Melaka, Malaysia

Coming into Malaysia I had no idea what to expect. I knew the basics, that it was a Muslim country in Southeast Asia, the capital was Kuala Lumpur, things like that. However I had no idea what it was like.

Exiting thru customs and immigration in Singapore was a breeze. Singapore had a clean and modern new building. Malaysia's immigration on the other hand was the opposite. It was kind of grimey and old, but the officers were polite and I got thru quickly. Then for about 3 hours the bus went along the highway towards Melaka. The scenery was mostly uninteresting. A few small hills here and there or a rubber plantation. No big cities, just rural towns along the way. I dived back into The Count of Monte Cristo while I waited to arrive.

The Melaka bus station was a big market/bazaar. It was a bit dodgy so I didn't linger very long. There were people from every culture. The women were mostly muslim, with burkhas. Some had their entire face covered and only their eyes were visible. Occasionally I would make eye contact with them and it would make me feel uneasy. There were also many hindus, Chinese and white backpackers. I did not feel like I stood out or like I was an alien.

The bus station was a few kilometers from the city center, so I had to take a local bus into town. This local bus was an ancient and decrepit old bus. It was like a school bus only old and rusted. As the bus got into the city center I could smell the fragrances of many different spices and foods. I realized that I was truly in Malaysia.

Ruins of St. Paul's Church

The bus dropped me off in the town square. There are a few churches there an old warehouse built by the dutch, lots of shops and restaurants and a few museums. I dropped my luggage off at the hostel and went to a maritime museum. This was interesting to me because I am kind of a history nerd. There was a lot of displays and information about the old sailing ships and the history of Melaka. Part of the museum is a replica of a Portuguese galleon.

Melaka is interesting because it had a long history. The Portuguese conquered the town in 1511 and set it up as a trading port. Melaka is important geographically because it is on the Malacca straight, the fastest way between the West and the Far East. At its glory the port could hold thousands of ships from nations all over the world. Later on the Dutch fought a war with the Portuguese and took the town from them. I thought about how the Dutch at one time seemed to rule the world, they owned New York City, they had a colony on Taiwan and they controlled this essential port.

On the hill overlooking the town the Dutch built St. Paul's church. The gravestones are still there from when the Dutch owned it. The rest of the town still has a European feel. The buildings have an old world feel to it. The authorities probably preserve it this way to keep the tourists coming back.

It was very hot when I was walking around the streets. I came back to the hostel for a bit to relax in the air-conditioned room. From my room I could hear the Muslim call to prayer from a local mosque. I realized how rigid and pervasive Islam is in this part of the world.

I tried some of the food on the famous Jonkers Street. I went to a Chinese restaurant and had some wonton soup and tried a few snacks on the street. In the evening I realized that I fogot my towel in Singapore so I searched in vain for a shop with towels. The town seemed to shut down once the sun set.

The next day I walked around aimlessly and explored a bit more. There were a few more museums but they were uninteresting things like about the history of the Malaysian Navy and the Customs police. In the afternoon I made my way back to the bus station on the decrepit old bus and took an express bus to Kuala Lumpur.