House of Wonders

Usually when I travel I do everything independently and I'm always on the run, always trying to pack a few more things into each day. The Gap tour has been a good opportunity for me to relax and pace myself, although that does mean that I haven't seen quite as much as I would have if I had done it myself.

This morning was a very mellow day on the Gap tour. I woke up at the Amman Hotel on the North end of Zanzibar, ate breakfast, then was as lazy as possible until about 12:00. I spent a lot of the time hanging around on the perfect white sand beach and talking to a few other people from the tour group. At noon all 22 of us piled into a bus with a local driver and Elbie, our South African guide, and headed back to Stone Town.

Like I said, today was very mellow. There was nothing planned for Stone Town and I really just wanted to have a good meal then take the rest of the day to relax. I did visit a museum called the “House of Wonders” though, which essentially documents the history of Zanzibar and is housed in a nineteenth century palace that was once the largest building on the island. I really wasn't in a museum mood today, but I was glad to be able to do something with my day besides just sitting around and there were a few interesting exhibits in there. My favorite part of the museum was a picture illustrating the trade routes between East Africa, the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia. A caption next to the drawing mentioned that the trade routes facilitated the spread of different cultures between the four regions.

For some reason the map along with that comment really got me thinking about the different cultures I've seen while traveling and how those cultures relate to each other. After visiting East Africa, India, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East (if my two days in Dubai counts), the diffusion of cultures is very noticeable. Buddhism originated from Hinduism which, of course, originated in India. Buddhism is the common link between all of Southeast Asia, the Himalayan cultures found in Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet, and parts of Indian culture. Islam is the common link between East Africa, the Middle East, and Western India. And if food counts for anything, chapatti and curry is everywhere in India, or you can find it in Myanmar, Bhutan, Nepal, Dubai, or down the street in Stone Town, Zanzibar.

Before this trip I had no idea how much there is in common between Southeast Asia and India, between East Africa, the Middle East, and India, and even between Southeast Asia and East Africa. The common denominator in every case is definitely India. India is the big daddy in this part of the world. The cultures and religious traditions that originated or were perpetuated in India spread everywhere and dominate much of Asia and Africa. For some reason that single picture with the comment pulled it all together for me and opened my eyes to all those connections. If there is one underlying theme that unifies my entire trip it would be, ironically enough, the influence of Indian culture in Asia and Africa. The fact that I happened to choose all the right places to visit that demonstrate that so effectively was very unintentional and very fortunate.

Later tonight I went back to Rumaliza with Lori and had another Beef Mutabbaq. The food there is great, but I really went for one of the drinks. Last time I had a fruit smoothie with passion fruit and cinnamon. This time I got the “Blueberry Delight”, which was a mix of pineapple and orange juice, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and big chunks of blueberries and mango. Tomorrow it will be back to camping and eating on a tight budget like only Gap tours can do, so it felt nice today to put a few good meals and a smoothie in my belly.