Nick’s world tour

Heading south via Kuala Lumpur, I arrive in Melaka in the early evening. The journey takes a great deal longer than expected, must be operating on special stretchable time. I arrive on a Sunday evening, so take advantage of the weekend night market in Chinatown for dinner. Melaka is an ancient city with a river running through it, separating the colonial and newer sections from the Chinatown area.

The city has at one time been part of the British, Portugese and Dutch empires and there are many grand old buildings. The Sultan’s Palace recreates an original wooden palace inhabited by the sultanate before it burned down.

The only remnant of the A Famosa fort built by the Portugese is the gateway to Porta de Santiago at the bottom of Bukit (hill) St Paul. Originally the site of a mosque, this was knocked down to become a church which was later converted to Catholic, overlooking the sea to one side and Dutch Square below.

Here is the imposing Stadthuys (town hall), a clock tower and Christ Church- all painted red.

Finally there is the maritime museum with a replica of the sunken Flora del Mar.

Chinatown is a little over preserved but still has some impressive buildings, including the ancient clan houses where last night Chinese pensioners were singing karaoke. It’s all a bit deserted after last night!

Here I’ve tried some laksa (a Chinese-Malay sour soup with various things floating in it), and an unpleasant radioactive concoction called ABC. Black and red beans, sweetcorn, nuts, sticky fruit sauce topped with shaved ice is as wrong, and as disgusting as it sounds! Melaka is a nice town, albeit touristy, but no need to spend more than a day here. Off to KL tomorrow.

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