The approach has to be earned: the ship enters a long, deep bay framed by volcanic slopes where vegetation tumbles down to the water. Ambon, capital of the Moluccas, appears at the end of this corridor, its rooftops pressed between the sea and the hills. The terminal is right downtown, near the waterfront and the shopping streets: you only need to pass through the gate to find yourself in the thick of Indonesian life, with its scooters, its stalls and its calls to prayer echoing from one neighbourhood to the next.

The Spice Islands

For centuries, the cloves and nutmeg that grew in this archipelago were worth their weight in gold in Europe, and the maritime powers fought over these shores with a ferocity that is hard to imagine today. From that era remains Fort Victoria, an early 17th-century Dutch stronghold facing the bay. Part of the site is still used by the military, but the exterior and main gate can be admired, and the cannons are a reminder of what a sack of cloves cost back then. Breathing in these spices at the market, a few streets away, gives history a very tangible scent.

The market and the waterfront

Pasar Ambon overflows with glistening fish, chilies, sago and fruits whose names you'll have to ask. It's a noisy, cheerful place where vendors call out to passersby with a smile. All around, the streets are lined with fabric shops and small restaurants where you can taste grilled fish with sambal or papeda, a sago porridge you twirl around a fork like noodles. The walk continues with no set plan, guided by façades and smiles, all the way to the docks where inter-island boats load their colourful cargo bound for Seram, Banda or the Kei Islands.

The heights of the city

In the hills, the Siwalima Museum brings together textiles, carved prows and ritual objects from the Moluccas, in a shaded setting overlooking the bay. Nearby, the monument dedicated to Martha Christina Tiahahu, a young fighter who became a national heroine, offers one of the best views of the harbour and the ridges that surround it. A taxi or a car with driver remains the simplest way to get up there, for a detour of an hour or two.

A memory of the Pacific

On the outskirts of town, the Commonwealth war cemetery lines up its white headstones beneath the frangipani trees, in memory of the Allied soldiers who fell in the archipelago during the Second World War. The site, impeccably maintained, invites silence. Gardeners work there every morning, and the inscriptions, largely Australian, can be read in the pale stone in the shade of the tall trees. It's a reminder that these peaceful islands held a strategic place in the history of the Pacific, long after the spice era.

Planning your day

The port call is easily built around a few key areas:

• downtown and its market, within walking distance of the terminal;
• Fort Victoria and the waterfront, for the historical thread;
• the heights, between the Siwalima Museum and the Tiahahu monument, for the panoramic views;
• the Commonwealth cemetery, for the memory of the last century.

Distances are short, but the heat calls for regular breaks, a fresh coconut in hand.

Back across the bay

Then comes the time when the ship retraces the long corridor of calm water, escorted by the green hills. You leave with the scent of cloves in your pockets and the feeling of having touched a chapter of history that textbooks sum up too quickly. The Moluccas changed the taste of the world; Ambon still holds its flavour.