Charming & Historic Melaka

Jumping Monkey [Enlarge & More]

Cherating would have been a disappointment if it hadn’t been for the river trip. I was amazed at seeing all the different animals, the monkeys flying through the air were a particular highlight. I was, however, pleased that we left and headed to Melaka, another world heritage sight. It’s a coastal town first colonised by the Dutch and then taken over by British.

To get to Melaka we first had to take a local bus to Kuantan and then get on a coach to Melaka. We hailed the local bus to Kuantan from the main road and jumped on board and made ourselves comfortable for the hour-long journey. I love to watch the locals go about their business and a local bus is just perfect for this. One thing common in all our journeys so far have been the women who are travelling with unbelievably heavy bags. It amazes me how agile they move about with such heavy loads were as I still only manage to fumble about with my backpack and hold everyone up. One oddity on this occasion was a man who had adorned on him chains made out of D clips. I could tell this was not normal behaviour as I caught the others on the bus taking furtive looks. Strange!

Baba House [Enlarge & More]

We got to Kuantan within the hour and headed for the main bus station to get our ticket. Once that was sorted we had time to kill so I thought it was about time I started to replace some of the clothes I’d been wearing constantly for the last 4 months. We found a big mall and I got myself a right bargain.

The bus journey to Melaka was slow, we thought it was going to take 5 hours but after we stopped at every little town on the way it dragged out. I think by the time we got to Melaka, we were the only ones who did the whole journey. The scenery along the way was pretty interesting mainly because we got to see swathes of country side covered in plantations and even more swathes slashed and burned.

We arrived in Melaka after dark and headed to the hotel we had chosen, Baba House, right in the centre of China Town. Checking in they only had a room for two of the 4 nights we’d planned to stay so we had a scout round some of the other hotels nearby but all were full for the weekend. This is the only time this has happened and it was because we were approaching the weekend. Luckily we asked at reception the next morning to see if there had been a cancellation and got a room for the remaining two nights, which was a spot of luck.

Kampung Hulu Mosque [Enlarge & More]

Melaka was full of character and had a lot to do and see. We easily filled our time there, ambling about looking at all the different sights and taking in the atmosphere of the place. Melaka is full of history and some of the more interesting sights were the Mosques, which, unlike the traditional dome roofs you see, had peaked roofs - very Chinese looking. I did wonder if they had been converted to mosques, but apparently they were built like this.

Manara Taming Sari [Enlarge & More]

The first thing we did was take a trip up the Manara Taming Sari tower. As you ascend, the platform rotates so that you get some fine views of the city. We went up on a particularly clear day and I think I could see Indonesia in the distance as it’s only about 50km across the sea.

Eid Celebrations [Enlarge & More]

As we were there at the weekend, the place had a real holiday feel to it. There were Eid celebrations still going on and even though Eid was 2 weeks ago, in Malaysia they have a month long celebration. We stumbled upon one such celebration coming off the tower. As we exited, we sort of fell into the celebrations and were being offered food. It was rude to say no so we had a plate full each of rice, chicken curry and beef skewers. While we munched on the food a band started playing and we were entertained by some singing. Everyone seemed to be having a great time and it reminded me of the street parties held back at the silver jubilee in the UK. Great spirit.

Karaoke, Chinatown [Enlarge & More]

That evening, just outside our hotel, a huge night market appeared and we found that it only happens at the weekend. It was great, you had everything being sold from roasted dried squid, which stank, to bric and brac someone had collected. Karaoke also featured heavily in the nooks and crannies as you’d hear the singing before you saw it. There was even a stage dedicated to it at one end of the market. Very brave for them to go up and sing in front of the big market crowd.

We had one of the oddest experiences in Melaka, the shirt I’d bought in Kuantan turned out to be a bit too big so I decided to find a tailor to get it adjusted. Whereas in Thailand you were falling over them shoving their cards in your face, in Melaka they proved to be a bit more allusive. On the hunt we went and after roaming around for a while we came across one. We walked in straight to the back past all these people sat at sewing machines to ask if they could adjust it for me. I did notice that they were all eating and that there seemed to be a lot of camera lighting about but thought nothing of it. When I asked if they could help, I got an odd look and was told that it wasn’t a tailors shop. I looked puzzled which elicited that it was actually a film set and they were taking a lunch break. Anyway I did find a tailor and he adjusted my shirt for the princely sum of 90p.

