The Spice Route
The Spice Route
When pepper was worth its weight in gold, when nutmeg, clove and vanilla were scarce and dear and the merchants were growing ever richer, the Europeans set forth to break the monopoly of the spice trade.
The Spanish and the Portuguese ventured to search the land where the spices originated. The Italian Cristoforo Colombo found the American continent and the Portuguese Alfonso de Albuquerque found Malacca, the worlds biggest port at that time and the hub of the spice route. The European longing for the spices, was at the root of the endeavors that are remembered as the age of discoveries.
The Spice Islands
The memories still evoke romantic fantasies of expeditions to remote lands, of ships with towering sails, of epic battles, mysterious cultures, of princes and princesses with treasures beyond believe and of perilous adventures beyond imagination. Finally the Moluccas were found, the Spice Islands, from where the seafarers of the Malay Archipelago brought pepper, clove and nutmeg to Malacca.
Chinese junks and Arab and Indian dhows loaded up there to bring the precious cargo home, sailing the Spice Route east and west. After the European quest was finally successful, a new Spice Route was created, supplying Europe directly via Cape Hope.
The junk rigged Malay Pinas Naga Pelangi sails the routes of the spice traders of old, visits historic ports and invites you to join her and try to catch a glimpse of the bygone days of sailing glory.