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Published: February 10th 2012
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Malaysia – Melaka – A quiet little historic town that suddenly exploded with people during the bank holiday!!
After a flying visit to Singapore (another blog to follow) I jumped on a bus and made my way back to Malaysia to visit a town called Melaka. Whilst in Malaysia the first time I didn’t have time to visit the South so with a few spare days before I fly to Oz I decided to make use of the time by heading back for a quick visit. I only planned on staying three or four days but I liked it so much here I ended up staying for seven. I guess that’s one of the best parts about travelling, within reason when you find somewhere you like you can just stay longer or in some cases get out quick.
Melaka is usually a very quiet and almost sleepy town with a good mix of the old and new to look around. It’s a fairly compact place mainly centred around the historic quarter with its narrow streets and fantastic classical architecture. During the bank holiday and weekends the streets are closed to traffic and they come alive with street vendors, market
stalls, pimp my ride cyclo driver’s and an endless sea of lanterns and dragons which happened to be exactly how it was when I arrived! The Cyclo’s or Trishaw’s here are so funny, they are basically a bike with two seats attached to the side of it and are the most brightly decorated forms of transport I’ve seen for a long while. But the best bit (or worst) is they all have stupidly loud music systems installed on them and the drivers insist on playing hideous music at ridiculous volumes all through the day and in particular at night. It’s so funny to watch families going for a ride in one of these things with the latest drum and bass anthems kicking out the back!!! It made me smile every time I saw one but you normally heard them first.
There is a great feel and vibe in Melaka, it’s hard to put my finger on exactly what it is but I guess it comes down to the fact that I wanted to pass a few days feeling comfortable and relaxed but at the same time not to bored and it was a great place to do this so
it was ticking a lot of boxes for me. The hostel was also great, it was called Jalan Jalan and because mine was an overflow hostel from the main one it meant there were no staff and no office, meaning it was basically just like being in your own home. I met so many cool people at my hostel and spent several nights just wandering the streets with them admiring all the stalls and street performances on the stage at Jonker’s Walk. We also had a great meal at a local’s favourite restaurant called Nancy’s Kitchen, absolutely delicious local food.
Other than taking my time looking round all the sights and shops, along with going to the cinema nearly every day I was just happy to sit back and watch the world go by for a few days. It was great but the heat and humidity out here for me is very tough to deal with and sometimes just too much, it makes me so tired. Therefore I was in no particular rush to do much when the sun was at its strongest other than enjoy the free coffee and read my books on the sofa’s.
After the
crazy bank holiday weekend was over Melaka returned to its quiet self and the locals got on with their daily jobs and I resumed my routine of getting up late, going for a stroll and hitting the cinema in the evenings!!! It’s been a tough seven days but it’s sadly time to leave and head back to Singapore for my final few days before Australia.
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