Base Jump [Enlarge & More]

Oddly, we found some of the streets cordoned off to traffic, so we went investigating and we found a crowd looking skywards where we’d feasted on the free food the day before. As I looked up a man hurled himself off the top of the tower and what we’d stumbled across this time was base jumping. Amazing really, having been up there the day before I knew how high it was - pretty high, but not high enough to base jump from. I was so busy taking photos that as he landed I had to run out of the way as I nearly got taken out.

Eye on Malaysia [Enlarge & More]

Melaka is also hosting the Eye on Malaysia at the moment, it’s sort of like the London eye, but smaller and portable. You also don’t go round once but that may have has something do with us being the only ones on it. It’s a bit out of the main city, in the middle of nowhere so I don’t think it gets many visitors. The sun was setting as we were on it so the view were spectacular over the sea and I think we definitely got value for money by going round and round and round.

To end a great stay in Melaka we found ourselves a restaurant serving Nyonya food, which is a mix of Malay and Chinese. To describe the food is hard but if you think of Chinese food but made by an Indian chef then you get a little idea. I think on the menu it described it as the original fusion food.

Melaka is charming, it’s people are warm and friendly. The historical as well as the modern sights are worth a visit and the weekend is definitely the best time to come here and lucky for us that’s just what happened.

Exploring the East Coast of Malaysia - Kota Bharu & Cherating

Broken Down Bus[Enlarge & More]

Penang was a whirlwind introduction to Malaysia, complete with very bad weather, so we were quite pleased to be leaving and on our way to the east coast, starting with a stop in Kota Bharu.

Our taxi arrived to take us to the bus station, and was driven by a middle aged Indian man from New Zealand. He was a very nice man – but we’ve found taxi drivers often have sad stories to tell, and they’re often driving a taxi because their old lives didn’t work out. In this case, his family still lived in New Zealand, and he was estranged from his wife – he was working as a taxi driver rather than his normal profession as an engineer, because nobody would employ him at his age – I felt a bit sad for him.

Waiting for Bus [Enlarge & More]

Anyway, we got on the bus and it broke down about halfway to Kota Bharu – typical that we travel all around southeast Asia, and the bus breaks down in a first world country rather than the likes of Cambodia. Fortunately, we stopped at a scenic outcrop in the rolling hills of central Malaysia, and it was a good photo opportunity. Another bus came and picked up a few people, but we were too slow with our bulky bags. Malaysians are very similar to Indians, in that rather than queue in an orderly fashion, everyone just rushes to the front and tries to get on first – we were just too polite in this case! The new bus came and went, and after a few minutes the remaining ten or so of us got back on the old bus, and off we went. I have no idea what was wrong with the bus, it seemed fine after that. Maybe there were too many people.

Kota Bharu [Enlarge & More]

We got to Kota Bharu a couple of hours late, and checked into our hotel – Crystal Lodge. It was pretty disappointing to be honest – compared to what we usually get for the price, Crystal Lodge was a bit tired and run down. Plus the WiFi didn’t work in the room, which got us both a bit upset. Once we’d calmed ourselves, we went out for some food. What a surprise! People stared at us as we walked down the street, and nearly everyone smiled or said hello. We walked into a small family run restaurant on the street corner near the hotel, and the rather surprised owners handed us a couple of menus in Malay. We ordered a couple of dishes, having very little idea as to what they were, and ended up having a very nice meal. The woman who was cooking came out and hovered nearby while watching us eat – a bit disconcerting, but we were genuinely enjoying the meal (luckily), so didn’t have to pretend to like it!

