Melaka

We have now arrived in historic Melaka (Malacca) which is south of KL towards Singapore. This town has an amazing history and we have spent a few days soaking up the atmosphere. It's amazing to think that this was a significant trading port for the last almost 1000 years. The colonial history is also very interesting - four hundred years of Portugese, Dutch, English and Japanese occupation prior to independence.

Needless to say, there are some great historic buildings around. We spend today checking out the museum and the area around St Paul's Hill. St Paul's Church on St Paul's Hill was first built by the Portugese in 1521 (but used by both the Dutch and the English later on) and the facade is still standing today. There are also some really old (mostly Dutch) buildings around which are still in use (one houses the museum for example). At the base of the Hill is the Porta de Santiago which was one of the gates into the famous dutch fort A'Famosa (the English destroyed the rest of the fort).

Chinatown is also really pretty with lots of old shops selling antiques and other souvenirs. Some of the antiques are really amazing and some are supposedly really old but I have so far decided not to part with my money because I am too scared of getting ripped off!!

Last night we went to a restaurant which serves Baba Nyonya (Chinese/Malaysian) food. It was nice and different to food that we've had before but the rendang chicken was a bit spicy!! We also had squid cooked in tamarind and some steamed okra (which I have never had before). Today we decided to try some more Baba Nyonya food for lunch and we had a Baba laksa which was apparently only mildly spicy but was still enough to make Paul almost drown in sweat!! We also had cendol which is a dessert made with red beans, green noodles and sago, covered with ice and topped with coconut cream and sugar syrup. Yes, I have given up worrying about the ice - I'm telling you it's literally impossible not to have ice in your drinks here. It is sooooo hot you just end up dying for something cold. The fridges here seem to only keep drinks mildly cold so they're never cold enough straight from the can. After watching Paul eat iced dessert after iced dessert I finally cracked!!

It's strange to think that we have now been away for five weeks and our time in Malaysia is nearly at an end. We haven't gotten done nearly as much as what we thought we would! There is just so many amazing things to see and do both here on the Peninsula and in Borneo. I think both of us wish that we could have gotten to see Gunung Mulu National Park in Borneo which is apparently absolutely amazing. Unfortunately due to Paul's illness and the fact that you have to fly there we just weren't able to fit it in. I also wished that I could have seen the mini elephants that they have in Borneo!

Malaysia is really easy to travel in. There are so many hostels/guesthouses to choose from and mostly they have been of a pretty high standard (considering the price!). Some of them don't have hot water (like the one that we're staying in at the moment) but you don't really need it when it is so hot all the time. The buses run really frequently - the express buses are usually quite easy to use but the local ones are a bit different. It's pretty hard to find the right bus sometimes and it seems like the bus driver charges whatever price they want. On the plus side they will normally stop anywhere to pick you up from the side of the road if you hail them which is awesome.

Since Paul is still a bit weak we are thinking of checking out one of the islands on the east coast before our flight to Cambodia. - N.