This morning we got up bright and early and headed off to Melaka, which was about a 2-hour ride away. We had a van driver take us there and when we got to Melaka, he showed us various sites.
The first thing we did was stop at a local restaurant for some coffee or tea. This was a sign at the restaurant I thought amusing.
Then Shawn, our driver, took us to the Portuguese settlement. Melaka is on the Melaka Strait, being a body of water between Thailand/Malaysia and Sumatra/Indonesia. The trade ships from the 16th century to the early 20th century ran through here and as a result, Melaka was a major trading port. It was conquered by the Portuguese, then the Dutch, then the British, not to mention occupation by Indonesians, Chinese and Japanese. Oh, and the Malays live here too! So it's a real mix of cultures.
Here we are at the shore. Across that water is the island of Sumatra in Indonesia.
We went to the only fort remaining, built by the Portuguese. Fort Famosa.
St. Francis Xavier was a missionary here. He died in China in 1552 and his body was brought to this place where it lay in an open grave for 9 months until they could ship it to Goa, India, where he did most of his missionary work.
The body lay here. They had to cover it with a cage fine enough to stop coins from being thrown in.
When the Dutch took over, they built Christchurch down in the town.
Then there's a fountain to Queen Victoria just outside the church.
We stopped at a bridge over the Melaka River and saw something in the water. At first we thought it was a type of alligator, then noticed it had a forked tongue! It's an iguana - I had no idea they got that big. They hang out in this area because of all the restaurants nearby. Hmmm.
We then went to a museum of a famous Chinese family who lived in the area. Lots of interesting artifacts and the house is quite intact. Then we were off to lunch at Nancy's Kitchen.
The food was very good. And the restaurant had all these signs which we found humorous.
As if someone is going to do this deliberately.
The window is interior and doesn't open to the outside.
Good job it's a secure connection.
This is too high for anyone to touch!
And this was at the door of a mosque property.
So Shawn, our guide, led us in.
We also went into a Chinese temple.
After dinner, we went for a Trishaw ride around the town for half an hour. Quite fun. Man, those guys work. Fortunately, there are no hills in the old port town.
Until tomorrow.
The first thing we did was stop at a local restaurant for some coffee or tea. This was a sign at the restaurant I thought amusing.
Then Shawn, our driver, took us to the Portuguese settlement. Melaka is on the Melaka Strait, being a body of water between Thailand/Malaysia and Sumatra/Indonesia. The trade ships from the 16th century to the early 20th century ran through here and as a result, Melaka was a major trading port. It was conquered by the Portuguese, then the Dutch, then the British, not to mention occupation by Indonesians, Chinese and Japanese. Oh, and the Malays live here too! So it's a real mix of cultures.
Here we are at the shore. Across that water is the island of Sumatra in Indonesia.
We went to the only fort remaining, built by the Portuguese. Fort Famosa.
St. Francis Xavier was a missionary here. He died in China in 1552 and his body was brought to this place where it lay in an open grave for 9 months until they could ship it to Goa, India, where he did most of his missionary work.
The body lay here. They had to cover it with a cage fine enough to stop coins from being thrown in.
When the Dutch took over, they built Christchurch down in the town.
Then there's a fountain to Queen Victoria just outside the church.
And there's a Dutch windmill right near it.
We stopped at a bridge over the Melaka River and saw something in the water. At first we thought it was a type of alligator, then noticed it had a forked tongue! It's an iguana - I had no idea they got that big. They hang out in this area because of all the restaurants nearby. Hmmm.
We then went to a museum of a famous Chinese family who lived in the area. Lots of interesting artifacts and the house is quite intact. Then we were off to lunch at Nancy's Kitchen.
The food was very good. And the restaurant had all these signs which we found humorous.
As if someone is going to do this deliberately.
The window is interior and doesn't open to the outside.
Good job it's a secure connection.
This is too high for anyone to touch!
And this was at the door of a mosque property.
So Shawn, our guide, led us in.
We also went into a Chinese temple.
After dinner, we went for a Trishaw ride around the town for half an hour. Quite fun. Man, those guys work. Fortunately, there are no hills in the old port town.
Until tomorrow.
it's so sad the area has been so affected by missionaries/colonisers, even though Europe is on the other side of the world !
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