Hello and welcome again to the mrlukeniktravels blog. As I write I am in the city of Johor Bahru on the southern tip of Malaysia facing Singapore. This post concerns the happenings of the past week farther north in Melaka (Malacca). Outside the temporary office a thunderstorm grumbles in the air and rain falls heavily. Unlike previous occasions, I was not caught in the rain and drenched. Navigating muddy puddles in the rain whilst wearing flip-flops certainly is a new skill for me. I’m yet to decide whether to add it to my CV! Without further prevarication here are my thoughts on Melaka…
Travelling down from George Town to the equally UNESCO listed Melaka involved an almost eleven hour bus journey. An estimated journey times of eight hours was rather optimistic.Thankfully I bumped into a fellow traveller to have a good few conversations with. so it didn’t feel such a long journey…phew. Arriving in the dark and finding my hostel would have been a challenge without a phone and maps.me (I’m not sponsored, but here’s hoping 😉 ). For the first night’s stay I was the only guest in the hostel. This was a little strange, like exploring the Mary Celeste. It brought back memories of Stokkseyri in Iceland being the only person in a 14 bed room. I suppose that is better than being packed full living on top of each other. Sleep came easily to me, punctuated by passing rickshaws blasting out Disney theme music on their stereos- strange.
My first full day in the city involved taking in some history from the Portuguese, Dutch, British and Sultanate periods. One museum’s information was almost exclusively in Malay, but I enjoyed looking at the pictures. It is risky to enter a museum on a whim. The Sultan’s palace- now also a museum- was certainly the most impressive building of the day. Constructed almost entirely of wood, there was plenty of information inside for me to digest. The tableaux of court scenes and displays of clothing, culture and weapons really showcased the diversity of Malaysia. Despite this I found some of the mannequins’ faces a little off-putting, extras from Doctor Who perhaps. Creepy. No photographs were allowed inside so I can’t provide evidence of this. I could have used a massage chair to relax but I doubt that would have helped!
Due to the mixture of rulers and arrivals from all over the world Melaka has such a diversity of places of worship. A street near my hostel contains a Hindu temple, Chinese temple, mosque and church. Not many places have all that in 500 metres. That street inspired the title for this post. I can sometimes struggle to find something suitable and succinct! That afternoon was spent visiting Villa Sentosa, a traditional Malay house. Built nearly a century ago, its design means air conditioning is not necessary. The lattice work and opening windows on all sides make utilising a cool breeze easy. I really enjoyed visiting the house which is still lived in by the owners. Whilst there I struck the gong three times to offer me a wish- I’ll let you know if it comes to fruition!
Returning to the places of worship theme, the highlight of visiting Melaka for me was the sunset at the Straits Mosque. Built in 2006, the mosque is a monument to Islamic design and craftspeople. It is built on a pontoon over the sea. Watching the sun go down with the silhouette of the mosque (no ‘e’ sound) and the call of the Mu’addhin was very beautiful and atmospheric. A reminder that home still seems far (and half a world) away. Unfortunately I wasn’t dressed properly to be able to go inside, but the outside was pretty spectacular. Less spectacular was the litter and plastic bottles everywhere, sadly a familiar sight in this part of the world. Rivers and canals prohibit swimming but, looking at the water, I wouldn’t want to swim in there! Open water swimming was best left to Canada, New Zealand and Australia- including crocodiles.
As I plan to spend around a month in Malaysia, plans are afoot for my next destination. Making plans is always very exciting, even if during the course of this trip the excitement has slightly worn off. Heading north into Thailand will mean travelling into the wet. For the first time since Canada this will be a country I have already been to. With that in mind, I hope to cover places that I have yet to visit and in a different season too. I shall be focusing on the north and east of Thailand as I have already covered the south. After that I plan to head south and further east, but that is for another time. It is a few years since I have been in Thailand, so it will be a nice refresher. Hopefully since that time I have grown older and wiser but there is no guarantee of that!
That is almost it for this week’s update on my adventures. Next week I shall be back in Kuala Lumpur preparing to fly north into Thailand. Just a short stay in the capital this time before heading to the airport. Then on to another country! As always, to get update to date news on my adventures (and what book I’m reading) my Twitter can be found with the handle @mrlukeniktravel. For pretty pictures like the one of the mosque above, my Instagram handle is @mrlukeniktravels. Therefore, until next time, stay safe and travel on!