Spices for the Silk Road

Mr Jeremy Fisher checks out carpets in the Grand Bazaar,Istanbul

Love tea in the Spice Bazaar,Istanbul

The three friends have travelled along the ancient, 8,000 kilometre Silk Road from Xian in China to Istanbul, formerly Constantinople in Turkey. Like the travellers from times long ago, they have experienced heat, rain, a snow storm, dust and sand storms, rugged unmade mountainous roads, a number of break downs but luckily many of the roads have been excellent and provided for a comfortable ride.

They have   listened to guides and heard the team talking about the Silk Road and they learnt that the Romans, the Parthians and the Byzantine empires all sought to control this important trade route.  

 They know that the term the Silk Road was only coined at the beginning of the twentieth century and that there is not a single road but numerous roads and by ways that have been used for centuries as people have moved goods both ways, from east to west.

Unlike the little MG convoy, haulers would often only travel part of the way. There were never single haulers. The camel trains used to travel for about thirty kilometres a day and then arrive at caravanserais which were like permanent haulers settlements along the route. Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny have seen so many serais along the way. Some have even been converted into markets. Serais are marked on every map in the team’s possession the friends noted.

Mr Jeremy Fisher has done some background research and told PR and BB that once sea travel became an option, in the fifteen century, the Silk Road was abandoned as it had become very dangerous with robbers and bandits , so sea trade was much safer.

The caravan tracks of the Silk Road have now been made into roads and highways which  thread through some of the highest mountains and the harshest deserts in the world. Beautiful country but it must have been impassable in winter Jeremy thought.

Anyway the friends decided to check out the bazaars of Istanbul  and would you believe it they found all the things in the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar  that have been traded for centuries: spices, carpets, silk, silver, gold, porcelain and perfumes.

Benjamin Bunny had a wild time sniffing the essential oils which are the base for perfumes. He was particularly taken with the Istanbul Rose and the old Tea Rose. Peter Rabbit scurried around all the spices and saw lots of saffron, different teas and peppers. A bit heavy on the nose he thought and not much good in his diet.

Mr Jeremy Fisher was drawn to the carpets and was plied with endless cups of apple tea as the carpet vendors expounded the virtues of their carpets. The number of knots, the quality if the silk and wool and the fact that they were handmade. It was all a bit much but these guys do the “hard sell” with such style and charm, plus the apple tea is very refreshing.

Where does this road really end was Mr Jeremy Fisher’s big question and how did folks in the old days get goods back to Europe from Istanbul. This was a question he would have to work on as the convoy travelled into Greece and beyond.

Perfumes and essential oils