Stop 7: Melaka

It was "first foot out the door at 8.44" this morning. Due to our early night and organisation, we were downstairs and ready for 8. We had time to eat breakfast, and I even popped to 7Eleven for a hot chocolate before we saw anyone else. Some cut it a bit fine, Natoya only woke up when Boom rang. We had to leave to get on our shuttle bus so Boom left her instructions and we ran.

With a pile of our bags in the middle of the bus, we all found a seat. 30mins later we made it to the bus station and Boom went to get our tickets. We were left at McDonald's and some of the guys decided to help their hangovers. We then all got piled on to another bus to get to the actual bus station. This one was impressive, more like an airport!

We had a bit more time here so I treated myself to Dunkin' Donuts. I then got an iced water from Subway, god I missed crunching. Natoya arrived just after 10, she got a taxi in the end. Our tickets were almost like boarding passes, and sure enough we had to pass through a mini security to get to our gate. It was mainly just us on our bus, I had a single seat to myself, in front of Boom and beside Mo and Clair.

The journey flew by and before we knew it we'd arrived in another impressive bus station. Boom then organised us taxis and we were off to the hotel. It was amusing trying to fit all of our luggage into the boot, I ended up with Clair's case squished next to me. Luckily it wasn't a long ride and we made it to Fenix Inn.

We were meeting at 2.30 for our Orientation Walk. My immediate impressions of this small city? Love it. Me and Amy were itching to get going, we quickly dumped our stuff and headed down. Boom had so much information to give us, paperwork on the best things to do and also a rough plan for tomorrow. The border crossing sounded fun.

And finally we were off, Melaka was given UNESCO World Heritage status in 2010 and it's easy to see why. The influences from its long history are obvious. We passed the El Famoso fort, the Red Square with Dutch architecture and down into Jonkers Street. Class dismissed, me and Amy decided to walk along the tow path to the end near the port, it all felt very European. It was also rather warm.

Back to the shopping area of Jonkers Street I left Amy with Clair and Alison in H&M and headed back to the fort. It was a bit of a climb in the growing heat, but the thought of shade and a cold drink at the top kept me going. I had a few families in front of me slowing me down, so was sweating by the time I reached the top. And the vending machine was out of water. Luckily it was quite shady inside. The building had quite a history, having been used as a church, an ammunition store, a lookout and a fort, to name a few, under multiple rules.

Back at the bottom I found another vending machine, this one with ice cold water in. Phew. I walked back around the heritage city, I have never seen so many different museums in such a small space. What was hilarious was the rickshaws dotted everywhere adorned with lights and cuddly toys with music blaring. So bizarre.

Trying to find my way back to the hotel I somehow ended up in a shopping centre. It was decorated with lots of Christmas decorations and it had air-con so I wasn't complaining. That was until I got fully disorientated and somehow found myself on the wrong side of a highway and at the wrong end of the city. It's a good job I can read a map, and found a subway to get on the right side.

Made it back to the hotel sweaty, but proud of myself for working it out. I needed a shower but Amy didn't have a key so I packed my stuff up and organised clothes for our travel day while I was waiting. I thought about going for a massage, but I knew it wouldn't be the same as in Thailand. The shower was just a trickle, our worse one yet, but it was better than nothing and I finally felt clean.

Tonight Boom was taking us to her favourite restaurant in Melaka called The Geographer. It was really nice, I even had a mocktail! The food was possibly the best I have eaten so far too, mango spiced chicken, rice and salad. It was then off to an English pub some of the guys had found to celebrate Jen's birthday tomorrow. Here I had a fresh apple juice, so nice.

About half ten Daniel and Maron and Alex and Laura headed home with Boom, so I joined the walking bus back to the hotel. We had an early morning ahead of us, leaving the hotel at 5.40. Boom popped to get some water for the morning and so me, Daniel and Maron joined her. Next thing we know, we're in this amazing  Korean shop that sells everything. I got back to the hotel with a new glasses case, a pair of socks but no water.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stop 1: Bangkok

I have decided to group my blogs per place, so we'll start with my first port of call.. Bangkok . My flight from Heathrow to Suvarnabhumi wasn't too bad. I was sat in 27C next to a lovely young couple going on holiday. Apparently they were incredibly lovely as not long into the journey they were bumped up to First Class!! This meant a whole row to myself.. until one of the Cabin Crew moved another couple (with a broken seat) to join me. Ah well. It was good while it lasted. The plane touched down slightly later than expected, but we had been delayed departing, so the Captain made good time. Once I was through security and had fetched my bag it was about 10am local time. Now came the fun part of meeting my transfer "in front of Entrance 3". This was a longer walk than expected, I had arrived in front of Entrance 9. I found my name in the end and handed the lady my voucher. I was to wait for another two people. Derek appeared about 10mins later and we chatted in our
Read more

Loka: Stop 7: Magnetic Island

My alarm went off so early, I felt like I'd barely closed my eyes. We were to meet at 4.30am outside of the hostel. I lugged my belongings down the stairs and met my new Loka group at the bus stop. Niki was to be our guide until Cairns. Waiting with her was Mario, Aquiles and Gabriele. I was amazed to see the latter two accompanying us, they were at least in their sixties. Two English girls, Pippa and Rosie, were next to join us and we were all ready to go. The same shuttle bus from before arrived, with the same driver. He welcomed us on board and informed us that our train was running very late. Either way, we had to get to the station. Once there, we checked in our luggage so that we wouldn't have to carry it any longer. I felt cheated, I'd woken up before the sun to catch a train that was going to be two hours late. Oh well. The nice shuttle man took us around the corner to the bakery. There was so much choice I didn't know what to have, add the fact that it was b
Read more

GKR World Cup 8

Image
My First World Cup As I mentioned in my first blog post, this weekend was the 8th GKR World Cup held at the Echo Arena, Liverpool. Having qualified last year, I was to be competing on the Saturday afternoon, however we decided to make a weekend of it and support as many of R33 as possible. Friday... I travelled up on the Friday with my two marvellous supporters, my mum and friend Tracy. We had a good run, with a stop at my favourite services (Keele), arriving at the Hampton by Hilton John Lennon Airport Hotel at 13.30.  After settling into the room, which was very nice, we headed back out to catch a bus into the city. A very lovely man helped us find the best bus route and we were soon on board the 86A en route to the Echo Arena. Apparently it was a busy journey, abundant with school kids and loud gossiping. Being asleep, I missed all of this!! Peeling ourselves from the seats, we got off of the bus and made our way over to the famous Albert Dock. I was itching to watch my f
Read more

A Week in Exmouth

I arrived in Exmouth at lunchtime after a very long night with little sleep. The bus stopped at the visitors centre, and from there it was a short walk to the hostel. I checked in and discovered that I had a room to myself? What luxury! I was shocked, but made the most of it, choosing the best bed and spreading my things. I decided to walk back to the visitor centre to find something to do with the rest of the day. It was a sweaty walk and I was glad to find air con when I arrived. After looking through one hundred and one different leaflets and brochures, I gave up and sought help from the desk. A very lovely lady told me everything I needed to know, where to go and what to do. I booked on to a sunset whale tour for that very evening and had a browse through what she had recommended. I then realised the time, I'd have to rush back if I was to make my pick up! I hot footed it to the hostel and grabbed my camera. I just made it to reception in time, the bus was just parking u
Read more