Day 9 - Malaysia (27 July 2019)
We started the day off around 9 a.m. waiting for a new bus to take us through the border. I guess I forget how long border crossings can take sometimes.
Stepping off the bus you could feel it was fairly warm. Walking back to the bus, it felt like the heat and humidity were wrapping around you and begging you to stay. It was a relief to be back on the bus with the air conditioning.
It was unusual to see palm tree forests, juxtaposing the green palm fronds and ferns on the ground with the brown palm trunks.
The palm trees seem to be king here. Even the older ones with their palm fronds gone look like they’re towering over the jungle, watching their surroundings.
It is easy to imagine a life where you get lost among palm trees.
We also saw a cemetery as the highway morphed into smaller roads.
It was fun to watch the view change from the countryside to the city.
When we first pulled up to the hotel, instead of unloading our luggage, we went straight to lunch, since we were a few hours behind schedule. It was served family style on a lazy Susan, and it was pretty good! Most of the foods I recognized, but others were new experiences for me.
We evidently bought out the hotel for the night. It’s a cute boutique hotel that is over 400 years old. Eight of us got the family suite, and it was nice!
We only had a minute to freshen up, which mostly consisted of us exploring the suite. Then, we were off with our local guide to the spice museum. I learned all about Cheng Ho, from the Ming Dynasty, who took seven voyages from China to explore what is now the spice route.
We hiked up the former fort to the ruins of St Paul. The queen visited Melaka twice, and they rebuilt most of the stairs so she could hike up the hill too. It was beautiful!
After listening to a call to prayer in the background, we made our way down the other side of the hill. At that point, I was pretty hot and sweaty, so I wasn’t the best listener to the tour. But I did get some great pictures!
We walked back to the main area, being dazzled by all of the lit up pedicabs playing music while transporting passengers.
First on the agenda when we got back to the main part of town was to get some ice cream. So, we decided we would get desserts and such at Hard Rock Cafe. The air conditioning was glorious!
Next, we decided to do the river cruise. Melaka knows how to use colorful lights. The river cruise was no exception!
After our cruise experience, we went over to the Jonkers Night Market. What a cultural experience! There were so many people and things to see!
Melaka has a fascinating past and an interesting present. It is amazingly hot and humid here, but if you can see past that you’ll collect great memories from this small town!
On the Singapore side, the bus let us off, to go through immigration. It was pretty fast after scanning your passport and thumbprint. The bathrooms on the other side were extremely odorous, but I was grateful to be able to use it before getting back in the bus to cross over into Malaysia.
The bridge to Malaysia was full of busses, trucks, and cars what would all inch along, and then slam on their breaks to move 4.5 feet at a time.
We eventually made it to the Malaysian border control stop. We had to off-load all of our luggage, go through passport control, and then load it all back on the bus. I’m not sure if we somehow skipped a step where they scanned the luggage. Regardless, we did make it on the bus and down the highway about two hours behind schedule.
As we kept driving further inland to Malaysia, I was really impressed with the amount of palm trees. Some of them look as if they had been planted in rows, like Malaysia is a giant Palm tree farm.
We had a bathroom break at a rest stop that was like a mini pop up community of street vendors just outside the restrooms. They had squatty potties inside the stalls.
Stepping off the bus you could feel it was fairly warm. Walking back to the bus, it felt like the heat and humidity were wrapping around you and begging you to stay. It was a relief to be back on the bus with the air conditioning.
It was unusual to see palm tree forests, juxtaposing the green palm fronds and ferns on the ground with the brown palm trunks.
The palm trees seem to be king here. Even the older ones with their palm fronds gone look like they’re towering over the jungle, watching their surroundings.
It is easy to imagine a life where you get lost among palm trees.
We also saw a cemetery as the highway morphed into smaller roads.
It was fun to watch the view change from the countryside to the city.
When we first pulled up to the hotel, instead of unloading our luggage, we went straight to lunch, since we were a few hours behind schedule. It was served family style on a lazy Susan, and it was pretty good! Most of the foods I recognized, but others were new experiences for me.
We evidently bought out the hotel for the night. It’s a cute boutique hotel that is over 400 years old. Eight of us got the family suite, and it was nice!
We only had a minute to freshen up, which mostly consisted of us exploring the suite. Then, we were off with our local guide to the spice museum. I learned all about Cheng Ho, from the Ming Dynasty, who took seven voyages from China to explore what is now the spice route.
His father was a Muslim from Persia, who married a Chinese woman. Cheng Ho grew up with money, but war broke out when he was 11 and he was taken as a palace slave. He eventually impressed the general, and worked his way into becoming a peaceful seafaring voyager. The things he and his crew accomplished were amazing in their seven voyages.
The museum wasn’t very large, but it was interesting!
After finding an ATM, we went on a walking tour with the local guide, where we learned all about Melaka. First, there are 13 states in Malaysia; Melaka is the second smallest one, which is 500 times the size of Singapore.
There were four countries that took over this area: Portuguese, Dutch, British, and Japansese. It’s also the half way point on the spice route. It was the world emporium of spices 600 years ago. Today, it is a UNESCO World Heritige Site.
We hiked up the former fort to the ruins of St Paul. The queen visited Melaka twice, and they rebuilt most of the stairs so she could hike up the hill too. It was beautiful!
After listening to a call to prayer in the background, we made our way down the other side of the hill. At that point, I was pretty hot and sweaty, so I wasn’t the best listener to the tour. But I did get some great pictures!
We walked back to the main area, being dazzled by all of the lit up pedicabs playing music while transporting passengers.
First on the agenda when we got back to the main part of town was to get some ice cream. So, we decided we would get desserts and such at Hard Rock Cafe. The air conditioning was glorious!
Next, we decided to do the river cruise. Melaka knows how to use colorful lights. The river cruise was no exception!
After our cruise experience, we went over to the Jonkers Night Market. What a cultural experience! There were so many people and things to see!
Melaka has a fascinating past and an interesting present. It is amazingly hot and humid here, but if you can see past that you’ll collect great memories from this small town!
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