MELAKA

 BUS TRIP

The Sail Malaysia Rally had scheduled its next stop in Melaka, which according to everything we heard about the place was well worth a visit, but not a place to leave the boat. The marina, although only 18mths old is breaking up due to the surge that rolls through there constantly, and the anchorage is exposed and rolly and on a lee shore so definitely not a nice place for a boat. Because of this many sailors were considering bypassing this wonderfully historic town. A few of us decided to take the bus up instead, and once the idea got out many more decided that it was a good option. As many as 30 people travelled up by bus, which cost a whopping 19.00 RM ($6.50) for a three hour bus trip. Travel in Malaysia is very cheap, and accommodation comes in all shapes and prices depending on the amount of luxury one is looking for.

OUR APPARTMENT

We found a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment for $70.00 a night. It was fairly basic, with a jug, 4 plates, 4 bowls, 2 cups and 2 spoons being the sum total of crockery available for 6 people! The gas cooker was not hooked up to gas, but we did have aircon and TV so not too bad. It was clean and once we sprayed and killed the cockroaches all was well. Come on; what more do you want for $23.00 per night per person?

GET THOSE BUGS!

Melaka is full of history and museums, and all within walking distance from our apartment and the centre of town. Melaka has been occupied by the Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and English as well as periods of self rule by the Malays. This makes for a rich and varied culture and the Melakans are justifiably proud of their heritage and the museums that reflect this.

First off we hit the Maritime Museum, which costs 3.00 RM ($1.00) this gets us into the replica of the Portuguese ship that sank off the coast of Malacca, the maritime museum, the naval museum and the customs museum. Talk about value for money.

PORTUGUESE REPLICA

Then it’s off to the Stadhuys, built by the Dutch and now a historical and cultural museum and the Christ Church built in 1753 with exquisite timberwork inside.

OLD DUTCH CHURCH

Everywhere we go we see these floral decorated bikes for hire, just incredible the work they must put into them.

BLOOMING BICYCLES

There is also the Portuguese fort and the Dutch fort plus St John’s church and the Dutch cemetery to see so we save that for the next day. On our way home Mark from Ajax and I take the ride up in “Menara Taming Sari” a revolving platform that rises eighty metres as it turns.

HIGH RIDE TO THE TOP

The views are spectacular over the city and out to sea. We can even see our apartment from here. Tony (the skipper) and Heather from Ajax don’t like heights and opted to sit this one out. Back to our rooms for a bite to eat and an early night ready to do it all again the following day.

VIEW FROM THE TOP

We are up early as we are all meeting at the marina for the organised bus tour. We are taken to a new resort to showcase tourism in Malaysia and then back to town to see the Sultan’s Palace and break for lunch.

SULTAN’S PALACE

The Portuguese and Dutch forts and St. John’s Church and Dutch cemetery were next; we spent quite a bit of time at the church as there were a lot of old Dutch headstones inside, and trying to decipher the old Dutch was difficult. One such headstone recorded the death of a 24 year old married woman who died of cholera and was followed within 5 days by her 5, 3, 2 and1 year old. Such tragic times. 

ST JOHN'S CHURCH

The next morning it was off to the Cheng Ho Museum. Cheng Ho was a remarkable man for his time (1412) who made 7 incredible sea voyages long before any of the well known seafarers were even born. It is said that he sailed to America long before Columbus. The museum is well set up we could easily have spent the day there, but unfortunately it was time to head back to Danga Bay and our boats. On the way back to our apartment it started to rain so we made a short stop at the Customs museum until the rain stopped and then it really was time to board our bus back. Melaka is a wonderful place and 3 days was really far too short to do it justice. If you find yourself in this part of the world then Melaka is one place not to be missed.

A TOUCH OF HOLLAND