Pepper was imported into 5th Century Britain? Must have been ridiculously expensive.
The Romans got around. During the Han Dynasty in China, there was diplomatic contact at least once, and at least one other attempt, plus there was loads of indirect trade with India as the middleman, as well as direct trade.
There’s at least one mosaic that includes the image of an orangutan, which is found on Sumatra, and wasn’t known again in Europe until modern times.