BECA Travels: Kumasi
Kumasi
The first stop on our sightseeing trip was Kumasi, notable for two things - a HUGE market, the largest in Ghana, and the palace of the Asante king. But first we had to get there! The roads in Ghana are largely unmaintained, which means there are huge potholes in the roads that any driver must avoid. And there is a fair amount of traffic, and the roads are narrow and curved. The ride to Kumasi took six hours. Our goal was to arrive there before dark - and we did, just barely. (It is not wise to drive after dark in Ghana.) Just before we stopped for lunch, the driver over-corrected to avoid a head-on collision, and landed us in the grass on the right side of the road. Fortunately, it was flat. No one was hurt, and no damage was done beyond a good scare. Regardless, we were glad to stop for lunch at a place much like a truck stop in the U.S. - lots of cars and buses, a restaurant and lots of snack foods, bathrooms, etc., on a major route between Accra and Kumasi.
We rolled into Kumasi close to dusk and stopped at what looked like an office building near the university where Eric had studied - probably about eight stories tall. It turned out to be a "hostel" - a building full of double rooms, each with a bathroom and a desk, convenient for students studying at the nearby university. Eric rented us rooms for two nights, and we had "wi-fi" for the first time on the trip!
The next day, we went first to the museum that is a part of the Asante palace grounds. We were able to hear about the first Asante king to live in the palace, whom the British exiled to the Seychelles Islands because they wanted to take the king's golden stool (a ceremonial piece of furniture, made entirely of gold, that the Asante hid from the British. The king uses it twice in his reign - once at his coronation and once at the funeral of the prior king. When not in use, it is locked up at an undisclosed location.) to the British Museum. There are statues of each of the kings and the respective queen mothers in the museum, as well as a classic radio from the 1940s, a 1950s-style stereo, and a TV circa 1965.
From there, we went to the market. Amazing! It's a huge market where you can buy ANYTHING! We went first to a small tourist area where the vendors were selling masks, carved wood products, jewelry and other souvenirs. The pressure was ON to sell - and we left without buying much because the pressure was so unpleasant. Then to the shops of Ghanaian batiks. (No, we had NOT bought enough fabric in Kpando!). Several of us made purchases there. By that time we were pretty tired, so we went back to the hostel.
On Saturday morning, after breakfast in the Engineering Department's "guest house," we took a short drive to a town outside of Kumasi noted for its Kente cloth. This is weaving done by men on four-heddle looms. They weave strips of brightly-colored cloth that is sold in scarf-like lengths, or is sewn together to make garments. I, of course, was thrilled to see the weaving - and in fact, one of the young men demonstrating the weaving allowed me to sit at his loom and weave about an inch of cloth. Wow! What a thrill! There is a gift shop in the town, full of Kente cloth, products made with it, and Adinkra cloth (woven cloth on which designs are stamped onto plain squares). Again, there was quite a lot of pressure to buy, although we were able to pursue some purchases.
The first stop on our sightseeing trip was Kumasi, notable for two things - a HUGE market, the largest in Ghana, and the palace of the Asante king. But first we had to get there! The roads in Ghana are largely unmaintained, which means there are huge potholes in the roads that any driver must avoid. And there is a fair amount of traffic, and the roads are narrow and curved. The ride to Kumasi took six hours. Our goal was to arrive there before dark - and we did, just barely. (It is not wise to drive after dark in Ghana.) Just before we stopped for lunch, the driver over-corrected to avoid a head-on collision, and landed us in the grass on the right side of the road. Fortunately, it was flat. No one was hurt, and no damage was done beyond a good scare. Regardless, we were glad to stop for lunch at a place much like a truck stop in the U.S. - lots of cars and buses, a restaurant and lots of snack foods, bathrooms, etc., on a major route between Accra and Kumasi.
We rolled into Kumasi close to dusk and stopped at what looked like an office building near the university where Eric had studied - probably about eight stories tall. It turned out to be a "hostel" - a building full of double rooms, each with a bathroom and a desk, convenient for students studying at the nearby university. Eric rented us rooms for two nights, and we had "wi-fi" for the first time on the trip!
The next day, we went first to the museum that is a part of the Asante palace grounds. We were able to hear about the first Asante king to live in the palace, whom the British exiled to the Seychelles Islands because they wanted to take the king's golden stool (a ceremonial piece of furniture, made entirely of gold, that the Asante hid from the British. The king uses it twice in his reign - once at his coronation and once at the funeral of the prior king. When not in use, it is locked up at an undisclosed location.) to the British Museum. There are statues of each of the kings and the respective queen mothers in the museum, as well as a classic radio from the 1940s, a 1950s-style stereo, and a TV circa 1965.
From there, we went to the market. Amazing! It's a huge market where you can buy ANYTHING! We went first to a small tourist area where the vendors were selling masks, carved wood products, jewelry and other souvenirs. The pressure was ON to sell - and we left without buying much because the pressure was so unpleasant. Then to the shops of Ghanaian batiks. (No, we had NOT bought enough fabric in Kpando!). Several of us made purchases there. By that time we were pretty tired, so we went back to the hostel.
On Saturday morning, after breakfast in the Engineering Department's "guest house," we took a short drive to a town outside of Kumasi noted for its Kente cloth. This is weaving done by men on four-heddle looms. They weave strips of brightly-colored cloth that is sold in scarf-like lengths, or is sewn together to make garments. I, of course, was thrilled to see the weaving - and in fact, one of the young men demonstrating the weaving allowed me to sit at his loom and weave about an inch of cloth. Wow! What a thrill! There is a gift shop in the town, full of Kente cloth, products made with it, and Adinkra cloth (woven cloth on which designs are stamped onto plain squares). Again, there was quite a lot of pressure to buy, although we were able to pursue some purchases.
posted by Betsy J. Blosser at
7/01/2012 02:08:00 PM
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