In the 17th century capital of Paramaribo, gracious French and British colonial buildings glint in the bright sunshine, while synagogues, mosques, Hindu temples and the wooden St Peter and Paul Cathedral dot streets and squares bearing unmistakably Dutch names.
Japanese 'wild buses' are one of the main ways to get around town, and the Central Market - where Javanese and Creole stalls serve up pungent Indonesian and African fare. Of all the countries in the entire world, this could only be Surinam.
Formerly Dutch Guyana, Surinam is situated on the broad northern shoulder of the South American continent, with the Atlantic Ocean to the north and Brazil to the south. Its bizarrely multicultural population stems from an eventful past, which saw the indigenous Amerindian population joined by English and Dutch settlers, West African slaves, and labourers from north India, Indonesia and China.
Today it retains a friendly, easygoing way of life - although street crime in the capital is becoming more widespread.
The major reasons to pay Surinam a visit are its superb collection of nature reserves and parks, and its intriguing hidden cultures, which are still almost entirely untouched by tourism.
From the Galibi Nature Reserve on the coast - favoured as a nesting ground by giant leatherback sea turtles - to the tropical rainforests of the interior where communities remain impervious to centuries of change in the outside world, you'd be hard pushed to match your experiences elsewhere.
It's even possible to penetrate the heart of the country in boats navigated upriver by 'Maroons' (descendants of African slaves who escaped to the hinterland). Just don't be surprised if anyone you encounter is as curious about your appearance as you are by theirs.
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