That pretty much sums up Kota Bharu in a nutshell actually. Tourists generally spend at most a night in Kota Bharu, and very few spend any time at all, so really the locals don’t see many people from out of town. As a result, many people were quite curious about us and where we came from, and keen to talk to us. It was strange to be stared at so much – it reminded me of our time in India, but the stares seemed a lot more friendly, whereas in India people tend to stare more out of curiosity, and because it’s just what they do! We spent three nights there, and generally had a pretty good time, although three nights was definitely enough.

Central Market [Enlarge & More]

I think the highlight for both of us was the central market – definitely the best produce market we’ve seen. Housed in a massive concrete structure, the inside was lined with rows of vegetables, fruit, fish, chickens, dry goods, packaged goods – everything. I bought a bag of chocolate and a bag of sweets, although the sweets turned out to be cough sweets which weren’t so nice. A few people were keen to chat with us – one old man held up his mushrooms for Mahmoud to take a photo of which was very sweet. It was definitely one of the hubs of town, and all sorts of people were there doing their shopping. I think though, they were just as interested in watching us as we were in watching them!

Throwing Spinning Top [Enlarge & More]

Another highlight was the daily cultural show. We watched batik painting, kite making, top spinning, and drum banging. It was very interesting, and narrated by a slightly eccentric man with a few bad jokes, who had to leave halfway through to pray at the nearby mosque. The top spinning was very impressive – they spin the metal tops, and they spin for about two hours apparently – I guess whoever’s top spins the longest wins, although they need to resort to tactics such as oiling them while they spin and transferring them to smooth oiled surfaces etc. Unfortunately, the boat from the nearby Perhentian islands arrived shortly after the cultural show started, and tourists from the island descended on the performance, so it wasn’t quite so peaceful after that. There were a few really daggy tourists there – you know, the sort who look like they have poo in their dreadlocked hair, holes in their clothes and look like they haven’t washed in about 6 months. We have taken to calling such people farang kii nok (Thai description for birdshit Westerner) – on such an amazing spiritual journey, that they forget the rules of basic hygiene.

Cherating Beach[Enlarge & More]

After Kota Bharu, we headed down the east coast to Cherating. The bus didn’t break down fortunately, but we did have to be vigilant in looking out for our stop as the bus was not due to stop at Cherating, and we had to get the driver to drop us off. On the bus we met a young Afghan student who was studying in Malaysia. He was only 22, but looked about 35. He took quite a shine to Mahmoud when he learned of his Pakistani heritage, and chatted away for quite some time. He also ate some of my sweets! I had to hide them in the end.

Cherating was like a ghost town. It was so quiet there – I can’t imagine it is so quiet all year round. We were the only people staying in our hotel, and one of very few visiting the town – I think even the locals must have gone to busier pastures, it was so quiet. Anyway, our hotel was a bit of a dump for the price – Cherating Bayview Resort. Worst place we’ve stayed value-wise – actually, worst place full-stop really. It was not a pleasure to sleep in the room, and mosquitoes broke in, formed an attack squadron and chewed on my face and neck all night. Furthermore, the place was run by a sour-faced middle aged woman who didn’t look like she was that pleased to have us there!

River Trip [Enlarge & More]

Well, Cherating was a good place to relax, but in comparison to the beaches of southern Thailand it really did fall a bit flat. Still, it was peaceful and the beach was good to walk up and down. There were only a few restaurants open in town, and only one on the beach itself, which was where we ate most of our meals.

One thing we really enjoyed was a trip up the river which ran alongside the town, and into the mangrove swamps. We saw an amazing amount of wildlife – snakes, otters, water monitor lizards, crabs living in trees, kingfishers, monkeys (which weren’t used to humans and bared their teeth). It was a really great trip, but at the end the boatman apologised thinking we hadn’t seen enough – we were more than happy though!

After three nights in Cherating, we were more than ready to head off to our next destination – Melaka. With only a limited amount of time to spend in the peninsular part of Malaysia, we were conscious of spending too much time “relaxing” in Cherating, and wanted to get on and see what else there was to see! The east coast was definitely worth seeing though – we got a lot out of both Kota Bharu and Cherating. It was definitely a cultural experience – I felt like we got to see an unmissable part of Malaysia.