Malacca

When we arrived at the airport in Vientiane our flight wasn't posted anywhere but after our first - a little bit worried - investigations we found the proper Check-in counter. From Kuala Lumpur we took the first bus we could find in direction of Malacca (malay: Melaka). It's a well known tourist destination due to its rich colonial history with Portuguese, Dutch and British occupations and their leftovers. Especially the Dutch are responsible for many of the sights nowadays.
We had thought that the evening would be enough to see the city but as we arrived later than anticipated we decided to stay another night to have enough time to see it all!!
Actually all the sights are spread over an area of about 1 sqm, so you can comfortably see them in a 2-3 hours stroll through the alleys. First we went to the main square with the distinct red painted houses, a church and the "Stadthuys", a huge administration building. The Church of Christ wasn't very impressive from the inside but still nice for a change after the temples in Laos. Then we went to St. Paul's Hill with the ruins of St Paul's Church and a lighthouse/watchtower on top. The last sight was "A Famoso", the last standing building from the Portuguese and only spared because of the intervention a captain named Raffles. He will later be known as the founder of Singapore and governor of the Dutch East Indies. Then we had a simply amazing Falafel at our hostel before relaxing in the afternoon there with some beers.
In the evening we went out to see the city in the nightly illumination... Just as pretty as during the day and we really loved the atmosphere in the city. There was a tourist market going on and the streets were completely full of people looking for snacks or souvenirs. Quite the difference to the day before where we were alone at night in the streets. Early in the morning we took a taxi to the bus station to take the bus to our last stop before flying home, Tioman Island.Read more