Where the heck are we now?: Melaka, Malaysia

After an hectic few days in Kuala Lampur we headed to the bus station to catch a ride down south to Melaka. Our Muslim taxi driver was hilarious, wouldn't take a tip, told us he could have four wives. When I asked him if he did, he said NO WAY, maybe one wife and a girlfriend because he has to work hard, his saying was " Much money, happy honey."

The bus station was huge, modern and very efficient, bought our tickets for a total of 6 dollars for both and then caught the bus which left right on time.

The ride went fast and we were there in a little over two hours, the scenery was very green along the way...

Melaka is a smaller place with about half million people. It is a UNESCO heritage city due to its long history of being a key trading port between the East and the West as well as a very diverse culture based on all the generations of peoples from across the world who have settled here. It also has an historically preserved Center.

The city is built up on two sides of the Melaka river which runs from the sea into the Center of the city. There is a 9 km. promenade on both sides which is a beautiful place to walk both day and evening as it is quite safe here.

As we walked along we saw many houses painted all colours some with bright murals...

We also saw a lot of reconstruction work going on besides the river as many of the houses are still in disrepair...

Speaking of houses, we scored again on our guest house, it is clean, spacious with wonderfully kind owners and it costs 33 dollars a night for a private room and ensuite!

We stayed here four days to chill out a bit and do some planning on where we are going next, hoping the place is as nice as this one...

Also time to do laundry...

Since Melaka is positioned as a strategic trading port it has a long history of being conquered, first in 1511 by the Portuguese armada using ships like these which is now a Maritime Museum...

Then in 1641 by the Dutch signified by a windmill on the river..

Then in 1824 by the British as seen by the main square with the centrepiece being a Queen Victoria fountain...

We went to visit the Independence Museum which is housed in a former British club and it told the story of Malaysia's struggle for independence over 500 years.

There was this picture of the day the leaders returned from London after signing the papers.

It must have been a momentous day!

Malaysian flags...

There is also a long history of Chinese here as they came as traders in the early centuries and remained.There is a big Chinatown and as it is soon Chinese New Year there are lanterns everywhere...

And at night they look beautiful as well...

In fact when the Chinese came to trade some of them married the local women and created a new group of people who being half Chinese and half Maly became known as the Baba Nyonyas. They created a fusion of religions, foods, language and have been existence for 7 generations. We visited one of the homes of a very prosperous family who have donated their home as a museum. It was interesting to see over the generations how this very rich family decorated their home with treasures from around the world. This is a picture of the Grand Hall as I wasn't allowed to take other photos...

To keep this culture strong they were only allowed to marry each other but the last generation did not obey this rule and have married foreigners so the culture is now being diluted and may soon disappear.

Since there are so many religions here we did our rounds to the places of worship as they are integral to the way of life here...

Catholic Church which was full...

Mosques that were calling for prayers...

Simple temples...

And fancy ones, this temple is the oldest in Malaysia built in 1693 and still operating today...

The people light incense and then pray at each entrance...

They also bring offerings of foods...

There is a famous trading street in Malacca called Jonker Street which is full of boutiques and restaurants and on the weekend they hold a night market there. It is crazy with people!

There is lots of different foods to eat, what about a skewer of quails eggs?

We found a corner cafe to watch the action go by...

As we were there on the weekend there were many families out enjoying what the city has to offer, in fact there were bus loads of people as this seems to be a popular tourist destinations for other Asians.

One thing unique to here are tricycles which the drivers have brightly decorated with themes, they will drive you around an hour for 3 dollars. This family was waving as they went by...

At night they all light up so it all looks quite weird...

And then there is the food....

This place had you pick the skewers of food, most of what we didn't recognize and no one spoke English so we went ahead. The skewers are dipped in a peanut broth and boiled for about 5 minutes while you continue to stir. It was tasty but not as tasty as the grilled skewers in KL.

Our most tasty meals were at an Indian restaurant we passed every day, the meals cost 2-3 dollars and were tasty. This was lunch...

They gave you a banana leaf and then went around with big buckets and gave you rice, dahl, curry and veggies. The mango curry was delicious! Not to fussy about eating with my fingers though!

This is one of the servers, a very nice young man who spoke some English. The Indians came here as labourers for the rubber plantations and are now a large part of the population.

Another popular thing to do here is take a boat ride along the river...

We did it at night and the river was lit along the way....

At the end of the river were many larger hotels and office buildings...

Also we passed a small village of traditional Malay homes that were built by the British and are still occupied today. They have pointed tin roofs and were also lit up as went along...