idyllic tropical setting of our dreams. This is the last frontier. This is the Mergui Archipelago.
By the time we reach the stilted villages along the coastline, we wonder what lies ahead with a sense of foreboding. The stench of decaying seafood is almost unbearable. It is the end of April and an unforgiving westerly monsoon has washed ashore. The only vessel available to take us across to the island is an old longtail boat. The tide is dry and the captain has to wait. After hours pass, the tide is finally in our favour and the wind has stopped, but it is twilight. The sun is setting in an hour, but we must press on. This is Myanmar and it is not permitted to stay in the village overnight. If we do not make this passage, we will have to turn back to Khawthung, where there are designated hotels for foreigners, and we will lose a day.
There are silhouettes of islands on the horizon backlit by the glow from large fishing vessels. In calm weather, our boat might reach the island in four hours. But we estimate it will take six. We sleep and awake, and repeat, under the canopy of the loud and bone-shaking longtail. The only consolation is that the rain has stopped and the sky has cleared. Our inky ocean is illuminated by a silver moon.
Denne historien er fra AG 159-utgaven av ASIAN Geographic.
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Denne historien er fra AG 159-utgaven av ASIAN Geographic.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
![The Mighty Yellow](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/717/1790442/hp44Mu3uU1722941290763/crp_THE-MIGHTY-YELLOW.jpg)
The Mighty Yellow
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Wildlife Big Yellow Beauty
The popular "amelanistic" form of the Burmese python is considered among the most beautiful snakes - if that's your sort of thing
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All That Glitters Is Gold
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Chengdu Hotel Spotlight TRIKA TSANG INTERNATIONAL HOTEL
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Conservation Yellow in Peril
While the demand for use in traditional Chinese medicine is putting seahorses under pressure, it is damaging non-selective fishing that is driving depletion
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Revealed Doctor Yellow
Japan Railways' special lemony Shinkansen is a rare sight to behold
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History Spiritual Rebirth
During the Spanish Golden Age, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan achieved the first European navigation to Asia via the Pacific, arriving in the Philippines in 1521 and claiming the islands for Spain. But by converting the first Filipinos to Catholicism, Magellan also instigated the Christianisation of the entire archipelago, a spiritual rebirth celebrated through the two most important festivals in the Philippines - Fiesta Señor and Sinulog.
![Green Dreams](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/717/1594102/b3OMB2OAr1707301533117/crp_GREEN-DREAMS.jpg)
Green Dreams
With its tea plantations and rice paddies, dense jungles and expansive forests, the region is well known as a green paradise. But many of the most impressive Asian landscapes have names you may never have heard of. Journey with us as we reveal just some of the incredible locations that make the rest of the world green with envy!
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Life On The Edge
In the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, in the remote northern Russian Far East, indigenous ethnic groups like the Chukchi and the Yupik live in the most extreme conditions, hunting seals in their traditional kayaks as they have for millennia
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The Karakoram Anomaly Decoded
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