Ibn Battuta travelled through Africa, China and even the Maldives; recording his amusing anecdotes and dodging the Black Plague
He’s one of history’s greatest travellers, having covered more ground during the Middle Ages than many do today: around 73,000 miles over a 30-year period.
So what insights can Ibn Battuta, an intrepid Moroccon scholar born in 1304, offer us about what it was to be a tourist before the concept even really existed?
Battuta spent most of his life working his way around Africa, the Middle East, India, China and south-east Asia, mostly relying on the hospitality of strangers, and carefully documenting all that he saw.
His observations ultimately formed a written compendium that today somewhat resembles a travel guide – albeit a very un-PC one.
Battuta experienced culture shock in almost every realm he visited, expressing disgust, for example, at the “vile” natives of one Indian Ocean island, who paraded naked; surprise at how well respected women in…
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