Day 3 Tana

This morning began with the cheese omelet and then it was off for our day tour of Tana. Our guide called himself John and the driver was Des, neither was their real name. Throughout the day, Des would have to navigate his way through traffic and pedestrians and around potholes. Our first stop was the railway station which is no longer used for passengers but nicely restored to sell handicrafts. We looked at some hats and soap but did not buy.

John tells us that there are 2.5 million people living in the city and 2 million just outside. Flavian, the driver for the following day would say it's one million in Tana and one million surrounding. Suffice it to say, it's a lot of people.
The Blue Hill was the residence for the great king who united madagascar. This was not so long ago back in 1808. Then there was his son King Radama 1, then queen ranabalona who killed a bunch of Christians some by throwing them off a cliff. She had some french dude as her consort who brought some western stuff to madagascar like a huge industrial complex that used slave labor to produce guns, bricks, tiles, pottery, glass, silk, and soap. He was so successful that the queen kicked out all the foreigners and then she kicked or him. Then there were three queens who married the same guy, one after the other. He was prime minister all through their reign and carried the real power. His body isn't up there but the rest are.

We first had to climb a hill to get up to it so that we could see a couple of the 14 gates that lead up to the castle/palace/residence. There might have been a wall but none was visible. The gate is a crude arch made of stone with a giant round stone that is rolled in front to prevent entrance.

The kings house John described as an upside down boat to symbolize the boats his people are believed to have arrived on. (Nicola is sceptcle of the truth of this.) First we had to enter the residence right foot first. The structure is very basic with one platform for the kings bed, four granite stools around what's supposed to be a fire pit and a platform about 10 feet above the ground well below a peeked roof that must have been about 20 feet high.
Each of the corners was supposed to represent the different elements but I can't remember which is which. There's air in the southeast because that's the prevailing wind, fire where the fire pit is located I believe in the northwest where the window was located, water and earth. About the second two we're not sure. 

While the queen would entertain guests around the communal fire, the king would listen from the rafters to the conversation. If he felt the guests were worthy of more of his attention, he would throw pebbles down at the queen.

Next to the house were two tiny houses where the kings and queens were buried,"seven feet under ground" John told us. From there we walked up to the to which afforded us terrific views of the valley and the many many hills beyond. John pointed out a few of the sacred 12 which excited him but meant nothing to us.

Then we enjoyed a barely edible lunch along with some folk dancing which was entertaining and interesting. Two men and four women who sounded much like the South Africans from the Paul Simons album.

the drive back into the city was as slow and laborious as the way out. Again we saw everything for sale at the side of the road and tons of traffic plus the many pedestrians.

The queen's palace is located on a hill overlook the city. Unfortunately it burned down in 1995. Nothing is left except the outer structure which UNESCO gave them 25 million to rebuild and then promptly took away after the coup of 2009. John told us that the houses built close by made up their Pentagon because they're all owned by generals.

For supper we went to Kudeta where I had duck with foie gras which I'm ashamed to say was amazing considering the animal cruelty that goes onto making it.