Melaka - a rich history
For our second weekend in Singapore we decide to go exploring. Vicky finds a newly opened boutique hotel in Melaka - 260km north of Singapore on the west side of the Malaysian peninsula - and we start to organise transport to get there. Shock horror it is the start of the school holidays and nearly all the buses are full. We can get there but not back again.
Fortunately one of my guys at work has the number for a Malaysian limo guy so, at a price, we arrange transport back again on the Sunday afternoon and all is sorted.
We arrive at the bus pickup in Beach Road at 7.45 and cannot find where we pick up tickets. As we are wandering round waiting for the tour shop to open we meet a couple of charming Americans, Sean and Sue (right), who have decided to go to Melaka for the day. They turn out to be great divers and fill us in on all the hot diving locations in Indonesia. The bus journey turns out to be longer than we think and it is nearly 2pm by the time that we reach Melaka and even then we have to catch a taxi from the bus station into town. Not much time for our American friends' whistlestop tour.
The centre of Melaka is a good size for exploring in a weekend. On the same side of the river as our hotel is the old Dutch area where you can explore St Paul's hill, the Stadthuis and loads of museums (this is a world heritage site). Along the river and many small bars and restaurants. On the other (west side) is the Chinatown - Jonkers St is the main thoroughfare and is full of stalls - when we were visiting there was also a very busy night market. In the adjacent street you can explore antique shops, temples and more museums.