Malacca UNESCO World Heritage CityMalacca is one of the two World Heritage Cities in Malaysia (Penang is the other). Therefore I expected clear signs how to reach the historical city center. Although I cycled on a main road into the city, there were no directions to the Malacca World heritage City, not even a clear sign to the city center.
It took me some searching and hoping for the best until more or less by accident I ended up at the more familiar sight of Malacca's city center. Although Malacca is a major tourist destination it was remarkable quiet on this Tuesday afternoon. I decided it would be useful to have a city map so I moved to the cities main tourist office. It was closed, as it was closed during the rest of the Tuesday and the whole Wednesday (I checked several times when I was walking around). Also the Malacca UNESCO World Heritage office was closed (soon to be opened, Malacca is already more then a year listed in UNESCO's World Heritage list).
Walking through Malacca's historical China town was fantastic. Jonker Street and many other little streets were renovated and were breathing a pleasant atmosphere. However, where to find something in the heritage area was limited to announcements of some (uninteresting) Mosques. It seems the local government did everything to avoid promoting the heritage area. Just south of the heritage area a complete new build massive shopping center had been build which had not been there when I first visited Malacca in 1991.
I kept wandering through the city center, admiring the small Chinese shop lots. In a less visited I was enjoying a lunch in one of those typical little food stalls were I had a ho kien mee (prawn noodles). It always amazes me how cheap these meals can be, less then a dollar and you're eating more then you can handle.
Still, tired of walking around I found a little cafe with fruit juices with all kinds of exciting names. What would image when reading: "Honeydew Tomato Hangover", "Cucumber Cruiser", "Give Me Back My Guava" or "Pineapple Hu La La". Sure, the drinks were not cheap, but drinks like these must be great, and they were!
To my surprise most of China Town was closed at night with the exception of 1 or 2 restaurants. Nightlife seems to be restricted to the shopping malls.
Accommodation in MalaccaMalacca is one of the prime tourist destinations of Malaysia. Therefore it has a wide range of hotels available.
Continue cycling to Johor or Port Dickson and Klang
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Accommodation in MalaccaIt doesn't have to be expensive, you can find good and cheap hostels and guesthouses in Malacca, but should you want more up-market, it's all available:
Johor Bharu to MalaccaIt is arguable that this is an area in Malaysia you can easily skip. True, there's not a lot to enjoy in between Johor and Malacca but it is pleasant cycling on mostly quiet roads. Here's what you can see. Johan cycled Pangkor to PenangJohan, at the time of the journey, 8 years old, cycled on his kid bike from Pangkor to Penang. It took him 4 days cycling plus one day rest in Taiping. Malacca to KlangThe surprise in your journey on the west coast is probably this road leading north out of Malacca through Port Dickson to Klang. |
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