A journey through Malaysia
DAY 1 KUALA LUMPUR – MALACCA
We were going to start this trip in Singapore but as we had such a fantastic time in 2020, whilst it was deserted at the onset of Covid, we decided to just keep the great memories and commence the trip at Malacca.
The plan is to head up the western side of Malaysia, using Malacca, KL, Cameron Highlands, Ipoh, and George Town Penang as hubs to explore the rest of the area before ending with a chill out on Langkawi at the end.
The trip didn’t start off well as KLM cancelled our flight due to weather issues at Schipol and had no options for us so we had to rebook ourselves at last minute and pay accordingly. It felt like getting mugged. Apparently around 300,000 people have had flights cancelled by KLM and there were 1000’s of people camping out in Amsterdam Airport.
Both flights with Qatar were absolutely superb and we enjoyed the Q suites. It’s just a shame that Qatar don’t fly from Newcastle, if so it would be our airline of choice.
Although we were going to overnight in KL, due to the hassle we decided to head straight south to Malacca so we could have an extra chill out day. Therefore our first stop is the Casa del Rio Melaka, which, as the name suggests is right on the river and a brilliant central location. Although pretty tired we decided to have a walk and something to eat to try and get onto the correct time zone. What a lovely vibe this place has.
DAY 2 KUALA LUMPUR – MALACCA
Malacca
Malacca is one of Asia’s most characterful and historic treasures. Due to its location on the Straits of Malacca, the city became the regions greatest trading port back in the 15th century. Although no longer such an important trading hub, the rich blend of culture stemming from the medley of Chinese, Islamic, Indian and European traders that passed through is very evident, with many fascinating temples, mosques, churches and other architectural gems. The Baba Nonya cuisine found in Malacca has developed from many years of fusion from the original dishes of the Chinese immigrants using local Malay spices and ingredients.
Guided tour of Malacca: This afternoon we visited St. Paul’s Hill, where St. Francis Xavier was interned; Porta de Santiago, left behind by the Portuguese and Dutch during their colonial rule; Cheng Hoon Teng Temple, and several other places.
A walk down Joncker Street famous for arts, crafts and antiques finished off our city tour.
We found a seriously cool restaurant called The Baboon House, sort of rain forest meets steam punk.
In the evening it was again Jonker Street but at the weekends it comes alive with the night markets.
DAY 3 MALACCA
This morning was a wander through Little India and Chinatown
In the evening, we were due to go up Menara Taming Sari, Malaysia’s first revolving gyro tower, but there’s was an issue with it, instead we went up one twice as high for great views. Next was dinner at The Wild Coriander serving superb Nyonya cuisine then down to the jetty for a scenic Malacca River Cruise past traditional Malaccan houses and the Kampung Morten. Finally ending up at the “Gateway to Hell” for a drink.
DAY 4 MALACCA
After last nights trip into the “gateway to hell”, our guide decided that we needed to purify our body and soul, so we had a trip around the old town more specifically “Harmony Road” where five different religions have their churches synagogues mosques etc. She did however take us to see the old gambling dens and brothels………
Morning Malacca street art tour: street art is spread around the streets, alleys and river near Jonker Street, adding colour and character to the city. Each artwork has a different style and depicts the artists’ representation of Malacca.
Finally something to eat, we went for Malay Indian this time in a local restaurant. The food was served on banana leaves, Lynn opted for the rice set which came with rice and five smaller dishes and she teamed that up with someone chicken which was called chicken 65, no idea the significance of the 65 just hope it wasn’t a vintage one. As the food here is pretty spicy, I decided to play it safe with a biryani. Unfortunately, being a local restaurant hands were required.