We actually met the speaker coming off the elevator when we were heading to the solo meet up. He also happened to be joining the group. His name James Grant-Peterkin. 

The Portuguese were the first of many to “discover” & colonize this area.  The Dutch influence in Indonesian (Melucecas islands) and French in Vietnam. This area had British influence but Thailand had never been ruled by Britain nor any other country. Mostly the explorers came because of trade…. silk, gold, spices, etc. Because of the expeditions there was also an exposure to & exchange of religions.  

The book Travels of Marco Polo, written in 1298, inspired exploration. Polo purposely didn’t tell all because he thought Europeans couldn’t accept all the knowledge he had acquired. 

The Straits of Melacca, a highly active route… is the key to international trade to this day. Spices that they were in search of  back in that era, was not just for flavour but to hide the taste and smell of rotting meat…. also for making perfume, creating wealth. Spices were used also in making health concoctions. Indonesian has 17,000 isles of which 

Moluccas, a group of Indonesian islands formerly known for their exclusive production of nutmeg, mace, and cloves. They opened the sea route on return to Asia by land, because of costs charged to go both directions.  Dias was first to find east route…. around the tip of Africa. Dias did not venture farther though but others did. 

Christopher Columbus used the writings of Marco Polo to find his way to the Americas in October 11/1492. He was actually searching for the East Indies. The people that he saw though didn’t look like the East Indies peoples he was expecting nor did they have the spices, etc. Amerigo Vespucci actually named Americas. Vasco de Gama found a route to India, Magellan, then Francis Drake circumnavigated world. 

Because of these attempts to find the best routes to the Spice Islands, the globe was explored.