Day 24, Year 4: Tour of Melaka
Date: Saturday, November 15, 2008
Weather: Pouring Rain AM; Overcast in Afternoon
Location: Admiral Marina, Port Dickson, Malaysia
Once a coveted seaport, Melaka is now a tourist destination showing off its multicultural background. Prior to the 1400’s, it was just a Malay fishing village. But it was then discovered by a rogue Hindu prince, Parameswara, who fled Java and was living the life of a pirate in Temasek (now Singapore). At that time, Temasek was part of the Thai empire and it didn’t take the Siamese long to realize that Parameswara needed to be removed from Temasek. This led the Hindu prince to flee to Melaka and he built the fishing village into a favored port for traders from all over the East. Then the real trouble began for Melaka. The traders from China, India, Portugal, the Netherlands, and England all laid claim to this port for periods of time over the next 500 years. And each of these countries brought with them the influences of their religions. Although Malaysia as been an Islamic state since the mid 1400’s, the influences of the Buddists, the Hindus, and the Catholics are seen everywhere in Melaka as mosques, temples, and churches stand side by side. Once Singapore became the areas main trading port, Melaka’s importance dwindled. Then its true wealth as a tourist destination was discovered.
We arrived in the pouring rain and spent our first hour touring one of the main streets in the historic district under ponchos and umbrellas, stopping to take photos of the wonderful Chinese traditional homes now serving as hotels, museums, and shops. We stopped for a proper Baba-Nyonya (Malay Chinese) lunch and then crossed the river to see Stadthuys, the imposing barn-red town hall built by the Dutch. Stadthuys is thought to be the oldest Dutch building in this part of the world, and right next door is the matching red Christ Church. Christ Church is currently being renovated, but the workers gladly welcomed us inside to take a look at the 15 meter long ceiling beams, each cut from a single tree. We then followed the masses of people walking up the hill to the ruins of St. Paul’s. There were large groups of Hindu and Muslim school children visiting, as well as huge numbers of Islamic Malaysians. When we walked down from St. Paul’s to what is left of the old Portugese fortress A’Famosa and looked back, the streams of people looked like a pilgrimage moving steadily uphill to St. Paul’s. We then walked just a few hundred feet to the Sultanate Palace, a wooden structure built in the Malay tradition using no nails. It is a fascinating museum showing the influences of the traders from all over the world on this little town. We walked past other memorials and museums, visited an old Dutch cemetery, made a quick stop at St. Francis Xavier’s still functioning catholic church before walking back across the river. We then made a quick dash back across town to where we had parked our car and started a three-hour marathon search for the Medan Portugis, the Portuguese part of town, and a place to spend the night. Three hours later we arrived back where we had started and found a room in The Baba House, a traditional Chinese home turned hotel. We never did find Medan Portugis, but we saw a lot of Melaka as we drove around hunting for this elusive destination. We ended the evening by taking a ride in one of the many, highly decorated and bedecked with lights, trishaws, taking a walk down the crowded Jonker’s night market, and finally relaxing with dinner and a few beers at The Geographer’s Cafe. We didn’t have a fantastic Portuguese meal, but we enjoyed the street cafe atmosphere and live music American style. John Denver’s “Almost Heaven, West Virginia” has made it to Melaka. Maybe tomorrow we’ll find Medan Portugis and have a late seafood lunch before returning to Port
Dickson.
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| 081115 Day 24 Melaka, Malaysia–Melaka Tour, Day One |
