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melaka-day-1

One thing I don’t seem to do often enough in new cities is go to museums. Given the long history involved in Melaka, and the entire Strait of Malacca region, I wasn’t going to pass it up here. Rising early and making the short walk across the river from the Tidur Tidur Guest House, I was not immediately impressed by the selection of museums.

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The Stamp Museum.  Not exactly for me.

The Stamp Museum. Not exactly for me.

I decided to pass on ones like the Melaka Stamp Museum. The historic remains of colonial buildings which I saw illuminated the last night were interesting, but too recent to be of significant interest to me. I was interested in pre-European history of this region, perhaps suggesting something similar to what I found at Lembah Bujang?

The traditional history museum, thankfully provided a fantastic portrait of how old Melaka, and also old Malaya actually functioned. In addition, it had a small exhibit on loan about ancient Chinese artifacts, which were particularly impressive.

Some ancestral Malay musical instruments.  Unfortunately, I couldn't take picture of the really good stuff.

Some ancestral Malay musical instruments. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take picture of the really good stuff.

But the time I walked out of the museum, the token heat of southern Malaysia had kicked in full. Still, I had been to Chinatown the last night, so now it was time for Little India of Melaka. Little India here is not obvious, but it sprawls a significant ways in Melaka.

 

So I found a place based on a traveller’s rule of thumb: Go where the locals are going. This resulted in me sitting at a 3 meter aluminum table alongside very anxious Indians. My meal was something I picked at random and was then served on a banana leaf. This variety of meat-pastes I was given blended nicely with the rice and naan, completing what, I think, is my most authentic Indian meal to date.

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An article written about the owner of the guesthouse.

An article written about the owner of the guesthouse.

By now, the heat was exhausting, and I had a ways to walk to the bus stop. I thanked the owner, Stanley Chin, of the shop again and bought one of his Chinese Zodiac year t-shirts. Unfortunately, he didn’t have an Xl and the L in Asia is never the same as a European or American large. So, it doesn’t quite fit to this day.

Once back at the central bus station, it was a few hours until the next bus to Singapore. Passing time in a bus station is always tedious, though some station are admittedly more entertaining than others. The Melaka Bus Station, despite its size, is very boring.

Benjamin Williams

Hi all, my name is Ben. I’m a native Michigander with a passion for human culture and new places, and more than that, new experiences. I have degrees in archaeology and writing, pursuing a career in the latter. However, I never quite lost that fascination for archaeological theory. For the past 11 years, I’ve been living and travelling between Asia, Europe, and North America, documenting ancient sites and the peoples who built them, and then adapting them into practical archaeological travel information at PathsUnwritten.com. https://pathsunwritten.com/about-me/

2 Comments

  • kyh says:

    Bus stations in Malaysia are nothing special and are pretty rundown, especially in the secondary towns.

    Oh so you’re coming to Singapore… Am currently based here.

  • Ben says:

    I loved Singapore, but unfortunately, this post is catching up on a few months ago. I’m back in Bangkok for the time being.

    Ben

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