Day 64 Penang to Melaka

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Day 64 Penang to Melaka (Sun 5th Sept)

Breakfast today was lovely and it was a day for catching up on sleep. I managed to stay awake to take pictures of the bridge as we got to it, but then promptly fell asleep, along with everyone else on the coach. All that we missed seeing was a whole lot of plantations of what seemed to be palm trees. And boy were there a LOT.

Our lunch stop today was Kuala Lumpur. It was on the Ozbus itinerary at one point I believe but wasn’t any longer. We left early this morning from Penang because everyone wanted a chance to go in to KL. The city is really interesting to drive through. It has been over 5 years since I was there and you do forget some things. Of course what everyone wanted to see was the twin towers. And here we made use of the fact that we could all have a window seat on the same side of the bus - I'm just a bit surprised that it didn't tip over at the sudden rush...

We arrived at the towers at 1130 and they showed us where to meet at 1430. This would be our lunch stop, but also the first brand name western shops we have seen since leaving Europe in July. They then dropped us off at the telecommunications tower, from where you get the best view of the city. Only a very limited number of people can go up the twin towers each day, so this was deemed the better choice.

I remember going up them last time I was there, and Helen didn’t want to go up either, so we set off to walk back down the hill to the towers. It was only a 20 minute walk and we enjoyed the chance to wander in a big city while it was quiet. There didn’t seem to be hardly anyone on the roads.

And when we arrived at the shopping centre which is the base of the twin towers, we discovered why the streets were empty - everyone was shopping!! Four floors of shops were rather crowded. It was amazing to see shops we recognised again, although many were exclusive designer brands. You recognised the really expensive ones by the fact that the glass doors were shut and they had a minimalist display setup - I think the idea was that if you had to open a door to see it, it was too expensive to have a price tag. Needless to say we didn’t open any doors!

After this little detour we went on to our overnight stop in Malaka, arriving around 1700. We were staying right in town and all went for a walk to look around while there was still some light left. Melaka is a beautiful town, with waterways and street markets and cosy little bars and restaurants. Some interesting shaped buildings and very friendly people.

We ate out and went out for a drink. It was just a really nice feeling town. Perfect for an easy night out before our hectic rush through Indonesia which will start tomorrow.

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Photos

Kuala Lumpur
The twin towers

Melaka
A beautiful little town