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Published: August 24th 2010
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Malacca (Malay: Melaka, dubbed The Historical State or Negeri Bersejarah among locals) is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south. The capital is Malacca Town. This historical city centre has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 7 July 2008. Leaving KL..........
Well decided to head south from KL - sooo much harder to book things here than in Vietnam or Cambodia!! Got a shuttle bus to the main bus station - which is very random and like a big marquee...you then get approached by about 20 different people all trying to get you to use their company...there was a bus in half an hour (woo) for 12 ringetts (Just over 2 quid. Woo woo) so I grabbed some munchies and headed to find the bus I was due to be on. The bus driver was sooooo rude and just kept shouting at me. Think he was trying to say I should take my rucksack on the bus (rather then him put it in
Riding a cyclo!!
This guy let me have a go on his...they're all lit up and play music in the evening!! the luggage hold) but instead he just kept waving his arms around and shouting 'GET UP GET UP!' over and over. The bus didn't even leave for 15 minutes so not quite sure why he was so arsey but oh well...
Anyways - ate my munchies, fell asleep, stood up when the bus stopped and then he started screaming at me this time to get off. Seriously I would have liked to punch him in the face...or at least to a patronising pat on the head with a 'shhhh'. I sooooo should have done. Hmm so I get off the bus and he shouts that I need to get another bus as we're not actually in Malaka. Meh!
I wandered across the road and tried to figure out where the hell I was. It's a rather cute little town...(called Masjid Tanah) people generally smiled and looked a bit confused why there was a white woman wandering around with a mahhoosive backpack...but there were loads of cats and kittens on the high street so I found me a spot on the floor and got some cuddles (and hoped I would not get rabies as well.)
Fortunately some nice
Riverside at Malacca
Take note Medway Council - this is how a river side is done!!! guys stopped and talked to me and checked I was OK, which made me feel lots better. Wandered back to the bus station and a shouty taxi driver then started up. Joy. Shouting that there is no more buses today and that he would take me to Malaka for 40 Ringetts (about 8 quid) and just kept beckoning me to follow him...he then made the mistake of laughing to his mates telling them how much he was charging me, got in his taxi and then I reaaaaaaaaaaally enjoyed walking straight past his taxi and across the road to this internet cafe. I don't care if I shot myself in the foot slightly, it was worth it to annoy him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masjid_Tanah
Half tempted to stay here the night as it is a cute little town and I have no-where booked in Malaka for tonight anyways. Hmmm.
Next day: Well I made it to Malaka...10pm and with no where to stay. Good work Murphy. Managed to get a local bus, which was much fun - bangra musis blasting, the seats not attached to the floor...and a very chatty bus driver called Augustine, a devout Christian who wanted to know
about Christianity in Britain. Think he really picked the wrong person to ask there. But oh well. Got to Malaka and he couldn't be bothered driving around the one way system so dropped me off and basically made me walk across the freeway... iiiiiiiinteresting. This is where I discovered that for gutters they have a nice 6 ft x 1.5ft open drop. Fortunately I didn't discover this by falling down it. I would have got wedged waist deep from my bags. Good look!!!
Malaka is fab. Got such a good feel to it - very historical, colourful and artistic.
Arrived at 10pm - found a lovely place called The Discovery Cafe with dorm rooms, the people were soo helpful and a lovely young man grabbed my rucksack and carried it over the road and down a little dark alley to the 'guest house' - very basic but I got to sleep under a fan so I was happy. Dumped my bags in the room and headed out for a walk and to try and find some food.
Walked along the Riverside and got talking to a nice chap after he came to check was OK as I screamed
'The Clay House'
Could have spent so much money in here, but alas I would break itall bythe time I got home. (thought I saw a rat but it was in fact a tiny ickkkkle kitten!!!). Randomly 2 lovely swiss girls came round the corner a few minutes later and I told them to watch out for the kitten, we got talking and they invited me for dinner with them which was really nice. Sat at The Dutch Cafe on the riverside, fed the ickle kitten lickle bits of food (this = happy Laura). Will hopefully meet up with Joanna further along my trip - she was lovely!
Some piccies: http://www.facebook.com/lufflylauraloo#!/album.php?aid=204745&id=509419793
*got a cyclo around town with a man called 'uncle'...he told me I looked like Princess Di. Hmmm right.
*got chatted up by a Malaysian man called Clive who did not believe I was married...told me he was 'the one' and should come back to Europe with me.
*got filmed for Indonesian TV - a travel programme about Malaka. The producer gave me his card and told me to call if ever in Bali. Nice one!!
*saw snakes in the main square. Big ones. And tourists having their picture taken with them. eeek.
*Had my lunch served on a banana leaf. I have no idea what I ate. All I know is that it was vegetarian and every time they walked past they would throw another spoonful on top.
*found a gorgeous little ceramics shop - you can sit and watch them make stuff out back. Going in tomorrow for pressies...and then sending them over the seaaaaaa in a few days!!
*got a cyclo in the evening - they decorate them here (it's highly competitive!!) they are covered in flowers, twinkly fairy lights and often have music blaring out (lots of Michael Jackson for some reason!!)
Malacca has a population of 759,000 as of 2007, being composed of:
Malays: 57%!;(MISSING)
Chinese: 32%!,(MISSING) including the Peranakan community;
Indians, including the Chitty people: a sizeable minority;
Kristang, people with partial Portuguese ancestry: a small community;
Dutch Eurasians, Eurasians with Dutch ancestry: a minority within the Malacca Eurasian community. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malacca
Stayed at a really nice place here called 'Jalan Jalan' - Sam the manager was great. Very pleased I booked as it was 'Singapore Day' that weekend (basically a long weekend) so they all head up on their hols en masse for the weekend.
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