Melaka

I was a little nervous about crossing the border in to Malaysia, specifically because this was the first time I’d done a land crossing without having proof of onward travel booked. I was definitely going to leave Malaysia, but I didn’t know exactly how and when, and that’s not always enough for border control. I got chatting to Onni and Mona about this, two Finns who were next to me on the bus and also unsure exactly what to expect at this crossing. Luckily, sitting just behind me was Juliette, a Melaka native who now lives and works in Singapore and was heading home slightly early for Chinese New Year. She gave us some tips for immigration and also some background on Melaka, particularly its Peranakan Chinese culture, from which she’s descended.

Upon arriving in the hostel I’d booked, I could immediately tell it was a friendly place. Solo travellers were chatting to each other and the staff and volunteers made a real effort to introduce people and make sure everyone felt welcome. I would always sacrifice luxury for a basic hostel with a great atmosphere, and this was exactly that. It had been raining pretty hard all day, and I’d hope it would let up by the time I got to Melaka, but it didn’t. I went out to the night market close by to explore a little and simultaneously ran in to Onni and Mona, and also a Dutch couple that had been on the same bus. In truth though, the vibe of market wasn’t that great in the rain, and after some food I headed back to the hostel and chalked the evening up as a restful one.

Rain was forecast for the next week or so, but was relatively light in the morning, so I headed out to see the town while I could. On the way out of the hostel I met Femke and Vlad (an excellent photographer, thanks for the photos on this post!) who were also heading for breakfast, so we walked out together. At the place we planned to have breakfast, we then ran in to Lola, who Femke and Vlad had previously met elsewhere in Malaysia and ended up having breakfast together. We didn’t realise it at the time, but a group was formed, who would become my Melaka travel buddies. Together we headed out around the sights of the town - the ruins of a church and a Portuguese fort, lots of fun and interesting street art and temples of various religions. Later, a big group from the hostel headed out to a couple of bars and I ended up jamming some blues and rock classics on drums with the Malaysian duo who were playing and an American harmonica player who happened to be there too. It was a really fun night, and made up for the washout the night before.

I made it to bed around 2.30am, however I was still not over my +8 hour jetlag (I’m still not!) and my body helpfully woke me up and 6.30am believing it to be very much time to wake up. I eventually got back to sleep, but so late that I ended up waking up at 12.30pm and headed straight out to join the group for breakfast. We headed out to the floating mosque, a stunning building built over water, and in the evening headed back out to the night market. This time, without the rain, the vibe was much better and the food smelt amazing. The most interesting thing I tried was radish cake fried with egg and various sauces.

The next morning the group were all heading our separate ways. We had one last breakfast and headed to the bus station, where due to the world’s slowest queue to collect my boarding pass I nearly missed my bus. I made it with a couple of minutes to spare though (sadly Vlad and Femke missed theirs). I’m going to miss my Melaka friends, but I’m excited for my next stop, Malaysia’s capital.