In many ways, Madagascar is where South-East Asian culture ends. The main ethnic group there originated from the Malay world. But where Mother Nature is concerned, the giant island is like no other. Animals and plants found there are often not found anywhere else.
About a nine-hour flight away from Bangkok on an island 400km east of the African continent, lies a country largely populated and ruled by a French-speaking, non-Muslim Malay ethnic group, also known as the Merina. While the question of when, how or why they got there is still being debated, the commonly accepted theory is that in 1 BC, seafarers from Borneo and the Malay peninsula travelled to the island of Madagascar, settled there and built a successful kingdom that covered the country by the late 18th century.
The Merina monarchy was followed by approximately 60 years of French colonial rule, and like many ex-French colonies, the French influence is strong here. Madagascan handicrafts in particular hold a high standard of design that is seen in their beautiful bags, shoes, hats, iron sculptures of baobabs and carvings. There are public squares and cobbled stone pathways where people gather at newsstands, food carts and various other stalls. French is widely spoken; there is an excellent array of French restaurants, cafes and hotels housed in majestic old-world colonial buildings.
So although Madagascar is in the top 10 list of poorest countries in the world one can still enjoy First World comforts, at a price of course.
