Search This Blog
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Friday, June 29, 2012
Malacca Tour
We headed for Malacca aka Melaca, after
spending a splendid week in Singapore. Melaca was
not on our itinerary list as we had not heard of this place before. It was our
friend who suggested not to miss this third smallest Malaysian
State.
And I am glad we took the decision of
visiting Mallacca. Malacca is 245 km from Singapore and 148 km from Kualampur.
It has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage
Site since 7th July 2008. The state capital Malacca town, is strategically
located between the two national capitals in
Malaysia and Singapore and connected with excellent roads and highways.
About Malacca:
-->
Malacca is 245 km from Singapore and
148 km from Kualampur. It has been listed as a UNESCO World
Heritage Site since 7th July 2008. The state capital Malacca town, is
strategically located between the two national capitals in
Malaysia and Singapore and connected with excellent roads and highways.
According
to a popular legend, when Parameswara stopped under a tree near a river
(Malacca river) while hunting, one of his hunting dogs was pushed by a
mouse deer when the later was defending herself, the dog fell into the river.
Impressed by the courage of the deer, Parameswara took this as a propitious
sign of the weak overcoming the powerful and decided to build his new kingdom
on that spot naming it Malacca after the tree under which he had been resting.
We took a bus with only 4 passengers on
board. My husband and myself and two gentlemen. The bus left at its scheduled departure time. There was no stoppage in between except
one at the check post, where we had to get down to the immigration process.
The bus was waiting for us while we clear customs and immigration. It took 3
hours to reach the Malacca Sentral bus station.
From there we took panorama bus no. 17 to Stadthuys.
We followed the directions mentioned in Lonelyplanet.com to reach our
guesthouse which we had booked at Riverone Guest House
over the internet.
At Malacca Sentral Bus Station.
About Riverone Guesthouse:
Riverone guesthouse
is located along the Malacca river and it is only 10 minutes walk to most of the
tourist spots. The guest house provides shared dining area with kitchen utensils and free coffee &
tea 24hrs, free WiFi, shared bathroom with 24hrs
hot and cold shower, free bicycle rental and currency exchange upon request.
The rooms are very clean.
View of Malacca river from the guesthouse.
The kitchen |
The kitchen. |
Day 1:
After resting for some time, we went for an evening stroll along the Malacca River. We enjoyed
the fantastic street and artistic view of houses with amazing, vividly colored murals by local artists.
With a local artist. |
With a local artist. |
There are many bars and cafes along the
river. We were lucky to find a wonderful restaurant beside
the river. Little moma`s restaurant.
We spent our evening at Malacca, relaxing in the
restaurant over some drinks followed by dinner.
Dinner at Little Momma`s restaurant. |
At Little Momma |
Day 2:
Breakfast at Little Momma |
Breakfast at Little Momma |
Glimpses of the great city had
us intrigued & ready to explore, next day. Beauty of Malacca city lies in its beauty and historical background and
architecture.
Heavily decorated bicycle rickshaw in Mallaca |
The famous places to visit are:
A famosa: fortress built by the Portugal admiral, Alfonso
d` Albuquerque in 1511.
Christ Church
In front of Christ Chruch. |
Stadthuys: it was built in 1650 as the official residence
of Dutch governors and their officers.
St. john`s fort.
Taming Sari towerView from Taming Sari Tower |
View from the tower |
Inside Taming Sari Tower |
Malacca Sultanate Palace (cultured
museum).
Malacca Sultanate
Palace
|
As dusk fell, it was
time to go for a Malacca River cruise. Malacca River cruise gets a feel of as if
we are in Venice.. One can see the multi-cultural and historical fabric of the
country. Diverse architecture, along its banks, warehouses, temples, churches,
mosques and Malay village can be seen. Touring time for Malacca River Cruise is
about 45 minutes, covering a distance of 10 km. The boats are available daily
at every thirty minute interval between the following times: 9.30am to 5pm and
6pm to 12 midnight. The cruise boat passes under many bridges.
Day 3:
Night Market |
Visit to Malacca would have been
incomplete without visiting the Jonker walk night
market. Malacca night market opens only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 6
pm to 12 midnight. There are lots of stalls that sell unique arts and crafts,
souvenirs, jewelry etc along the Jonker street. Delicious food and entertainment can be
enjoyed over there.
Spending 3 days was not enough as we couldn’t cover all the
tourists’ places, but would love to come here again and again. It was indeed
the kind of ending we had dreams of.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)