Thursday, November 21, 2013
Headed South to the historically important town of Melaka or Malacca. Along the way we saw a couple cycling in the opposite direction. Of course we stopped to chat to them, and turns out they are cycling “around the world” and she is from San Francisco.
The afternoon was spent taking in the main tourist attractions. First stop was an excellent museum on Malaysia’s Indepence in 1956. Great way to get a short history of how the Portuguese, Dutch and ultimately the English came and departed. Melaka is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and we visited several churches and state houses (Porta de Santiago, Dutch Graveyard, St Paul’s Church, The Stadhuys and Christ Church). Also stepped into Chinatown and the ‘Jonker Walk’ district.
Friday, November 22, 2013
Another day of being a tourist. Melaka is halfway between China and India with access to the spice islands of Indonesia, so a pretty good place for a port. We wandered down to the Straits of Melaka, but alas, did not find any port activities. I guess Melaka is no longer a port city. Then headed to see more of the old Dutch quarter and on towards the Sultanate Palace for a little bit more history.
In the evening we strolled the night markets, again in the ‘Jonker Walk’ neighborhood.
