Kumasi, home of the Ashanti Kingdom

Porcupine, symbol of Ashanti soliders

Kumasi is about 6 hour bus ride from Accra. I'm staying at a hostel that was referred by Aunty from Crystal Hostel. It was ran by a lovely woman, the hostel is bit far from the central city, so I end up taking  taxi everyday from her place to the city. Kumasi is the only city I stayed in Ghana that rained every night, not drizzling, but downright pouring and that is why Kumasi is a very green city compare to other cities in Ghana. The hostel owner's daughter visited her one night, I get to chat with her, she is in trading business so she visit China every 6 month, she is the one that told me about the Togo port vs. Ghana port, very interesting lady.  

My room in Kumasi, about 8 Cedi a night

Look how green Kumasi is

My and my "housemate"

Kumasi is known for few tourist attractions


1)Kumasi Culture Center
2)Ashanti sword
3)Manhyia Palace Museum
4)Anhyia Palace (Where the king holds his court every Thursday, I will talk about it separately)


***Another attraction is Kumasi zoo, but  I heard from others that the place is depressing so I didn't go


1) Kumasi Culture Center: This culture center isn't as interesting as the National Culture center in Accra, since I already toured NCC in Accra, I didn't feel like spending the money, so I just walked around, the center has very nice scenery, but there aren't too many interesting things to see IMHO

Lizards!

Statue of Osei Ayeman Prempeh II

2) Ashanti sword: The sword that symbolizes the Ashanti unity, if  pulled out the ground, the unity ends. No one has pulled it out for 300 yrs, including bulldozers that were used to build the hospital around it. It is pretty cool to visit, the tour guide, Michael, is very friendly, worth the 3 Cedi I paid.

The sword

Ooopps, I accidentally pulled out the sword, but I put it back for the sake of Ashanti unity. =D

3) Manhyia Palace Museum: The museum is right next to Anhyia Palace, the price is 10 cedi, you can get an English tour guide and learn about the history of Ashanti people, function of the palace, artworks and artifacts. Unfortunately, no picture is allowed in the museum, but highly recommended place to visit. Just be aware of the people trying to sell you artworks near the museum, have thick skin and say no to them.

Royal Symbols

This symbols means only god can judge me

The only picture I sneaked inside the museum

Walking around the palace, I stopped to watch a lady making some kind of street food, she asked me if I wanted some, of course I said. =D

Yummy!

Now we are on the topic of food, the hostel host offered me 3 Cedi a day if I wanted her to make dinner for me. Home cooking Ghanaian food? How can I say no???

Yam, fried Plantain, beef/cabbage/sardine

Fried rice

Sardine salad and plantain, not my favorite dish

Fish, pepper sauce, bean sauce, onion and Kenkey (corn banku)

Fried Plantain and beef stew

Interesting notes:


1) On eating etiquette, when I was in Turkey/Greece, the restaurant owner was offended when I didn't finish my food. He took it that I didn't enjoy the food. So on this trip, I made an effort to finish all food that was offered to me.  So on the first day, I cleaned my plate, the host asked me if it was enough, I said yes and that was the truth. The next day, the portion increased a bit more, I stuffed it down and went to bed with a round belly. Third day, the food came in two plates, enough is enough, I couldn't finish it. On the fourth day, the food portion decreased a bit. Well, turns out in Ghana, you have to leave a little food behind to show the host that you are full. When you finished the plate, it means that you didn't get enough food to eat.

2) My nail have grown so long by this point that it started to bug me, so I been looking for a nail clipper but no place sales it.  I end up at a hair salon getting my nails clipped, first time in my life.

3) I spend a lot of hours in the Internet cafe to upload my travel picture to Facebook, a teenager boy, no more than 14 or 15 years old, was watching hardcore porn right next to me, no one stopped him, weird. 

4) Stumbled into a church service, watch the video, very interesting.