Ambon I spent five days in Ambon, the capitol of the Spice Islands. These Indonesian name for the islands is the Malukkahs. These islands were once the only source of Nutmeg.  Mace and cloves were grown as well. The spice trade dates from at least the first century, when it was documented in Roman texts.  The Portuguese were the first colonial power to arrive, settling on Melekah in 1509. They were never able to conquer all of the islands.   The much better armed Dutch arrived at the end of the 16th century and settled on Ambon, and over the next several decades defeated all opposition, establishing a monopoly on the spice trade in the process. The various Dutch trading companies were consolidated into the Dutch East India Company, or VOC. The Dutch left a rich historical legacy, the remnants of which can be seen in various locations throughout the islands. After Indonesia gained independence from the Netherlands in 1949, a brief rebellion broke out and an attempt was made to establish the Malukkahs as a separate nation. The rebellion was quickly put down by the Army. We only visited the largest of the islands, but it was very pretty.  The climate was similar to that of Bali, with temperatures in the high 70s and moderate humidity. Getting there was a bit of an adventure.  There are only a few flights a week, and the planes are 20 seat turboprops that tend to bounce around a bit.  It's quite safe, but is a bit of an adventure.  Spices are still grown on the islands, though they are no longer important.  Fishing, logging and mining operations are the major enterprises, while coffee, rice, sago and fruit are the main agricultural products.  Ambon is quite different from the other, larger Indonesian islands, and has a bit of a Polynesian feel to it. The central market, a covered area composed of dozens of small shops, sits right on the water in downtown Ambon.  It is a terrific place to visit.  There it's possible to sample a variety of native Indonesian fruits, vegetables and spices.  You really haven't had nutmeg and cinnamon until you've had them right off the tree.  The market is quite large, and there are dozens and dozens of stalls to visit.  It is definitely worth spending a few hours wandering through.  I think you'll be pleased with what you find. Ambon is very small, with a downtown area that is only a few blocks long.  There are only a few buildings more than a couple of stories tall.  Headline News Network was available in the major hotels, but English language newspapers were a rarity. Foreigners are a rarity.  I only remember seeing a few other groups while we were there.  As a consequence, local children tend to shower foreigners with attention, calling out "Hi Mr.!" every time they saw you, even in the city. On the weekend Chris and I caught a bemo (a small bus/van) and headed to the north side of the island to visit the beach. Since we only had once set of snorkeling gear, we'd take turns relaxing on the beach and snorkeling.  The water was very clear, with visibility of well over 100 ft.  There wasn't much of a reef close to the shore, but you could still see quite a few fish.  I'm sure the Scuba diving would be outstanding.  I wish I had been certified at the time. When I was out snorkeling I saw an outrigger boat approaching. I looked up to see several Indonesians paddling the boat, along with Chris, who was furiously bailing water out of the canoe with a coconut shell.  He had met one of them on the beach and been offered a ride.  I later went for a ride as well, and for a portion of the trip got to hang off the bow, gliding along on my back while looking up at the sky.  That was incredible. The Indonesian family invited us for lunch, an offer we gladly accepted.  Their son had gotten an engineering degree in the Netherlands, and was fluent in English, as were a couple of the kids.  The meal consisted of grilled fresh fish, several tubular vegetables I had never seen before and fresh melon.  It was wonderful.  Coconut milk was served fresh, right from the shell.  They showed us how to prepare one, and gave us spoons carved from the shell.  The family was unceasingly gracious in their hospitality.  We ate in a little outdoor verandah right on the beach.  As I was eating I couldn't help but think that had I come here one hundred, two hundred or three hundred years before I could have had exactly the same experience.  Nothing we were eating had been refrigerated.  All was produced within a hundred yards of where we ate. The family offered us a ride back in to town, and we of course accepted.  On the way back we stopped at the home of their relatives, who lived on the western tip of the island.  We had tea with them and went for walk to the beach.  Along the way they showed us a Dutch fort that had once been used to defend the island.  That's it on the right.  It had originally been built by the Portuguese at the end of the 16th century. The Dutch then rebuilt it out of stone and renamed it Fort Amsterdam.  It was very much intact, though the cannons had long since been removed. We were able to venture inside, though there wasn't too much to see.   We then walked along the beach, where we saw fishermen repairing their boats.  These were all sailing vessels.  Again I was struck by the timelessness of it all.  One could have witnessed the same thing in the same place any time in the last half millennia.  There were large numbers of young children around.  Families seem to be kind of a collective endeavor, with the children of dozens of families playing together in large groups.  Foreigners are even rarer in this area, and I, as a redhead, really stood out.  As a consequence, the children would follow me wherever I went.  I kind of felt like a rock star.  After about an hour at the beach they drove us back to our hotel. Ambon is a terrific place to spend several days.  I wish I could have spent a week. The natural beauty, the terrific climate, the friendly people and the tranquility of the place make for an outstanding package.  It's more than a bit out of the way, but offers many rewards to those who make the journey. Where would you like to visit next?