Ishvara Dhayan, guide to the City of Gold
JOBURG - What began as an extension of Ishvara Dhayan's cooking classes has become an increasingly popular way of exploring Joburg's cultural riches.
Dhayan now runs Ancient Secrets and offers not only cooking classes, but cultural and historical tours of the City of Gold.
“I started taking my cooking class students to various ethnic cultural areas of the city to help them identify products I mentioned in my [classes],” he said.
“They soon started bringing their friends and family, and later I started doing historical walks around various suburbs such as Troyeville, where I’ve lived for 15 years. My first tour was to China Town in Cyrildene in 2009.”
It’s not only the sightseers on Dhayan’s tours who learn about the city – he said the process of exploring the city and organising tours had led him to some interesting discoveries.
“The most interesting was the abandoned synagogues in Doornfontein and the rich Yiddish culture that once thrived there… Also discovering the old Ottoman embassy in Doornfontein,” said Dhayan, adding that this suburb, along with Jeppestown, held the greatest fascination for him.
The urban explorer said that, even as a child, he had an inkling he would help others discover more about Joburg.
“I was born at the Marymount Hospital in Kensington,” said Dhayan.
“My father, from New York City, always took us [children] into the city on weekends to explore Hillbrow and Doornfontein… He hated suburbia, as do I.”
When asked what makes his tours different to what seems an ever-growing selection of city tours, Dhayan said that his tours weren’t only about seeing the sights.
“[The tours are] about meeting the locals and getting access to places the public doesn’t get access to,” he said.
Dhayan said that Ancient Secrets offers the following tours:
The Jewish History of Doornfontein
The Anti-Apartheid Struggle in Troyeville
A Chinese Culinary Tour of Cyrildene
Little Somalia in Mayfair
An Indian Culinary Tour of Fordsburg
Little Ethiopia in Downtown Joburg
Communist History in Observatory
In the Footsteps on Mandela (Ferreirasdorp)
The History of Jeppestown
The History of Kensington.
Details: 084 624 0000; www.facebook.com/groups/ancientsecretsgroup; ancientsecrets@absamail.co.za
