Coach

A short coach ride from Kuala Lumper was a town called Malacca. We paid an extra few pound to travel VIP class, affording us plenty of leg room and very comfortable arm chair like seats a far cry from the Thai van ride. Although not on our original itinerary, Malacca helped break up the journey to Singapore. Famed for its UNESCA world heritage status it would hopefully give us a glimpse at some history of Malaysia.

Caratel

We stayed at hipster styled hotel / upmarket hostel called the Caratel Garden Quater. Being a 10 - 15 minute walk to most of the main sights made it slightly cheaper than the Central branch of this chain. We booked a caravan room, a room in the lobby of the hotel styled to look like a caravan. Ours was the Marilyn Monroe room, painted like a tarts boudoir and right next to the reception desk. It consisted of a room large enough to fit a double bed and a surprisingly well sized bathroom with a great rainfall shower. Although this room was funky being in the lobby meant it was also noisy and well lite all night, sometimes cool is not practical.

Heritage

The small terracotta streets of Malacca gave it an almost Mediterranean feel. The old buildings were being well looked after and because of its heritage status the pesky sky scrappers had been pushed to the edges of town keeping the center feeling old. A river meandered through the center lined with restaurants and bars. The path that run alongside was perfect for running and we took advantage of this several times throughout our stay.

Boat

Boat trips were offered along the river taking you from a basin near the sea to one further up the river. In total the trip took around 45 minutes and we managed to take a trip around dusk so we saw the river in daylight as well as night. The lights from the restaurants and bars gave the river a well lived feeling. At one point the ferryman stopped next to a man who was out feeding his tortoises, a seemingly not unique occurrence as they knew each other well. Normally on these type of sight seeing ferrys a audio guide or commentary is given, on this particular ride we were treated to 80’s rock power ballads instead.

Museum

There were plenty of museums in Malacca so many so it was difficult to choose which ones to go to. After some thought and a review about good aircon we went for the free architecture museum. After finding out the aircon had since packed up we stuffily wandered the exhibits. It turned out to be a great little museum, teaching about the different inhabitants of Malaysia through their architecture and how different styles have evolved to incorporate the diverse population.

Pier

One day we wandered towards the sea hoping to find a beach or promenade to walk along. Instead we found a few hotels and a hip little cafe called the Fat Bee. Thinking the pier may be full of hip little shops we climbed the dingy looking steps. From the out of date music posters and adverts it was soon clear the place was not doing well. As we walked along the closed shop fronts, some broken into, it turned out to be abandoned. As we got to the end a former pool hall had been broken into, its pool queues thrown into the sand below. Walking back we saw some massive monitor lizards poking about below in the water, perhaps the new inhabitants. We moved on quickly.