Ibn Battuta

The people of this country are very clean, but they are not religious.

I saw in this city many things that are contrary to our religion.

The women of this country are very beautiful, and they wear silk clothes, but they are not veiled.

The women of this country are very attractive, and they do not cover their faces.

The Chinese are a people who are very skillful, but they are not religious.

This is a people who do not know the true religion, and they are misguided.

The infidels are many in this land, and they are very strong.

The people of this country are very ignorant, and they do not know the religion.

I saw in this city many things that are forbidden in Islam.

I have indeed seen the Great Bird, Rukh, and it was a marvel to behold. Its wings were like mountains, and its cry was like thunder.

I have travelled to many lands and seen many things, but I have never seen a people so fond of bathing as the Indians. They bathe even in the cold of winter!

The people of this city are very strange. They eat rice with their hands, and they do not use spoons or forks like us.

I was once offered a marriage proposal in this land, but I declined, for the women were too stout, and their customs too different from my own.

The Sultan of this land is a generous man, but he has a strange habit of giving gifts of old clothes and worn-out shoes.

I saw a man in this city who had a beard so long that it reached his waist. He was a very respected scholar, but I could not help but chuckle.

The women of this land wear so many ornaments that they jingle when they walk. It is quite a noisy affair!

I was once invited to a feast where they served a dish made of camel hump. It was surprisingly delicious, though I had my reservations at first.

The people here have a strange custom of chewing betel nuts. Their mouths are always red, and they spit everywhere. It is not very appealing.

I saw a magician in this city who could make a tree grow out of a basket. It was a truly astonishing trick, though I suspect some deception was involved.

The dogs in this land are very fierce. They bark at strangers and try to bite them. I had to carry a stick to fend them off.