Malaysia: Our entrance to Melaka 10/03/10

After a fairly short, peaceful coach trip from the bright lights and bustle of Kuala Lumpur’s metropolitan atmosphere we arrived in Melaka Sentral (the main terminal bus station for the area) at 11 o’clock and sleepily collected out bags. We headed through the bus terminal avoiding eye contact with all the bus company hawkers and tried to make our way to the ticket booths. It must be noted that no matter how much ‘eye contact avoidance’ you practice in an attempt to look like you know what you’re doing, being the only white couple in the area and blundering into the station through the ‘exit’, clutching maps and lugging the worlds heaviest, most western looking backpacks, one can only achieve a certain level of nonchalance and incongruity. So, despite our best efforts, we were mobbed and pushed our way against the tide looking for tickets to the town centre.

We headed purposefully towards the busiest counter hoping to secure the next days ticket to Singapore early and managed after a quick exchange to acquire two tickets for eleven the next morning. Buoyed by our ticket success we headed through the terminal towards the domestic bus depot hoping to discover easy to read straightforward maps and instructions on how to get to Chinatown. Needless to say these were not apparent and so after a quick investigative sweep and brief interrogation of a number of drivers we found the bus we needed - bus 17 headed for Central Square. We made our way to a large rickety ‘17’ sign hovering precariously over a bus that looked almost as if it used to be a tractor and boarded awkwardly, clutching bags and possessions in a space that seemed a couple of centimetres smaller that we required and perched precariously on the stair as I attempted to find the right change.

We squeezed along the aisle and wedged ourselves into our seats as the driver reversed out of the parking bay. We stared out the window uncertainly trying to see where it was we should attempt the disembarkation. The first stop was still out of town so we stayed put, hoping that ‘Chinatown’ would be announced to us when we reached the correct stop. Suddenly the bus pulled up the kerb and the bus driver turned around and shouted ‘off!’ loudly down the bus. He ushered us off the bus and we stood in the muggy heat on the side of the road confused and trying to work out if we had been ejected at the right spot or if the driver had just got fed up with us taking up all the room on his bus. We were in a quaint town centre; a clock tower and municipal buildings rose in front of us, all painted in terracotta reds and brilliant whites. It looked generally more European and well kept than we expected, just like a recently refurbished quaint French square. A river ran along the west side of the square and an ornate bridge spanned the gently flowing waters.

After an extensive geographical appraisal, we set off across the bridge and walked past a vibrant, colourful line of shops and stalls. Jonker’s Walk, as it is known, illustrates Melaka’s Dutch influenced past lead us relatively straightforwardly towards Melaka Tech School, opposite which we would apparently find Ringo’s Foyer.

....tbc

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Great Website!

Here is the Wordle design generated from my Arrival into Sydney post:

If you squint and use a lot of imagination, this could look a bit like Australia....